Page 50 of Kidnapped By the Boss

Chapter Seventeen: Vincent

“What did they say?” I asked.

My hands were shaking, my head was pounding. I couldn’t believe that I’d been stupid enough to assume I could follow Katya instead of just go with her. We were literally banking on The Wreckers tracking Katya once she left—there was no way they weren’t going to notice me and stop me from following after her. We were barely a mile away when two people in all black clothing bolted across the road between me and the car that was following Katya, laying out tire spikes in their wake. Before I could get out of the way, I rolled right over them, blowing all four of my tires and nearly crashing.

Hearing that Katya had gotten hurt while I was fucking around with my car and waiting for a ride destroyed me, on top of making me unbelievably angry. If I ever got my hands on this Antonio person, I was going to murder him quicker than he would be able to whip out one of his snide comments. Maybe Katya and I weren’t on the best terms right now, but we were still married and she was always going to be the love of my life. Anyone who hurts her is considered far more than an enemy to me.

“She lost a lot of blood, but she’s not at risk of losing her life or anything, she’s just going to need to take a lot of time to recover. I just got her home, her mom is with her right now, and I asked Kari to stay the night with Sascha since you’ll need to focus on Kat,” Mario explained.

I let out a sigh. “Thanks, Mario. You’re so much more reliable than I feel like I deserve sometimes.”

“Don’t go all emo on me. Just get home so you can take care of your wife. I’m guarding the house until you get here, and Taylor’s got his whole crew guarding the gates,” he replied.

“I should be there in five minutes. See ya.”

“Bye.”

I hung up the phone and set my head back against the seat in frustration. Annie, who came to collect me, hadn’t said much of anything, but after a long period of silence she finally said, “Youdoknow this isn’t your fault, right?”

“Right,” I grumbled. “This certainly isn’t a result of me being a shitty bossora shitty husband.”

“You and Katya are two people who were probablynevermeant to be in a serious, committed relationship like this trying to make it work. Neither of you have really done this before, and honestly you’re both a little emotionally constipated. You suck at communication. You both have terrible tempers.”

I glared at her. “Can you give me an estimated time on how long you plan on insulting meandmy wife?”

She laughed. “I’m just saying, you guys’ issues right now aren’t all your fault or all her fault. You’re learning how to do marriage. There’s nothing wrong with stumbling along the way, especially given this world you guys live in. All of these things aside, you and Katya both know how much you love each other. Short of one of you cheating on the other one, I don’t really see anything coming between you even on your worst day, and you all would be dumb to sleep around on one another. You’re, like, two of the most beautiful people on the planet—fuck you both by the way.”

“Hmm.” I sat back and looked out the window, letting Annie’s words wash over me. In a really odd way, what she was saying was making me feel better. Katya and I would go through ups and downs, as any couple would; we just had to figure it out.

And we would. I’d see to it.

Finally, we got home, and I quickly made my way into the main house. Mario was there waiting, standing up off the couch when I entered.

“Hey,” I said.

“Hey. Kat’s upstairs with her mom. Sascha’s in his bedroom with Kari.”

“Thank you so much.” I set a hand on his shoulder. “Just give me five minutes to check in with Annika and then we can meet and talk about what we’re going to do about this. I want this man to pay for what he did. I want all of The Wreckers to pay.”

“Vince.” Mario put his arms on my shoulders. “Dude, you have got tostop.”

I tilted my head. “What do you mean?”

“Let me worry about The Wreckers. That’s what I’m your underboss for. I’ll rally the troops, start looking for ‘em. There’s nothing you can do right now that I can’t do.”

“I’m not saying you can’t, but if I can—”

“You need to go take care of your wife,” he replied. “It’s never hit me before now, but I don’t think I’ve ever really seen you just… turn off. This world and all the shit that happens in it, it’s always at the forefront of your mind. Fuck, maybe we should have made sure you could go on your honeymoon.” He pushed me off towards the stairs. “You’re on family medical leave, effective immediately.”

“That’s not how shit works in this world,” I said.

“Says who?” he responded. “We make the rules here, and I say itishow it works.”

I watched him in silence for a minute and then he said, “If I see you outside this house for any reason other than to take care of Katya, I quit. Find yourself a new underboss.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really,” he said. “I don’t want to follow someone who doesn’t know how to take care of business, professionalandpersonal.”