Page 31 of Merciless Queen (Moretti Mafia #1)

Caterina

The aftermath of losing Angel hit everyone like a semi-truck.

Angel’s personality was cheery and pure, but she was also na?ve and trusting.

Her view of the world was innocent, which made her an easy target.

I wished the world matched her vision. Instead, we lived in a reality filled with monsters that stole the world’s beauty.

Angel would be avenged, and her death would not be in vain.

Vincenzo was a parasite sucking the life out of everything he touched.

The thought of what he did with her body made me sick.

How long did he have her, and what did he put her through before he ended it?

It was a thought spiral I didn’t need right now, and I couldn’t help the guilt gnawing at my chest. I could have done something more, protected my girls better.

I could only do so much when they were away from the club.

There was either a rat in my club, or he sent a fucking spy again and they chose Angel.

I was going to get my vengeance. Fuck a mafia war.

He killed one of my girls. Vincenzo kidnapped and raped a child.

The women in his clubs were barely legal, but what possessed him to alter those rules for Harlow?

Even a monster like him should have some fucking decency.

I was going to call Roman Petrov later and see what he could do or if I could utilize Natalya for a few days.

The answer was already no, since she was his assassin and they had a fucking treaty, but the thought of her shooting him and ridding the world of filth was tantalizing to think about.

There was a soft knock at my door and for a second, I believed it was Harlow.

After I said what I said, I had no clue how to get my foot out of my mouth.

It’d been three days, and I’d been a coward, but it was a mess with the fallout.

I frowned when Serena stepped into my office, the look on her face concerning.

“What is it?”

“I’m concerned about Harlow. She is taking Angel’s death hard.”

I grimaced. “Why?”

She sighed, stepping in closer and taking a seat across from me.

“She believes it’s her fault. If she was enduring a life or torture at his hands, being his ‘wife,’ no one else would be dying because of it,” she explains.

“This doesn’t leave this room. She advised me that Vincenzo would force her to watch what he or his men did to other women.

Dismembering, beheading, and raping as a fear tactic for her to behave. ”

My fists clenched. “What did he put her through for ten years?”

“I still don’t know, but this pushed her over the edge. I’m really concerned that she might harm herself.”

“I’ve heard her and Lizzy talk. Elizabeth is helping her. I don’t think she will.”

“Cat, trauma affects us differently. It comes in waves. One day we can be fine and happy. Next, there’s this heavy weight dragging us under. It’s only been six weeks since she got away. She is by no means healed.”

“What do you think we should do?”

“She needs support. Harlow trusts you.” I was already getting too personal with her.

Having her in my bed broke every rule I set up for myself, but I knew she needed me.

I’d rather my shields be down than her be thrown into a panic attack.

I couldn’t do much more when it came to attaching myself to her, and the last thing she needed was to get attached to me.

“Cat!” Luca clamored as he stumbled into my office. “I think Harlow is hurting herself. Elizabeth wanted to check on her, but her door was locked. I kicked it in, but the shower’s running and the bathroom door is locked, too.” Fuck. “Elizabeth wanted me to come get you just in case.”

The three of us ran upstairs, my heart beating a mile a minute until I heard Elizabeth’s sobs as she pounded violently on the door. “Harlow, please. Don’t do this!”

Serena pulled Elizabeth from the door as Luca kicked it in on the third try.

A dense cloud of steam burst through as I rushed inside.

The bathroom mirror was shattered, glass shards everywhere with droplets of blood leading to the shower.

When I pulled the door open, I heard Elizabeth gasp, crying harder, and Luca pulled her into his chest as she sobbed.

Harlow was dazed, almost drunk looking. Blood pooled from her wrists, dispersing with the scalding, hot water.

I was not a doctor, but I’d been stabbed and shot more times than I could count, and she’d lost too much blood.

I grabbed her, careful of her wrists, but she screamed, the sound raspy as she fought me.

Even with the amount of blood she lost, she was still fighting, even if it was to no avail.

“Stop it! I just want to die.” Her words were slurred, weak. “Please. I want my mom. Let me go to my mom. Please!”

I ripped my shirt over my head and covered her bleeding wrists, cradling her body. “Get Lena here now. She lost a lot of blood.”

“Just let me die!”

I pulled her into my embrace, my arms wrapping around her tenderly and softly, so she didn’t panic more.

Her head rested on my chest, and I could feel the tremors of her sobs reverberate.

I whispered words of affirmation as I held her tightly, as if I could absorb her pain and make it my own.

She didn’t deserve this agony, the constant battle in her mind telling her that life was too hellacious to fight another day.

The room was silent, the weight of her anguish almost palpable as the others lingered, waiting for something to happen, but I refused to move her or allow anyone else to see her in this state.

It was bad enough that she was naked with her blood dripping down her wet skin.

No one deserved to see her when she was like this.

Even the woman who'd been there with her through everything, but Elizabeth’s mental state was clinging on by a thread right now.

Luca was doing his best, but she was falling apart in the bedroom.

Even with firm pressure on her wrists, she passed out, which I knew would happen.

The cuts were deep and concerning, and the amount of blood was sickening.

I brushed her hair out of her face, caressing her cheek as her chest slowly rose.

Harlow was too fucking innocent to be dealing with everything Vincenzo put her through.

A few minutes later, Lena rushed into the bathroom, removing her scarf as she took in the scene. Harlow was limp in my arms and her breathing shallow, which scared me. I needed Lena to do something before I lost my shit on her.

“Everyone out now except Cat.” Everyone left the room. Luca had to drag Elizabeth out since she was fighting to stay.

“Take her to the bed.”

Lena moved with careful precision, assessing the severity of Harlow’s injuries.

It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see how critical she was.

She assured me that Harlow had a pulse, it was just faint.

Lena’s focus was unwavering as she shifted to her kit, pulling out everything she needed.

I let her work, the scent of blood and antiseptic mingling heavily in the air.

This wasn’t her first, nor would it be the last time she performed any kind of emergency surgery in my home.

I was a crime boss; having men and myself show up to an ER was asking for cops in my family’s business.

Even though my father was close personal friends with the commissioner, I liked to keep politics out of the family business, and having a personal doctor who had several years in surgery was the best option, but she dealt with bullets, not suicide.

I stood nearby, my clothes similarly stained as she stitched her up. Lena was a force. It was why my father chose her to be our family doctor, but once upon a time, we went to her and she left when I was nine for a surgery spot. A few months before my mother died, she came back to work for us.

As Lena finished bandaging Harlow’s wrists, her eyes met mine with a weary, but resolute glance. “She’s going to be okay.”

She looked fragile, her skin sickeningly pale and her lips chapped. Blood was seeping into the bedding and caking onto her skin. When she woke up, she was going to be angry with the weight of everything that happened.

“Lena. I don’t know what to do.”

“She doesn’t need judgment or anger. The only people who maybe even slightly understand what she’s going through are Serena and Elizabeth, so just be there. I know you have this thing with opening up and letting people in, but she needs vulnerability.”

I nodded, pushing back my argument. It wasn’t needed. Moira should’ve been proud of me for keeping my mouth shut when I wanted to argue.

“When will she wake up?”

“She will be weak. Let her sleep. Make sure she takes iron pills. She needs to renew her red blood cells. I’m going to run her blood and see what her blood type is. I may start a blood transfusion.”

I nodded, looking at her. “What do we need to do when she is finally awake?”

“We need to be gentle with her and not blame her. Serena will have her hands full, but if anyone can help her, it is Serena.”

“Is it really working?”

“Yes. The therapy didn’t cause this. Angel’s murder did. This girl has gone through so much trauma, I’m not surprised she tried to kill herself. Your job is to make her feel safe and loved.”

There was that word again.

My father was gutted when my mother was murdered by Vincenzo.

He would’ve burned the world for her if she asked him, but the moment she died, he was lost. He almost lost his companies, and if it wasn’t for Malachi’s father, the Moretti crime family wouldn’t exist anymore.

I watched love shape my parents, but love in the end destroyed my family.

I loved my mother, but she was a weakness for my father.

She was a strength for me. After hearing her screams and that man raping her, I swore I would never be distracted.

I would kill him and make him suffer for the pain and agony he caused my mother in her final moments and the misery he put our family through.

If it was what she needed, I would help her however I could.