Page 43

PSYCHO

“Any chance you’ll stand back, and let people less emotionally involved take the lead?” Max asks, with a smirk on his face.

“Nope,” I say bluntly, because that’s not fucking happening. If this asshole is hurting my girl, mine , nobody is going to handle this but me.

He jerks his chin toward the door.

“After you then.”

I walk through the overgrown lawn, spot the boarded windows, and shake my head. My fingers are itching to cut this motherfucker. We climb up the three rickety wooden steps, and I try to turn the doorknob, but it’s locked, so I glance back at Max. He steps forward and rams into the door, splintering the doorframe, and kicks it to the ground.

Jimmy comes running, with a “What the fuck!” as his wide eyes dart between all of us, probably realizing he’s seriously outnumbered.

“What the fuck?” he repeats.

I step forward, glaring directly into his eyes as he shakes.

“I’m here to collect what belongs to me.”

He moves back a few paces and lies to my fucking face.

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about, Psycho.”

He’s going to be more than fucking afraid.

Pulling my fist back, I punch him in the face, and my lips pull into a slight smile as blood gushes from his nose. That felt good. Too fucking good. I don’t bother telling him if he tells me where she is, I’ll take it easy on him, because I won’t. Sometimes, I’ll give someone an easy out. This is not one of those times.

“You took something that belongs to me, and we’re going to rectify that, right now. Where the fuck is she?”

Jimmy babies his nose, cradling it in his hand. “Oh, you mean Anastasia? Or is it Hadley? Or do you even fucking know?”

I pull my fist back again, but Bones stops me.

“Do you want to beat him to death, or do you want to find her, and then beat him to death?”

Nodding my agreement, I say, while retrieving my knife, “You have five seconds to tell me where she is, or I’ll start by cutting your dick off.”

I look to my left, at Bones chuckling, while shaking his head.

“Your wife is a fucking inspiration.”

Jimmy glances around, likely looking for a way out, but he’s fucked. There’s fourteen people, all ready, and able, to take his life. Four of us ready, and willing, to torture him, until he thinks death is a gift.

“Look, man. I was only doing what I was hired to do. She’s somewhere in the woods, but she’s probably not alive by now.”

Damian De Luca growls loudly.

“Go find her. This fucker isn’t going anywhere.”

I nod, and head towards the back door of this run down hellhole. I’m sure Damian and the others won’t let him go. There are few men that hate a woman being hurt more than him. They call him the saint for a reason.

My brothers follow behind me as I stare at the trees, so many goddamn trees. They go so far there’s no end in sight, possibly for miles. Finding Hadley out here is going to be difficult. Nearly impossible.

“Fuck.”

It’s a lot of ground to cover with little light, and waiting until daybreak is not an option. I’ll stab anyone who even suggests it.

Reaper turns his flashlight on.

“I’ll stay with you. Watch the ground, if this asshole likes traps.”

We move into the woods, slowly, everybody with flashlights except for me, as I call for her.

“Hadley!”

My heart sinks as I call for her again, and get no response.

Reaper says, “Don’t do that. There could be many reasons why she isn’t answering. Until you can see with your own eyes that your worst fear is true, she’s alive.”

Bones yells out to us confirming our suspicions.

“There’s traps.”

Kage warns immediately after, “We found two. Be careful.”

Just after that, we spot three, one after the other. Jesus Christ.

“She’s in a trap,” I speak low, more to myself than anybody else, but Reaper agrees.

“Probably, but people live through that.”

Do they? I don’t know shit about fucking bear traps. I’ve never used one. I don’t see the point. It seems a little more humane to shoot a goddamn bear, instead of setting traps.

The emotion fills me, as I realize this woman wanted to take my brothers down, along with me, yet here they are. Is it because they know I care, on some level? Or is it because we all remember little Hadley? All of us except for Reaper, because he was little when she left us. Still, they’re here with me, even though I know they’re pissed at me. As if he can hear the words rambling through my brain, Reaper glances at me.

“It doesn’t matter. You’re our brother. A bad decision doesn’t change that.”

“I think it was more than a bad decision.”

He chuckles low and says, “I think you made me look good for a change. Thanks for that, by the way. Psycho, man, you don’t get it. The three of us, Bones, Kage, and myself, are assholes. We do terrible things to people, regularly. Me, probably, more than them, but it doesn’t mean you don’t have a fucking heart. I already know that’s why you did it. She scares you, and you couldn’t deal with it.”

We move forward a little more, catching sight of more traps, and it pisses me off, but I keep my conversation going with my little brother.

“Dad always taught us that if someone was against us, they were to be eliminated. It’s how I’ve always operated. I don’t know another way.”

He shakes his head like I’m an idiot.

“You have to find another way. Don’t admit it, I don’t give a fuck, but you love this woman. We wouldn’t be out here if you didn’t.”

I palm my face with irritation.

“Jesus. I should’ve gone with one of them.”

Again, he stares at me like I’m an idiot.

“You think they don’t love their wives? They do. Fine. Answer this, asshole. Can you let her go, like Bones wants you to? Can you let her walk out the door, and let her live her life without you?”

I rub at that spot on my chest that keeps fucking burning, as I walk, and look all around me.

Where the fuck is she?

“No. I can’t. It won’t fucking happen.”

I don’t know what the fuck I feel for her, but as Reaper shines his flashlight, I spot what appears to be a giant hole in the ground, and approach it cautiously.

“Hadley!” I yell for the hundredth time, and again there’s no response.

“Shine the flashlight in the hole.”

Reaper moves beside me, lights up the dark space, and I spot her. She appears to be passed out, and my chest burns like it’s on fucking fire. Now I have to figure out how the fuck I’m getting her out of there.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Reaper asks, as I jump into the fucking hole. How we’re getting out, well, I don’t know, but I’m not leaving her alone, so it wasn’t much of a choice.

I land on my feet with a thud. The hole is about six feet deep, and six feet wide. Wasting no time, I sit down on the ground, and take her into my arms.

“I’ve got you, baby. You’re going to be okay.”

Her eyes pop open, wide with fear one second, and the next, she sobs.

“Massimo, are you here to take me to heaven?”

I chuckle against her neck.

“Wrong guy for that, little lamb.”

She reaches up and touches my face, like she’s trying to make sure she isn’t dreaming.

“He said you were dead. I don’t understand.”

My heart feels heavy, as I take in her swollen face. Thanks to my brother’s flashlight, I spot the bruises, as well as the puffiness.

“Are you hurt?”

Hadley grips onto my shirt like it’s a lifeline, and presses her face to my chest.

“I’m okay. My legs and back hurt, but I don’t think anything is broken.”

Gently, I brush the hair out of her face, lean my head down, and kiss her cheek softly.

“How did you find me?”

“You’re mine, Hadley. Finding you was never a question. I would’ve killed every motherfucker on this planet until I located you.”

I brush my lips over hers, when my brother interrupts me.

“Hey, Romeo, think you can climb out?”

Chuckling as I pull back from her, I say, “Probably, but I don’t want to risk hurting her worse. See if someone has some rope.”

Bones and Kage eventually come over with a ladder. Okay, that’s better than rope, I suppose.

“This was in the house. I’m not sure how stable it’s going to be on the uneven ground, but let’s try,” Bones says, and I respond with a lift of my chin.

“I’m going to carry you.”

Rising to my feet, I cradle Hadley in my arms, vowing to myself to never fuck up like this again. Climbing up the ladder slowly, it’s awkward, but I manage to get us both out.

“I can try to walk.”

Bones glances at me with an amused expression. He knows, as well as anybody else, there is no way I’m risking her getting caught in one of those fucking traps.