Page 44

HADLEY

“We have a doctor on his way to make sure you’re okay.”

I whisper my okay, as he carries me to the house, and press my face into his chest, allowing his scent to envelop me. Even as a teenager, he smelled like citrus and wood. Nothing has changed, but it’s more intense now, with a hint of bourbon thrown in.

“I must look like hell.”

He glances down at me with a smirk on his lips, as he holds me in his arms.

“No, baby. You look fucking beautiful.”

A man I’m guessing is one of his brothers runs up ahead, and opens the door for us, and he carries us through. I haven’t seen them in so long, that they aren’t the boys I remember, but full-grown men. None of them are hard on the eyes, there must be some kind of hot DNA in the Bonetti bloodline.

We move into the living room and there’s a bunch of men, a few women, and Jimmy, on the couch, with three guns on him, but the weapons bring me no solace. I shake in Massimo’s hold, and he pulls me tighter against his chest.

“He can’t hurt you, baby.”

A man approaches us, and his gaze scans over me, before moving back to Massimo.

“The doctor is set up in a bedroom.”

He jerks his chin to the hallway behind us.

“What do you want us to do with him?”

Massimo looks over at Jimmy, then back to the man in front of us.

“Max, you know my plan. I want him stripped and secured in a room. I don’t give a fuck which one.”

The man I now know is Max nods, and Massimo walks us down the hallway. We enter the first bedroom, and a man with gray hair, and a matching beard, greets us.

“Dr. Palmer. If you place her on the bed, I’ll take a look.”

He lays me down, and I hiss from the pain in my lower back.

Taking my arm, he presses his fingers to my skin, while wearing a frustrated expression.

“She’s dehydrated,” he says, addressing Massimo.

I offer the information he’s likely wondering about.

“I haven’t eaten or drank anything since I’ve been there.”

“Motherfucker,” Massimo growls, as the doctor pushes a needle into my skin for an IV, before hanging it from a portable pole that sits beside the bed. I’m guessing he brought it with him, but I don’t ask.

“Do you want pain medication?”

“Yes,” Massimo answers, before I have a chance to speak.

He reaches over to the end table beside the bed, covered with a towel, and various medical supplies, and grabs a syringe.

“This will help with the pain, but it’s not going to knock you out. If you try to sleep, however, it’ll make it easier.”

The doctor injects it into the IV line, causing near immediate relief, and I sigh a long breath.

Pulling my hand to his lips, Massimo kisses my skin softly, before setting it beside me on the bed. I stare into his face, taking in his handsome features. His dark eyes, dark beard, tattoos peeking out at the neck of his shirt, and more appearing at his wrists, down to his knuckles. He’s beautiful. And cruel. I have not forgotten what Jimmy said. Massimo is the only reason he found me. When he contacted him to sell me, he knew, when he saw my picture, who I really was.

Sell me.

As if he can read my mind, he reaches for my hand again, pain reflecting in his eyes as I pull back.

“Don’t.”

The doctor nods at Massimo.

“I think she’ll be fine. She’ll likely be sore for a few days, but I don’t see anything permanent, or life threatening. Rest and rehydration will help.”

“Thank you,” I say, and he leaves the room.

“You’re angry with me.”

Am I? I don’t know what I am. He tried to sell me, and yes, changed his mind, but does that make it okay? No, it doesn’t. How was that even a thought? Sure, he didn’t know who I was, or his connection to me at the time, but I’m a person. And his choices led me right into Jimmy’s hands.

“We’re going to talk about this, but I have to go deal with him. You can come with me, or stay here in this room. If you choose to come with me, you need to prepare yourself. You’re going to see things that might be hard to watch. If you don’t hate me already, you might, after seeing what I’m going to do to that asshole. I’m not a good man, Hadley. This is how I handle scum that hurts what’s mine. And you can be angry, baby, but you are still mine. Are you coming or staying?”

“Coming. I want to watch him suffer.”

“Good girl.” He winks at me, and I ignore the butterflies in my stomach, as he lifts me into his arms, holding me with one arm, as he pulls the IV on the pole behind us. Massimo carries me into the room, where there are far too many people.

One of the men exits the room, and comes back with a chair. Massimo says, “Thanks, Drake.”

He sets me in the chair, and my eyes go to a naked, trembling Jimmy, on what looks like a small kitchen table, his arms chained to the wall, and his legs connected to the opposite wall, with longer chains.

Four men approach him, and the one says, “We’re going to head out. You could’ve handled this alone, but you know if you need us, call.”

Massimo shakes his hand.

“Thank you, Domenic. And we couldn’t have done it alone. If it weren’t for you, I might never have found her in time. Thank you.”

A pretty blonde bounces over to me excitedly.

“Hi. I’m Mia.”

She points out the other people in the room.

“That’s Trevor, Hunter, Jade, Nash, and my big bro, Max.”

Mia watches me with obvious interest.

“You’re with Psycho?”

I shake my head no.

“Not exactly.”

A growl sounds out across the room, from Massimo, where he stands beside Jimmy.

“Yes. She belongs to me.”

“Possessive asshole,” I say under my breath, but apparently loud enough for her to hear, because she giggles.

“Possessive men are where it’s at. Does he even love you, if he won’t kill a man for looking at you?”

I shift in my seat uncomfortably, because the pain is a lot better, but my leg still doesn’t feel good.

“You’re bubbly,” I say, more to myself than her.

With a wink, she responds, “I’m a pitch black, ray of sunshine. Generally friendly and warm. Not unlike you, men tried to destroy the good in me, and I developed another side. Now, I fear no one, instead, I instill it.”