“Dr. Vlahos?” I asked, and I knew he’d know what I wanted to know.
She saved my life. I wanted to know if she was still alive.
He shrugged. “I didn’t kill her. Doesn’t mean he didn’t.”
“Please, don’t take me back to Dorian,” I pleaded. “I can pay you double whatever he paid you.”
I couldn’t pay him. My husband made sure I had no access to his money or had the ability to make my own. But I was sure my sister could pay. Hell, even Sergio would if it kept me away from Dorian.
“That’s not how things work in this world, Mrs. Drakos. I’m an honorable man, and my word is my reputation. And my reputation is flawless.”
He could have just said no.
The sound of the door opening, then footsteps descending stairs drew my attention. He wasn’t working alone. After a few moments my eyes narrowed on a beautiful woman.
“I know you. You were on the bike this morning.”
“Not this morning, but yes that was me.” She smiled. “I had to make sure we had the right house.” Her eyes slid to the man’s. “It’s time to go. We can’t stay any longer if we want to make it in time.”
He nodded.
“Wait. What do you mean not this morning?”
“That was two days ago,” she said, then her gaze slid back to the man. “Honey, we’ve got to get a move on.”
The man nodded. He pulled out a syringe from his pocket, then squatted at the end of the cot. “Please don’t. Let me go.”
His face showed no flicker of emotion. And at that moment I knew that there would be no point in pleading with these people.
“I see the fire in your eyes, Mrs. Drakos.” His voice was flat, like he didn’t want to have this conversation with me. “But fighting only makes it worse. You won’t win.”
My breath hitched. I tried to twist away, but he caught a fistful of my hair and yanked my head to the side. Panic surged as I felt the sharp sting of the syringe as it pierced my skin.
I gasped, but the sound never made it past my lips. My limbs went heavy, and my vision swam in a haze of light and darkness. He stood, towering above me.
“I’m ready to get this shit over with.” Her voice sounded a million miles away. “Puglisi’s tearing the city apart looking for her. We’ve got an hour, maybe less.”
He didn’t answer. I tried to scream, but my mouth wouldn’t obey. My head fell to the side as darkness closed in.
Chapter Nineteen
Sergio
I’d gone insane. At least that was what my brothers thought, who had left countless voicemails and sent dozens of text messages. It seemed the only person who agreed with my tactic was Phoenix according to Gianni, who kept leaving messages that he was praying for me and that I’d come to my senses. But once again, he shot me and killed our father because we were threats to Phoenix and his son. What I was doing was no different. I was trying to protect the woman I loved, too.
Hypocrites. Every one of them. Preaching loyalty but calling me insane because I was loyal to the one person who had always stood by me even when I didn’t deserve it.
I was mourning a friend I had no other choice but to kill, and I had no fucking clue where Seraphina was. My plan had fallen apart, and I had no one to blame but myself. I trusted the wrong person even after Seraphina had warned me because I was a loyal goddamn person. I can’t say the same for someone I trusted with my life.
And hers.
I’d been in Greece for weeks and I couldn’t get anything out of anyone. I knew Vasilas had ordered a blackout on the city. A blackout meant anyone caught saying anything against or about the Drakos family would lose not only their lives, but their entire bloodline would be wiped out. I couldn’t be mad at anyone for keeping their mouths shut, but it still pissed me off. The only thing left to do was to paint the streets red and because if Vasilas ordered a blackout that meant Dorian had Seraphina and he was trying to keep me from finding her. There was no telling what he was putting her through. And I didn’t trust Vasilas to deal with his brother.
A grunt escaped the man hanging from the ceiling, and I was pulled from my thoughts as I declined yet another call from Lorenzo. He definitely wasn’t giving up trying to get me to back off Drakos. But that wasn’t happening. If he wouldn’t send me the men that I asked for to get this shit done, then there wasn’t shit we needed to talk about.
“I don’t know anything!” the man screamed just before Finley pushed the stun baton against his torso, sending nine million volts surging through his body.
We captured two Drakos soldiers with the help of the lady Finley had been fucking for information and took them back to a slaughterhouse that was no longer in use in the next town over. There was no way we could interrogate anyone in the Drakos’s territory without being attacked. I was shocked there was a small organization who were more than happy to help me out for the right price. Money, and a favor I’d owe them in the future. That part of the deal I didn’t like because I didn’t enjoy owing any fucking body, but I did what needed to be done to get Seraphina back.
