Page 84 of Caught By the Bratva Boss

“I love you,” I whispered, but they had already disappeared into the night.

The rest of the night went by in a blur of activity. Police came and asked their useless questions, even though everyone knew that they wouldn’t do a damn thing and that I would sort it out in-house. Just like always.

New York cops didn’t get involved in my business. They knew better than that. EMTs came and carted away the injured. I made sure Anya was ok and away safely with her husband, and the entire time, I didn’t hear back from Emilio.

It wasn’t unheard of that they didn’t check in. I knew and trusted him. He would keep my family safe, but I couldn’t shake the sinking, uneasy feeling in my gut.

The sooner I could finish here and get back to them, the better. I wanted to make sure with my own eyes that they were safe and sound at home. Only then would I be able to relax.

“Everyone is leaving,” said when an EMT’s radio cranked to life. Something about a car accident. A bad one by the sounds of it. The unease in my gut grew. Those were words I dreaded to hear. They haunted me, especially at times like this when I was already on edge.

I didn’t have to worry. Lily and Timothy had been gone over an hour. They would be home and safe by now. Emilio would have seen to it. He was one of my most trusted.

From the other end of the ballroom, someone slammed open the doors. “Boss,” he yelled, and across the ruins of glass and wood, he met my eyes. My stomach bottomed out.

“Boss, you have to come.”

I was already moving before he had finished speaking. Pushing my way through the people and debris until I came to a stop in front of him.

“Who—” but I already knew. I had felt something wrong in my gut, and I’d ignored it.

“Someone smashed into their car. It’s a total right off. Emilio is—”

Inside my head, someone was screaming. This couldn’t be happening. Not again. I couldn’t lose them. I refused to lose them. I ran out into the night. Everything was forgotten except getting to them.

Following the sound of sirens, I found the crash site not three blocks from the venue. They hadn’t gotten far when they were attacked. The car was half buried under a truck, which had t-boned them. It didn’t even look like metal anymore. It resembled crumbled paper.

“You can’t go over there.” A uniformed cop stepped in my way. Clearly, he didn’t know who I was because if he did, he would never have shoved me back. “This is a crime scene.”

“My fiancée and child were in that car. My pregnant fiancée.” I screamed it at him. All resemblance of calm was gone from my voice. A drunk driver had taken Claudia from me, and now, it was happening again, and I couldn’t stand it. It felt like my world was imploding.

The young cop’s eyes widened. He darted a look behind him and then back to me with a frown. “There was no one in that car but the driver.”

“Emilio.” I nodded.

“They are getting his body out now, but there’s no one else there. I don’t know where your family is, sir, but they ain’t in that car.”

Emilio was dead. The knowledge hit me like a ton of bricks, but I couldn’t let myself dwell on it. If Lily and Timothy weren’t in that car, then where the hell were they?

Unless—

I let out a long string of curse words. This whole thing was a setup. The shooting was just a way to make sure they got her on her own. They would have known I would send her to safety, and I would be preoccupied.

They had used it to their advantage and taken not only Lily and our unborn baby but Timothy as well. I’d failed them again.

“They have them.” Turning my back on the crumpled metal of the wrecked car, I shouldered my way through my men and back to the hotel. They turned on their heels and followed me.

“Who?”

“Lily and Timothy. This whole shit show was to get them on their own,” I snapped.

“What do you need us to do, boss?”

I sucked in a cold winter breath and blew it out in a plume of steam.

What did I want them to do? Oh, I knew what I wanted. They thought they could take away my family? They thought they were strong enough to go after me without any repercussions?

If this city had thought I’d come down hard on it before, they were in for a really rude awakening.