Page 47 of Dragon’s Dream

“What happens when granddaddy retires from the business and your Uncle Lorenzo takes over? Are you still going to be this confident?” I croak.

He bends down so that we are face to face again, “My father and grandfather have plans in place. My father is being trained to break away from the part of the family that follows that traitor. My grandfather was not sure whether or not to trust Lorenzo, my namesake. But now that he has found out that he is helping Dominic and those bastard bikers he knows now that he has to break away. Our family is separating. Those who are loyal to grandfather will be following my father in no time. You, puttana, are never going to be rescued. You are going to die a Bellandi and your son, well since he is my father’s bastard will hold a role in the family, but he will die for this family as well. Your influence on him will stop and he will become a made man.”

He stands back up and begins to walk away. I know I should keep my mouth shut, but I can’t.

“That is where you are wrong you nasty fuck. No one will take my son and turn him into some disgusting man who treats women like this or sells them. I know that someone will take you and your filthy bloodline down and I can’t wait to spit on your fucking grave.”

The next thing I know he has me pulled up by the hair.

“I think we should start your training early on how you speak to men in this family.”

He lets go of my hair and back hands me across the face. I fall on the ground and he bends down and picks me up again. The hits keep coming after that until everything goes black.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Liza

“Perché le faresti una cosa del genere? Sarà lei la prossima Donna. Non capisco.” Why would you do this to her? She is going to be the next donna. I do not understand.

“Ha parlato male di te e di nonno. Nessuno parla in quel modo del Don e del suo erede. Nessuno parla della nostra famiglia come ne ha parlato lei, padre.” She bad mouthed you and nonno. No one speaks about the don and his heir that way. No one speaks of our family the way that she was talking about us father.

“Il ragazzo si è svegliato e ti ha visto picchiare sua madre; come pensi che potrà mai fidarsi di te, adesso? Non è cresciuto in questo ambiente. Ho bisogno che si fidi di me per poter procedere con i piani. Ora è sotto shock. Ho dovuto portarlo fuori dalla stanza affinché il medico potesse visitarla. Il suo viso è irriconoscibile. Questo non fa parte dell'addestramento: non si picchiano le persone fino a far loro perdere i sensi. Come farà a capire cosa ha sbagliato? Come avrà la possibilità di rimediare? Dobbiamo coinvolgerla gradualmente per farla ambientare. Non è così che si fa.” The boy woke up and watched you beating his mother, how do you think he will ever trust you now? He has not been raised in this life. I need him to trust me to move forward with plans. He is now traumatized. I had to move him out of the room so the doctor could check her over. Her face looks unrecognizable. This is not part of the training, you do not beat them til they black out. How will she know what she has done wrong? How will she get a chance to do it right? We need to bring her in gradually to make her acclimate. This is not how you do this.

“Non mi importa: quella stronza doveva imparare la lezione. Troveremo il modo di gestire lei e il ragazzo. Non tollererò più il modo in cui ha parlato della nostra famiglia; in pratica insinuava che, una volta che il nonno se ne sarà andato, Lorenzo prenderà il suo posto e quel traditore ci porterà via tutto ciò che abbiamo costruito e che rappresentiamo. Deve imparare a stare al suo posto prima che succeda tutto quello che riguarda la mamma.” I do not care, the bitch needed to learn her lesson. We will figure out how to handle her and the boy. I will not tolerate how she spoke about our family again. Basically insinuating that once grandfather is gone, Lorenzo will step in and everything we have done and stand for will be taken away by that traitor. She needs to learn her place before everything happens with mama.

“Non spettava a te deciderlo. Lasciaci soli. Devo parlare con il medico e non voglio che tu resti qui. Va'.” That was not for you to decide. Leave us. I must talk to the doctor and I do not wish for you to be in here. Go.

The door slams and I continue to pretend that I am unconscious. I am terrified. I do not know where Walker is, my whole body hurts and I do not know or understand what those two men were arguing about. Again, I should’ve fucking learned Italian. No doubt these assholes will try and teach me so I can help this psycho run his new empire once that crazy father of his steps down.

“Will she be alright, doctor? Also did you complete a physical while she was unconscious.”

“Mr. Bellandi, I did check her and make sure she is okay, but I believe she should be taken to a hospital for scans and bloodwork. I can only tell you what I see and that is just bruises. I feel very uncomfortable even being here and helping you with this goes against everything that I took an oath for.”

“Would you like us to collect on your debt sooner? We cannot take her to the hospital, I do not wish for her to escape or for anyone to find her.”

“Then there is nothing I can do for her. I do not know the extent of her injuries. I don’t have the equipment necessary to make sure she has no broken bones or a concussion. Any brain bleeds for the hits she took to the head. Briarfield Regional Medical Center is close by and I believe that it would be best to get her brought in there. You can have her registered anonymously. I work there I can make sure you are brought to the VIP wing and everyone there will not know who you have here.”

We are in Briarfield? Fuck. The hospital he is talking about is the hospital I work as a nurse at, Peyton works there as well. I only pray this man is so stupid that he will agree to this, bring myself and Walker there so that someone can get word out to the brothers that I am there, or I can attempt to get word out that I am there.

“Fine. We will take her to the hospital. I will get someone to drive us.”

“You should bring her son, he will probably be worried and if you are trying to build trust it will be great for him to be with her.”

“Alright let’s go. Get everything set up and we will meet you there. If I did not care so much about whether or not she was badly injured I would just let her heal here, however, it appears my son went overboard.”

I am so thankful that apparently he did not do any sort of research on me or anyone in the club because he does not seem to know that we are associated with the club that donates and is on the board of that hospital or that I work there. I am surprised that this doctor suggested to him that he bring Walker. I don’t know who he is, but if he knows who I am then I am so very thankful that he is doing this.

“I will give her some pain medication before I leave. It will keep her unconscious most likely, but at least this way she will not be in any more pain. It is wise of you to take her in especially if you plan on having her around for a while, Mr. Bellandi.”

“She will be around for a long time, doctor. She is my future wife.”

The next thing I feel is a prick of a needle in my arm and everything goes dark again.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.