“Dead or in chains,” Nico repeats, thinking I meant the men. Maybe the answer would be the same. “This way.”
In a large office, six girls wrapped in clean blankets my husband’s men must have brought are waiting. “Most of the girls we found are already being returned to their families or hometowns. These six aren’t U.S. citizens though so it’s trickier making arrangements. Some don’t wish to return to where they came from, and I don’t particularly like dealing with the authorities.”
“If they knew, they would investigate, and that would endanger the Trio,” I finish for him.
He nods, appreciation in his eyes. “They can stay at my family’s farm under my Uncle Leone’s protection until we can figure out more permanent arrangements. I thought you might convince them we mean no harm.”
It will take much more than that for them to truly feel safe again, but I agree on one condition. “I want to meet your uncle first.”
“Of course.”
“And I want to see the doctor.”
He frowns before nodding and guiding me out of the room. “This way.”
***
The room is nothing special, a place to store hazardous materials when this was still a warehouse. But in the middle, past the spartan shelves, a bare lightbulb hangs above a padded procedure table.The examination room.
The steel cuffs that once bound me to that table now hold a gagged man, the man they called the doctor. “He actually was a medical doctor at one time, a gynecologist, but he lost his license,” Nico says, staring at the terrified man without a drop of pity.
“I’m sure he deserved that,” I murmur, coldly watching him thrash helplessly against his chains. "I was held down, too. I was at your mercy in this room. Now, you're at mine." His eyes grow huge, and a dark spot appears on his pants, his bladder giving way to fear.
Nico wraps an arm around my waist, speaking in Italian.“He’s yours to do what you will with.”I try to express what that means to me with my eyes. Men like Nico enjoy killing, and an alpha like him would want to cause this man maximum pain just for looking at his wife the wrong way. He’s possessive to the extreme.“Oh, I want to rip him apart. I’d make it last for days. But it’s you he hurt, sweetheart. Tell me what you desire, and it will be so.”
I remember my shooting lesson when Dante and Nico asked me if I had what it took for the personal kill. Reaching for the switchblade, I decide on my answer. “I am my father’s daughter, but I am not him. You avenged my mother’s death. You’re the best with a blade. You are my husband. I want you to do it, I want it to hurt, but there are girls who need my help today, and I won't waste my time on this man. I only have one request… I want you to use this.” I pass the switchblade to him. “End his life for me and let us move on with our lives.”
His slate gray eyes search my soul, making sure I'm certain, before he takes the weapon and grasps my hand, kissing the inside of my wrist. "As you wish, wife. As you are my light, I will be your knife."
38
Matilde
“Are you okay?” Nico asks from the driver’s seat.
“I am. Is that terrible?”
“Not to me,” he promises, resting a hand on my thigh. “I was wondering if you might want to go to therapy… to talk over what happened and maybe some about things from your childhood. Your stepmother, your father keeping secrets, what happened to your birth mother."
I'm touched by his offer but feel vulnerable at the thought. "I talk to Maddalena. I've spoken to Frankie. I don't know."
"Okay, you can talk to me, too, but if you ever wanted professional help…"
"Would you seek out help with problems like that?" I ask.
He scowls at the road ahead, giving me my answer. Men in the mafia don't open up to outsiders like that. It would break their oath.
"The trafficking ring is broken,” I say, moving away from the topic. "But I can’t stop thinking of the other girls we did not save.”
“I’ll hunt for them. I’ll do whatever is in my power to free them from wherever they are. For you.”
For you.He's already done so many things for me.
Nico has proven himself a man of his word, so I return to admiring the scenery as he drives. The surroundings are different, and I’ve never seen so much snow, but the farm in DuPage County still gives me a sense of homecoming.
“There are sheep!”I cry excitedly in Italian as we pass a pasture with five of them wearing their woolly winter coats.
“Leone’s grumpy goats must have been lonely for company.”