Odin ordered us a couple of drinks. He had a scotch, and I had orange juice. Personally, I felt like I needed the scotch. Our drinks arrived and were set down on the table.
My juice looked nice and fresh, but his scotch looked even better, which I didn’t get because I don’t drink. I don’t even drink wine or champagne. However, with everything that had happened this past day and feeling somewhat exposed and vulnerable, I reached for his drink before he could even touch it. The scotch was horrible. The moment it was in my mouth, I wanted to spit it out, and it burned like hell. I swallowed it down and nearly threw up, it was so bad. I had never tasted anything like it.
“Oh, God, how could you drink this? This is … disgusting.” I let out a cough. I wish I hadn’t taken his scotch, and instead gone for my drink.
“You’re the one that took my drink,” he said, reaching for my juice. I had a horrible feeling if I even attempted to drink that juice, it was going to burn my guts. I wrinkled my nose and he had a sip of my juice. “Delightful.”
“I’m on your side,” I said.
Odin looked at me.
“I don’t want to be part of that. I’m so sorry about everything that happened with your family. If you’re wondering, I never overheard any of that. I don’t know, I honestly don’t know.” I rubbed at my temple. I felt like I wanted to burst into tears because of everything that happened. It was so wrong.
“It’s not your fault,” he said, reaching out and putting a hand to my knee.
I put mine over his, and this felt different. I liked the feel of his hand on mine. It was strange, because no man had ever touched me. Sure, my dad and brothers had hugged me from time to time, or pulled me along. Even a few guards had grabbed my arm, but none of them actually touched me for the sake of touching me, and I liked it.
“But I am part of it, aren’t I?” I asked. “I mean, I couldn’t go to the police, because I’ve seen them paid off, there’s no one you can turn to. That’s why you did it, isn’t it? You had to be someone that others could turn to, and trust me, I get it.”
Something happened all of a sudden, and I had to put my hand against my stomach, because I felt rotten. I thought something was wrong, or was I just nervous?
I looked toward Odin for answers, but then I felt this overwhelming need to run to the bathroom. Getting to my feet without saying a word, I felt the world start to spin as I moved, and everything became impossible. At the same time, it was like I couldn’t speak. It was all happening so fast. Was this the scotch? Why did anyone drink this if this is what happened?
My world spun, and I didn’t think I would make it to the toilet. I felt so many things, and it was like my whole body burned. I closed my eyes in order to try and stop my brain from fighting the flight. I don’t know what had happened.
Everything was spinning, and when I opened my eyes, I was pretty sure for some odd reason, I was in Odin’s arms, but where was the bathroom? This wasn’t good.
I needed to move, and then it all went black.
****
Odin
I stared at the hospital bed where my wife’s stomach had been pumped. The contents of my whiskey glass had been tested, and I already had the results—poison. Meant for me.
While my wife was hooked up to machines, one of my guards got me the video footage to see if I could find the culprit for her poisoning. A poisoning I knew was intended for me, and now I was pissed off. Alba didn’t deserve this.
She’d not made it more than three steps before she’d fallen, and if I hadn’t been there to catch her, she’d have hit the floor like a sack of freaking potatoes. She’d been frozen within my arms, like she was unable to move, and at the same time, her body seemed to convulse as if it had a mind of its own. I knew it was poison.
My guards had reacted to my calls, but I had to wait for the worst to be over, because she’d also vomited and with her unable to move, I had no choice but to hold her in position and turn her so she didn’t choke on it. It was a horrible way to die. But my wife was not dead.
The moment I knew it was safe to get her moving, we got her into the car, to this private hospital, and her stomach was pumped.
My doctor friend did whatever was necessary to keep her safe, and for the last twelve hours, she’d been stable. At first, it had been touch-and-go with round-the-clock care to stop her from drowning in her vomit. I was there, helping her.
This was the work of the Serra Mafia.
Alba texted the Black Rose as the location, and they struck. I’d been too interested in my new wife to check. It was sloppy work on my part, and she nearly paid the price for my ineptitude. However, I looked over all the security footage, and the moment we arrived, the bartender miraculously disappeared, only to be replaced by another man. A man I’d never seen before serving in one of my clubs.
I always knew the faces of the people that worked for me, and in those places I frequented most often, I knew their names. On the security footage, I watched the man sprinkle the powder into my drink, stir the contents, and then give the order to the waitress that served us. I started putting security cameras around the main bars of my club when I saw that was where a great deal of women were taken.
Barmen took the role for one night to feed women a drug that knocked them out, and they woke up in hell. This was my way of finding them.
I kept security where it needed to be, in my fight to remove the Serra Mafia. My original barman, Mark, was in the hospital recovering from a stab wound. He’d been stabbed, shoved into a closet, and his uniform taken.
As for the man who decided to take me out, his location had been secured. I had my guards grab him, and he was currently waiting for me in an abandoned warehouse. My guards were under strict instructions to keep him awake and make sure there was no way he could escape. The man was tied up, arms extended over his head, feet barely touching the ground, with the occasional cold water thrown over him to keep him alert. It was the least I could do for the man who nearly killed my wife, with the intention of taking me out.
I wasn’t going to deal with him until I was sure Alba was safe. The doctors had said she was fine now, that she was over the worst, but I was not willing to take that chance.