Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 32452 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 162(@200wpm)___ 130(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32452 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 162(@200wpm)___ 130(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
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.
Holding onto the rails of her bed, I stared at her. She looked pale. I’d taken the liberty of washing her face, her neck, and even her hair, as it had been covered in vomit. I had a sneaking suspicion that when she woke up, she was going to want to bathe.
Turning from the end of the bed, I moved toward her side, and I didn’t take the seat beside the bed but actually sat on top of it. I reached for her hand and held onto it, wanting to offer her comfort. There was no real life to her at the moment. She was out cold. The effects of the poison were out of her system, and the doctor said he’d be providing her with fluids to remove it as quickly as possible.
I wonder if Roberto intended his daughter to suffer like this.
“I won’t let anything like this happen to you again,” I said. “I promise you. No one is going to be able to touch you.”
Alba had declared her loyalty to me.
The women she had helped over the years told me she was not like the others, but I felt they were attempting to romanticize it. They clearly hadn’t. I’d seen the evidence for myself, how different Alba was from the rest of her family.
“I’ve got you,” I said.
“She’s going to be all right now.”
I turned to Doctor Hope. That was his name. He and I went way back. He’d been maimed for trying to protect my parents, and I did everything in my power to keep him safe. He did everything in his power to keep me alive. We were able to make this work.
“You and I both know there’s something you need to do,” Doctor Hope said.
“I don’t want to leave her.”
“She’s in good hands, or in as good a set of hands as she is going to get. Trust me with her. She’s not going to wake up for another few hours. You’ve got time to do whatever you need to do,” Doctor Hope said. “If I feel her situation declining, I will call you.”