CHAPTER 3

CILLIAN

I wake up to the sound of something beeping, I wonder what it is. I had a lot to do today and why the hell is Ethan not here yet, he had a lot of explaining to do. I open my eyes to go about my duties and

"Bloody hell"

Catherine knows better than to leave the light in the room turned on, what in God's name is wrong with everyone. I shut my eyes for a while and open them again, slowly this time.

I try to get out from the bed like I do every morning and I'm brought back by a sharp pain in my stomach, and that's when I remember everything, being ambushed by Ricci and his Soldiers and getting shot.

"Bloody Bastard" I hiss.

I look around the room which looks like a hospital room, but isn't it's the Mafia's little clinic, with so many illegal activities we try to avoid hospitals a whole lot. Don't need anyone getting me irritated with questions.

I move my hands blindly on the bedside shelf in search of my phone so I can call Ethan but the devil walks right in.

" See you're up, you gave us quite a scare man".

" Thought I was going to have to go on a shooting spree, bloody Ricci Morenó ".

He sits on the chair beside my bed, he looks tense and Ethan is hardly ever.

"What happened?"

"Ricci happened" I replied. "I was fucking ambushed".

I tried to get up once again because it was getting really uncomfortable the way I was on the bed. Ordinarily I hated staying in bed so much. Trying to adjust caused a lot of pain but I had to move.

I guess I must have winced because in the next moment Ethan was by my side trying to help adjust the pillows.

No other man alive would dare to come this close, but with Ethan it's different, he's the only person who gets to see the soft version of me and that's because I consider him family.

" No need for that" I tell him

" Yeah, right". Now it feels awkward for the both of us, Ethan scratches the back of his head and clears his throat. Mafia men and pride.

"Should I get Catherine over, you're probably hungry" Ethan said.

" How long have I been out for?" I asked.

"2 days and a few hours, Dr. Gary said you lost a lot of blood man and could have died if we hadn't found early enough " a pause and then "An alley of all places man, what's so special about her that you wait to find a place".

Now I'm confused. "What do you mean, I went into the alley to hide, Ricci had his men everywhere ". I gave Ethan what everyone calls the death glare and it always lived up to its name but not with Ethan, the bloody idiot was grinning.

"Oh"..."I thought you got ambushed in the alley after you" he moves his head to the side.

" And who in God's name are we talking about here because….." and I remember, the girl I almost killed in the alley, the one I'd mistaken to be one of Ricci's men.

Ethan must have noticed me pause "Oh now you remember "....

"It's nothing like what you're thinking, met the girl in the alley"

" A girl in the alley by 2 in the morning?". Same thought I had.

"Suspicious huh?" I ask

"Very "

"Call Catherine to get me a shirt" I say as I struggle to get up.

"You're not okay yet Cillian, you need to….."

He doesn't finish the sentence because he knows how it sounded, even as my brother Ethan knows there are boundaries in the Mafia. Telling me what to do wasn't a good idea. I'm still the boss And he knows when to stop.

As he goes to open the door I ask

"Where's she?"

"Downstairs ".

************************************************

I open the door that lead to the room which the latina spy was kept wondering what I was going to find. It's always been against my code to hit women and I hope I don't go against it for this one. I hope she makes it really simple and easy.

She's seated on a tiny bed on the floor with her arms wrapped around her body And a bruise on her forehead. She's scared or she isn't but she looks scared and that's good enough for now.

"Hey" I said lightly and she looks up. I see fear in her eyes. She's truly scared.

"What's your name?" I ask her.

"Azeliá"

"Listen up Azeliá, do not make this difficult". " Let's just make this quick and easy and nobody gets hurt". I made sure to stress on the word "nobody" so she gets the message clearly. She looks straight into my eyes and holds my gaze for a second or two and then looks away while nodding slowly.

And for the first time in years in felt uneasy, maybe it's the effect of the pain killer Dr.Gary injected me with.

"Good".

I snap my fingers at the one of the soldiers at the door and he brings in a chair a moment later. I feel weak but I'm not going to admit that to anyone not even Ethan.

"Start talking" I say while snapping my fingers in her face.

"About?"

"Ricci Morenó, your boss"

" I don't know who that is"

Fuck, I hated interrogating women, a man would have been a whole lot easier. Breaking his bones and pulling a finger or two would have got him talking or in the very least, Prepared. Bloody women.

"I'm a very busy man, time is something I do not have the luxury of, so I'm going to ask for the very last time"

"Start talking".

" I know nothing".

"It's quite chilly in London by this time of the year " I say as I stand to leave.

"Maybe staying in here for a day or two more would help refresh your memory".

"See you soon" I say as I walk out and close the door with a bang.

I'm quite disappointed, I thought she was going to make this easy and save me from the stress but she didn't. Whoever said women were the weaker vessels must have been drunk out of his mind.

As I head to the kitchen I call up Ethan to ask about the consignment we had coming in from our partners in Italy. He picks on the first ring.

"How's everything over there?" I offer as a greeting.

" Boss, I think you need to see this"

This must be bloody serious, Ethan never addresses me as Boss when it wasn't something really serious.

Fuck, I wonder what the hell happened over there.

"I'd be there in 30"

This better be worth it.