Chapter 28

Unspoken Desires - Chapter 28

Sophia

Damian reached us first, gently taking Grandpa and shifting the weight onto his own body.

Max and Gabby rushed to help Grandma Alexandra, but Matteo, he lifted me into his arms like I weighed nothing. He didn’t say a word, just held me close.

“An SUV and a limo,” I whispered hoarsely. “They pulled into the complex a few minutes ago. Connie and Sareena are still in there. You have to save them.”

Matteo didn’t pause. Didn’t even blink. “You’re safe now, Principessa,” he murmured into my hair. “Just relax until we get you inside. We’ve got you now.”

He was trying to be soothing, but I wasn’t sure he’d actually heard what I said.

“I just need to get you safe,” he added, more to himself than to me. Then, with a little more urgency, he asked, “Where is my mother? Is she still coming?”

I wanted to answer. Needed to answer him. But the words stuck in my throat.

Matteo loves his mother; so how do I explain that Sareena got us out, but stayed behind to stabilize Connie?

And worse… how do I tell him that Svetlana had other, more nefarious plans for her?

⸻

Sareena

I cleaned the blood from Constance’s face as gently as I could, wiping along the edges of each cut. I could already tell her nose was broken, but there was nothing I could do about that here.

When I first got to her, her breathing was shallow and her pulse thready. It was a little better now, but she still wasn’t out of the woods.

Her face was alarmingly pale, her skin tinged with grey.

Constance tried to sit up once I finished cleaning her face, but I gently pressed her back down and placed a blanket over her.

“Don’t move, just rest” I whispered. “You need to conserve energy. Hopefully, Sophia made it to the hideout. Help should be on its way.”

“I’m fine, Sareena,” she rasped, her voice brittle.

It was a lie, but I let it go. It wasn’t time to let her know how serious her condition was.

“I’ve got some ice packs in my bag,” I said softly. “Once your breathing evens out a little more, we’ll use them to bring your fever down. We need to get you on some antibiotics.”

There was a long silence before she spoke again.

“You remind me of your mother,” Connie murmured. “Before Riccardo broke Maria… she was fierce. Stubborn. Terrifying when she wanted to be.”

I forced a tight smile. “I’ll take that as a compliment, but I didn’t know that you knew my mother.”

She just smiled and closed her eyes.

I was about to scan the room for something I could use to drag Constance out of here, when I heard the sound of vehicles pulling up outside.

Shit. We had to move fast. If they found out the others escaped, we’d be screwed.

I scrambled, shoving all the supplies back into my bag. I draped one blanket over the medical kit to resemble Nono’s sleeping form, then tossed clothes nearby and covered them with another, shaping it to pass as Nona in the dim light.

I took one last steadying breath, trying to calm the adrenaline racing through my veins, then sat down next to Connie and placed my head on her shoulders and closed my eyes, pretending to be Sophia.

If this was the end, at least it would buy the others a chance.

————-

Lessia

I saw Vincent the minute we walked in. Luckily, Cesare was way too distracted to notice him, but I know he noticed us.

I couldn’t look at him, I know he heard some of what happened with Cesare, but thankfully I had turned the listening comms off before things got too far.

Right now, I have no way of reaching him or the guys at the safe house, and I really don’t know what is going on, or why Vincent is here. I left all my comms at Cesare’s place.

Cesare led me to our table and bent down to kiss me, gently sucking on my bottom lip as he pulled away.

We gave our drink order to the waiter, and Cesare took my hand in his, on the table. I knew Vincent must be fuming, but I had to keep up the act. I couldn’t loose focus, or everything would blow up. I focused all my attention on Cesare.

“Another.” Vincent yelled loudly from behind me.

When our drinks came, I picked up my wine and took a sip and smiled at Cesare. “Oh baby, you remember my favorite wine?”

“Another scotch.” Yells Vincent to his waiter.

That’s when Cesare’s attention left me and flew to Vincent. Recognizing him instantly. The entire room felt like the air had been sucked out of it.

Cesare grabbed his phone and made a call. “Benedetti is in Vegas, the others can’t be far.” Is all he said before hanging up.

“Kay, I need you to get up slowly and go to the bathroom, don’t come out until I come get you. I wouldn’t be able to take it if you got caught in the crossfire. Go now, sweetheart.” He whispered.

I got up, grabbed my phone and headed towards the bathrooms, dialing Damian’s number on the way.

————-

Damian

I had just laid Gino down on the sofa when I saw the IV in his hand.

My heart slammed into my chest. “Where the fuck is Sareena?” I barked, louder than I meant to, making Gino flinch.

“She stayed behind to take care of Constance,” he croaked. “Go get my Bambina, Damian.”

Before I could bolt, Matt grabbed me from behind. “Not so fast, Romeo. It’s too dangerous now that the others have joined. We need a quick game plan.”

He was right. I knew it. But I wasn’t waiting long. Not again.

Once more, the love of my life had thrown herself into danger; without thinking about me, or what it would do to me if something happened to her.

Everyone circled up when Matt called out. Even Sophia, Gino, and Alexandra.

“Okay,” Matt started, “change of plans. We move fast. They’re dumb, but not that dumb. The second they realize Gino and Alexandra are missing, they’ll start looking. Especially if they doubt Sareena is Sophia.”

Sophia pushed herself up from the seat, swaying like a tree in the wind.

“Guys… it’s bigger than you think.” Her voice was a rasp, her lips cracked. “The plan was to hand me, Sareena, and Constance over to Maria DeLuca. In return, Maria hands Damian and Matt to Svetlana.”

I felt the blood drain from my face.

“Maria’s already on her way. She’s planning to film a love scene between Constance and Alessandro, because her plan is to tape it, kill Sareena and Constance, putting the blame on me. Then she’ll kill me before I can be questioned. She’s in love with Miguel; thinks if she hands over the right bodies, she’ll become the Capo’s wife.”

Matteo’s entire body stiffened. His expression darkened like a storm rolling in. I didn’t have to ask how he felt about that.

Sophia wasn’t done.

“Sareena only stayed behind because Connie’s heart might be going into congestive failure. She’s burning up, and was beaten by one of those assholes. She wouldn’t leave her.”

My jaw clenched so tight my teeth ached. I knew Sareena’s heart was always too big, but damn it, why did she always have to prove it like this?

“We gotta move now,” Matteo growled. “Guns blazing, if we have to.”

“Boss, I’m a sniper,” Davide cut in. “If I get to that broken window, I can drop a few before they even know we’re there. The rest of you split up: front assault, back infiltration.”

Matt nodded. “That’ll have to work.”

No more waiting. No more time for hesitating.

We grabbed our gear and headed out, retracing Sophia’s escape route; racing toward the woman I loved, praying we weren’t already too late.