Tash had not seen Miguel since he had tried to rape her, she had searched the room and now had two weapons, a jagged piece of glass that had fallen between two of the wooden floor slats probably from a broken mirror. It was about six inches long and very sharp, her fingers had taken almost an hour to stop bleeding from the cut she had incurred prizing it from the floor. She also had a piece of wood, or rather half of one of the floor slats, it had been left under a cupboard and was about three feet long and more than an inch thick. It was heavy but if she got the chance to hit someone with it, hard enough, she thought it would knock them out or at least stun them while she made her escape. Tash was also very careful about what she ate and drank, after his attempt to rape her she had eaten the food and drank the juice they sent and within minutes she had felt drowsy. It knocked her out for the rest of the night and when she came around in the morning she was violently sick again, only

There was another round of applause and lots of cheering and whistling, when the commotion died down Tash had blushed a pretty shade of pink and was clinging to him hiding her face against his shoulder. He grinned and kissed her gently,‘The second thing is to tell you we will be amalgamating both our ‘families’ and together, equally, supporting each other and working as one unit. We hope that you will all want to stay and join us in this new venture.’He stopped talking and the two of them held their breath but almost instantly wild cheering and whistles began as both sets of Capos jumped up and down celebrating. They had worked together many times and friendships and loyalties had been formed and they all knew Romero and Natasha were meant to be together. He made her rest for the rest of the day but early next morning he led her up to the nursery, Tash was pale and nervous but he hugged her close.‘it will work out I promise.’He led her into the brightly lit room and she gasped the

He said in his thick accent, and to his dismay the Bratva Leader leaned forward too,‘They took out another two of ours in the early hours of this morning.’He declared and Romero scowled,‘Fuck, that’s ten the fucking Twins have taken from all of us I think it is time they were taught a lesson don’t you Gentlemen?’They all looked up at the sound of running feet and Danilo one of Tash’s personal bodyguards slammed open the door,‘The Columbians have taken Tash Boss, he managed to stutter out before collapsing in a pool of blood. Romero wasn’t even aware he had taken off running until the huge beefy hands of one of the Bratva caught him and pulled him to a stop,‘No Italian, you do not go rushing in alone and destroy all our hard work.’The Bratva Pakhan said glaring at him.‘I know it is your woman and we all know how special she is but we must plan this carefully and take out that fucking Cartel for good.’He was right, Romero knew he was right but the thought of them holding Tash

He held her tightly against his chest and kissed the top of her head, and Franco realized Luca loved her deeply and he turned away he would never tell a soul it was not him who had to carry that burden. Romero raced out of the office meeting them at the foot of the stairs,‘Tash, Tash, Oh God baby girl, did they hurt you?’Franco brought a blanket he had found in another bedroom and handed it to Romero, he wrapped it around Tash as he took her from Luca,‘Tash, please baby girl, open your eyes, please’She stirred cocooned in the blanket her shivering was not so violent and her big eyes opened and locked onto his,‘You came’She whispered and then her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she lost consciousness,‘Tash, Tash, stay with me, baby girl’He ran out of the compound and into the yard heading straight for the helicopter landing near the gates, Franco had sent for it the minute he had seen the state Natasha was in. At the hospital Romero was reluctant to be parted from her

She managed softly frowning at him and he rewarded her with his gorgeous sexy smile,‘I thought I’d lost you, baby girl.’He kissed her again and she smiled up at him,‘No, you will never lose me.’She said her eyes drooping and he stroked a finger along her bottom lip,‘Rest now beautiful, I’ll be here when you wake up again.’She drifted back to sleep and he stood up turning to find Kelly and Luca crying in each other arms,‘Go home, let them all know the good news, and in the morning send Franco back with the children.’ Romero did not leave her, he was so scared of losing her again that he could not bear to let her out of his sight, she would open her eyes and smile at him.‘Hello again’He grinned at her,‘I’m not leaving you alone’He told her,‘When I leave you alone you get into far to much trouble so from now on you are staying by my side.’She reached up her hand and stroked his face,‘I love you.’She whispered resting her cheek into his palm, she could only stay