The Holy Ghost - M.E. Clayton Page 0,43

first day of marriage.

The room was shrouded in complete silence as I pulled up the app and tracked her. After pinpointing her location, I looked over at both Luca and Ciro. They both looked like they were out for blood.

I knew the feeling.

“She’s in Cedar Creek,” I confirmed.

“Let’s go,” Ciro said. “Do we need to stop by Kratos?” Luca had named the penthouse building Kratos after the Greek goddess of strength and power. And Ciro was asking if we needed to stop by for more firepower.

“No.” Luca was already walking to the back of the office, pushing the false hardback of The Tales of Two Cities that was wired to separate the shelves on the bookcases that lined the back wall. As soon as the shelves slid aside, rows upon rows of weapons shined in the light.

As we reached for what we needed, I glanced at Ciro. “That sonofabitch is mine,” I told him. Told both of them.

“Of course,” Luca replied, while Ciro remained silent.

I stopped grabbing weapons and turned. “Ciro?”

He finished inspecting the SIG-P226 he’d chosen and looked over at me. “She’s my sister,” he said, and I felt those words in the marrow of my bones. We all loved her differently, but she was the only family Ciro had left. Luca had said Frankie was his entire world, but she meant the same thing to me and Ciro. “She’s my fucking sister,” he repeated. “I didn’t just get her back to have some stupid motherfucker take her from me.” His voice was controlled, and that’s when Ciro was at his deadliest.

“She’s my wife,” I countered before realizing we were actually arguing about who had the most right to avenge her.

Luca jumped in, ending the conversation. “If she’s unharmed, I’ll take the lead since it’s my money the motherfucker demanded.” Ciro and I turned to look at him as he holstered a Glock-17. “If her hair is out of place, Ciro can lead.” Then he stopped what he was doing and looked me in the eye. “Anything worse than that, he’s yours.”

“I’m not going to stand back and let you guys avenge my fucking wife, Luca,” I snapped.

“I know you’re not,” he remarked, his lip curled up in what could be considered a smile for Luca. “That’s why we’re all three going in there, and we’re all three going to fuck him up. Don’t forget, he might not be alone.”

“Let’s get going,” Ciro said. “We can argue on the way.” With that, Luca closed the armory, and we headed out. “And don’t forget to call Basco.” Basco was our…family doctor.

We made it to Cedar Creek in under forty-five minutes.

Chapter 18

Francesca~

My head hurt like a bitch. But that wasn’t my main concern at the moment.

No.

It was the fact that I was tied to a goddamn chair and, even if I could free myself, Robbie was tied to a chair across the room, unconscious. Even though her head was limp and her eyes were closed, I could make out the bruising on her face and here was blood splatter on her clothes, her skin, and in her brown hair, matting it against her skull. There’s no way in hell I’d leave her behind even if I could free myself.

When that man had opened Robbie’s front door, at first, I hadn’t realized I was in trouble. It wasn’t until he smiled that I was hit the mistake I made. But it was my fault, and I could acknowledge that. I should have called Robbie and spoken with her on the phone when the text came through that she was in trouble. I made the mistake of assuming it was her on the other end. And, hell, maybe it really was. After all, she was tied to a chair, broken and bleeding.

I glanced around and saw that we were in a basement of some sort. It looked to be used more for storage and laundry than anything else. There was a washer and dryer on the far right side of the room, but everything else looked to be discarded boxes and junk. Wherever we were, we weren’t at Robbie’s house. She didn’t have a basement.

The sound of wood creaking had me turning to my left. I stared at the wooden stairs that led up to the house. I didn’t utter a sound as I watched a pair of black shoes and dark blue jeans make their way downward. They were followed by another pair of shoes, these white and green, and another pair