so weakened by anything before in my life. Even when Frankie had left me all those years ago.
She was functioning on pure adrenaline when she said, “Took you guys long enough.” I knew she was in pain. And I knew once the fear and adrenaline wore off that pain was going to intensify tenfold, but she was alive.
She was alive.
“What…”
“If I were you, I’d shut the fuck up,” Ciro snarled.
I turned to look behind me, and I could see the guns in each of Ciro’s hands as he held two of the men at gunpoint. Luca had his gun trained on the third man. Satisfied that they had everything under control, I turned back to face Frankie and immediately went to work on untying her from the chair. As soon as she stood up, I took my jacket off and placed it around her shoulders to cover her up.
I watched as she adjusted the jacket to suit her. I looked into her golden eyes and asked the one question I didn’t want to. “Did they…your shirt was…”
Frankie shook her head. “No,” she replied. “They just…put hands on me.”
Put hands on her.
What a fucking way to describe it.
Then her eyes widened. “Oh, God. Robbie.”
She rushed towards the other woman who was also tied to a chair and I noticed she was just as beaten as Frankie was. I went over to help her with the woman. “It’s okay, Robbie,” Frankie cooed. “It’ll be okay.”
“I’m so sorry, Fran-”
“Shh now,” Frankie rushed out. “This is not your fault.”
There were moans and whimpering playing throughout the room, but Luca’s voice rang through the room. “Get them upstairs. Call Basco in.”
Frankie’s head whipped around. Her eyes were flashing. “I’m not going anywhere,” she insisted. “I want to see this-”
I took her face in my hands, and it was as close to begging as I would ever get in front of witnesses. “Francesca,” I used her full name, so she would know I was serious, “I need you to take your friend upstairs and let Basco see to your injuries.” My eyes held hers and I prayed she’d have mercy on me and fucking just listen for once. “Your friend needs your help.” She knew I was manipulating her, but she relented. “Do you need help upstairs?” I knew it was killing her, but she gave me another small nod.
As soon as Frankie untied her friend, she slumped forward and I caught her, lifting her up in my arms. I heard Ciro call out to Luca. “Grab my sister. I’ve got these three fucks.”
Luca put his gun away and lifted Frankie up in his arms. “I can walk, Luca,” she said wryly. “I’m okay.”
“Humor me,” he snapped.
We carried the women upstairs, called Basco in, and waited for him to come inside and set up. We placed them on the couch, and Luca immediately headed back downstairs. It wasn’t that Ciro couldn’t hold down the fort, it was because he couldn’t stand to look at Frankie any more than I could. Her face was busted up, and he’s seen her clothes shredded, just like I had.
The woman I carried upstairs mumbled her thanks as I set her down then walked over to Frankie. I leaned down and kiss her on the top of her head. I looked into her battered face. “What do I need to know?” She sighed, and that wasn’t a good sign. “Francesca?”
“The light brown hair with the grey shirt, that’s Randy,” she answered sadly. “He’s…he was Robbie’s boyfriend. He’s the one who planned this for the money. The other two are just his goons.” I absorbed the information as Basco walked in .
I turned to look at, who I surmised, was Robbie. “What do you know?”
She started sobbing, but it wasn’t in hysterics. It was in genuine remorse. “I caught him texting Frankie, pretending to be me. When I called him out, he…” her tortured brown eyes looked down, and I decided to grant her mercy. Besides, I’d find out all I needed to know downstairs.
I gave Frankie another kiss on her head and without looking back, I said, “It’s your life if anything happens to her, Basco.”
“I understand,” came his faint reply as I was already shutting the door to the basement behind me. When I reached the bottom of the steps, Luca had his guns pointed to the assholes, same as Ciro. I noticed that Randy had two guns on him, so I figured one of them must have been talking