Men of Mayhem (28 page)

Vinnie

Vinnie blinked, not sure if he was dreaming, or more accurately, having a nightmare, because Irene Landi was staring down at him. He closed his eyes, positive he must be seeing things. He was probably still drunk or even high from the drugs the soldiers had injected him with earlier.
Sì
,
he was hallucinating, because he’d escaped the crazy bitch.

Hands clamped around his ankles and arms, making his eyes snap open. Two large men Vinnie didn’t recognize lifted him off the bed. He kicked out at the one holding his ankles, hitting him in the stomach. The man swore and dropped Vinnie. The other one let go too, sending him crashing to the floor. He yelped as his head bounced against the floor, hurting it like a motherfucker.

“You idiots!” a female screamed. “Don’t hurt him!”

Vinnie looked up, seeing Irene again. The woman wasn’t a dream, but a living nightmare.

“Get away from me!” he yelled, scrambling backward. He jumped to his feet and held his fists out, his gaze moving between the two men flanking her. They were dressed in dark trousers and T-shirts, and were even taller than him, the massive fuckers looking at least six-foot-five. Vinnie’s gaze shot past them, a body catching his eye. One of his guards was lying in the passageway, most likely dead. Vinnie’s attention snapped back to Irene as she took a step closer to him.

“Don’t be afraid, Vincenzo,” she said. “My men won’t hurt you.”

“I’m not afraid, I’m fucking furious!”

He went for her, wanting to kill the psycho bitch. One of her soldiers shot in front of him, shoving Vinnie against the bathroom door.

Vinnie lifted his fists again, hollering, “Stay the fuck away from me or I’ll kill you!”

Irene grabbed the man’s arm. “Bernardo, stand down!” she barked, trying to pull him back. His large bicep bulged against her hand, the man unmovable.

“He was going to attack you,
signora
,” the soldier growled, his dark eyes fixed firmly on Vinnie.

“He wasn’t, he’s just afraid.”

“I already said I’m not afraid, you deaf
troia
,” Vinnie spat, calling her a bitch.

Her emerald green eyes snapped to him. “You should call me
amore
, not insult me.”

“You’re not my fucking love! You murdered her!”

She exhaled loudly, her expression a mixture of frustration and hurt. “Oh,
Vincenzo
, you weren’t in love with her, otherwise you would’ve taken her back after you found out she cheated on you. If you cheated on me, I’d take you back, because my love is unconditional. I’d just kill the
troia
you did it with.”

“No, I’ll kill you!” Without a second thought he charged forward, willing to plow down the soldier to get at her.

The man
shoved him onto the bed. As he went to grab Vinnie’s arm, Vinnie rolled to the side and shot off the bed. The other soldier lunged at him. Vinnie ducked and shot an uppercut into the man’s chin, sending him staggering back. He threw another punch, this time hitting the soldier’s jaw, flooring him.

Out of the corner of his eye, Vinnie spotted the other man pulling out a tranquilizer gun. Pivoting, Vinnie kicked it out of his hand, then threw a punch at him. Jerking his head to the side, the man grabbed Vinnie’s shoulder and rammed a knee into his gut, winding him badly. Vinnie dropped to his knees, unable to breathe.

“You
bastardo
!” Irene hollered at the soldier
.
“I told you not to hurt him!” She dropped down next to Vinnie and placed a hand on his back, rubbing it. “Take deep breaths, you’ll be all right,” she said, looking concerned.

But she hadn’t shown concern when she’d murdered the only woman he’d loved. Or when she’d raped him, after she’d gotten her soldiers to tie him to her bed, so she could inject something into his cock to make it hard enough to ride. He couldn’t get it out of his mind, had nightmares about it, where he woke up in cold sweats, screaming for her to stop. But she would never stop…unless he killed her.

Letting out a cry of rage, he lunged at her, knocking Irene to the floor. His hands went to her throat, wanting to squeeze the life out of her, to see the light behind her green eyes die. He used to love the color, but now he hated it, because he hated her.

I fucking hate her!

One of the soldiers knocked him off Irene, landing Vinnie on his back. Then a dart hit his chest. He yanked it out and went for Irene again, who was scrambling to her feet, trying to get away from him. Grabbing one of her legs, he yanked her back and climbed onto her, Irene screaming in response. Another dart hit him, this time in the back. He reached behind and yanked it out, his mind starting to go hazy. He fell off Irene, once more landing on his back. He tried to move, but his body refused to obey. A slap struck his face, but he hardly felt it, the tranquilizer dulling down the pain.

Irene slapped him again. “You
bastardo
! I love you and you try to kill me?”

He stared up at her, willing his mouth to work, but nothing came out, the tranquilizer silencing him.

She pushed to her feet and snatched one of the soldiers’ guns out of his holster. She dropped back down and placed the barrel to Vinnie’s forehead. “I could kill you for what you just did!”

Vinnie wanted to tell her to do
it, but again couldn’t move his lips, the tranquilizer also stealing his free will—like Irene wanted to.

Screwing up her face, she removed the gun from his head. “Why do you always have to fight me? I love you so much, love you with every star in the sky, every drop of water in the ocean. I would kill for you,
have
killed for you. And if you just gave me half the chance, I know you would love me too.”

Vinnie continued to stare at her, wishing he could tell her he hated her more than anyone.

She ran a hand down his face, Vinnie’s mind growing hazier by the second. “I
will
make you love me, because we’re meant to be together. You’re mine, not that Viper’s or that dead gypsy’s. And until you realize that, I’ll be patient, knowing one of these days you’ll say those words I desperately want to hear:
Ti amo
, I love you.” She leaned down and kissed his lips.

He screamed in his head, desperately wanting her to stop,
needing
her to stop!

She finally did. “Take him to the car,” she said, pushing to her feet.

The soldiers grabbed Vinnie, but he couldn’t feel their touch, unconsciousness overcoming him before they’d left the room.

Dominic

Dominic’s driver headed around the back of
H20
. The sky was still dark, sunrise not for another couple of hours. Dominic yawned, the meeting having gone into the early hours of the morning. The Donatelli wouldn’t allow it to finish until they’d ironed out all of their differences. Surprisingly, their new Don came across as a good man, Carmine Donatelli not resembling his predecessors. But then again, he could just be a more convincing liar than the rest of his family, especially since Dominic had never come across an honest Donatelli. He just hoped his oldest brother knew what he was doing with that evil fucking family, because the bastards would stab them in the back if they had half the chance. But at least, they’d come to a compromise: not to kill each other, for the moment.

As the car rounded the corner, the driver planted his foot on the brake, shunting Dominic forward against his seatbelt. “Men down!” his driver shouted.

Dominic’s gaze snapped to the windscreen. A black SUV was parked a few feet from
H20’s
back door, with two guards lying next to it, both looking dead. A massive motherfucker appeared through the exit, holding—

“Vinnie!” Dominic yelled.

The man looked at Dominic, then at the SUV, giving the impression he would make a play for it. Dominic rammed his boot down on the driver’s foot, hitting the accelerator hard. The car shot forward, slamming into the back of the SUV. Dominic shunted forward again, the seatbelt hurting like a bastard, but instead of letting it slow him down, he unbuckled it and pulled out his gun.

A barrage of gunfire hit his door, but didn’t penetrate it, his car bulletproof. He snapped at his driver to ram the SUV again, but it sped off. The man who’d been holding Vinnie picked him up again. With the help of another motherfucker, they retreated into the building with Dominic’s twin, the door slamming shut behind them.

Dominic jumped out of his car and went for the door, yelling for his bodyguards in the backseat to follow. He turned the handle, finding it locked. Lifting his gun, he shot at it a couple of times, then kicked the door open. Gunfire came his way. He jerked to the side, flattening his back against the wall. His two bodyguards moved to the other side of the door, both holding their guns at the ready.

Dominic peered around the corner, seeing two soldiers disappear with Vinnie through the door at the other end of the hallway, someone slamming it shut behind them.

“Out front, Gio!” he barked at the younger bodyguard, then shot inside, yelling at Gio’s brother to follow him. They raced down the hallway, Dominic jumping over the dead guard by the band room. He skidded to a halt in front of the door that led to the main part of the club.

Gunfire started up on the other side, but it wasn’t directed at him. Someone else was battling against Vinnie’s abductors, most likely Gio, his bodyguard damn fast.

Dominic opened the door a fraction and peered through the slit, trying to locate Vinnie.

“Do you see anything, boss?” Gio’s brother asked behind him.

“Overturned tables and…” His gaze went to one by the bar. The man who’d been holding Vinnie was firing at someone near the club’s entrance. Next to him was Irene Landi, the psycho bitch clutching onto his unconscious brother.

Rage ripped through Dominic, pure, unadulterated fucking rage. He directed his gun through the slit, intending on shooting the bitch in the head. A bullet hit the doorframe next to him, making him yell out and whip the gun back.

“Don’t do anything stupid that could get your brother killed, Dominic!” Irene shouted.

“You won’t kill him.”

“But a stray bullet from yours or one of your men’s guns might, so hold your fire.”

“Just let him go.”

“I will
never
let him go. He’s my
marito
.”

“He’s
not
your husband, you psychotic
puttana!
”

“The only whore here is you, Dominic, so drop your weapon and I’ll let you live.”

“Go fuck yourself!” He edged his gun through the crack again and fired off a shot. Her soldier knocked her down, stopping the bullet from hitting her head.

A volley of gunshots came from somewhere else in the nightclub, thudding into the door shielding Dominic. He jumped up and went for the stage door, wanting to take out the sniper, wherever the fucker was hiding.

His bodyguard pushed in front of him, entering first. “They’re exiting the building,” Alanzo said, peering through the stage curtains.

He slipped through them, Dominic following him. They jumped off the stage and quickly cleared the dance floor, heading for the building’s entrance. Alanzo stopped in the doorway and lifted his gun, shooting at someone outside. Return gunfire came their way, making his bodyguard jump to the side.

Dominic moved to the other side of the door and peered around the corner, spotting Irene’s men about to shove Vinnie into the backseat of the SUV he’d rammed. He fired off a shot, hitting the closest soldier in the back. The man dropped Vinnie’s legs and collapsed onto him.

The other soldier fired at Dominic, then yanked his injured colleague over Vinnie, pulling him into the SUV. Irene reached past him, trying to grab Vinnie. Blocking her, the soldier fired at Dominic again, then kicked Vinnie to the sidewalk and slammed the door shut. Screaming for Vinnie, Irene jumped out the other door. The soldier followed her, forcing Irene back into the SUV. A second later, the SUV sped off with them, leaving Vinnie behind.