Protecting The Princiepessa (Complete)

~ Chapter 23 ~

“Adriano, please,” Santino whispered, blood dripping from his mouth as well. Izzy looked between the two men, wondering what happened in the span of just a few minutes.

“I don’t want some God damn excuse,” Adriano growled out, shoving the gun further into his face. “Some asshole just f*****g stole 250 thousand from the boss and since no one is here but you, I should lay the blame at your God damn feet!”

“It wasn’t me; I swear!” Adriano roared as the butt of his gun fell down on the already broken nose and Santino howled in pain.

“f*****g speak up before I do more damage to you and your ass doesn’t walk out of here!” Adriano took a step back and Santino slowly stood up, his free hand clutching his nose.

“I was coming to load up, I swear, I wouldn’t cheat the boss! As I was coming in, Hector was leaving, his coat was full. When I went into the tank to take out the packages, I noticed there was a s**t ton gone without the money to back it up. I called Victor as soon as I figured it out and I went out to chase Hector, but he was gone.”

“Where’s Mike?”

“I don’t know. I told him I needed to load up, so he was supposed to meet me here and he hasn’t shown up yet.”

“Mike left this place unlocked and allowed Hector to take that s**t?” Izzy stayed back along the wall, not wanting to make a peep but she was confused. Was Mike here while Adriano was gone? Or was Mike the only one who had a key? And who was Hector? Was that the pair of eyes she felt on her?

“No! I don’t know what exactly happened, but I know Mike was here,” Santino said, still trying to stop the bleeding from his nose.

“Find me Hector and Mike, or heads are going to roll!” With that, Adriano backed away and then turned around, giving Izzy no chance to escape. Sure, it was dark by the door, but she had no doubt that he would see her. And even from the distance, she could see his eyes flash and she knew she f****d up. “What the f**k are you doing here?!” He was standing in front of her within seconds and had her upper arm in a tight grip. “I told you to keep your ass in the car and you f*****g didn’t listen!” She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. She wasn’t afraid, exactly, but the fire, the anger, those were all things she hadn’t seen from him before, not like this.

“I….,” she stopped and shook her head, but nothing more was coming out.

“Well?” he ground out and she swallowed hard.

“I didn’t feel safe,” she whispered, and that was the truth. She didn’t. She got out of the car not just because she was curious but because she felt something was off. And when she stepped out, she felt eyes on her, but she couldn’t figure out from where, nor did she have any clue who would be watching her either.

“In my car? That was locked? And a safe distance away?” She could only nod. His eyes narrowed at that response. It was obvious that was not what he was expecting, and she couldn’t blame him. “Let’s go.” He hauled her right back outside, leaving Santino to call whomever he was calling; probably trying to figure out what was going on himself. “Still feeling like that?”

“Actually, yeah.” That had him quickly stopping and she almost stumbled by his side. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but her eyes danced around. No one was in sight, but from the way his stance changed, Adriano felt it too. Without a word, he quickly turned around, his gun aimed and fired before she could blink. She heard a cry and then a thud and took a step back against Adriano. He had seen the man? How the hell was that possible?

But as he walked the distance to the tree line, she realized there was a lot about this man she didn’t know. She was lusting after someone she had no clue about, and that was pretty f*****g dangerous in her book. She had better check herself before she wound up doing something dumb and reckless, okay, more than she already had. She licked her lips as she took a tentative step but someone else came up next to her to lightly grab her arm.

“Don’t, he’s pissed off enough.” She glanced to her right, seeing Santino there. “That’s Hector, and he’s about to be dealt a whole lot of hurt. It’s best if I take you away, Izzy.” She wanted to argue, she really did, but as Adriano started back towards them, dragging the man behind him, she thought better than opening her mouth.

“Take her inside,” Adriano ordered Santino and that caused a shiver to race down her spine. She didn’t want to go into the building anymore, not to witness whatever was about to happen, and she had no doubt that something ugly was about to go down.

“Adriano,” Santino started but shut up as soon as Adriano tossed him a look. “Let’s go, Izzy.” She fell in step with him as they walked back into the building.

“You want to cross me, cross the boss? Was that a wise choice?” Adriano asked and Hector stared up at him, his eyes wide. The fear was there, she could see, so she couldn’t understand what would make him do something like that. His life was on the line if nothing else. “Answer the God damn question!” She winced at the brutality in his voice.

“I….I…didn’t…t..think…th…the mon….ey would…be…missing!” Even Izzy rolled her eyes at the sheer stupidity of that statement. She was naïve in thinking that money wasn’t as highly watched as it was, but she was new to the game. He, however, had a longer standing here and knew better than that. Adriano laughed as he pulled out his gun, checked his chamber, c****d it, and aimed it at the man on the ground. “Please, Adriano…”

“Oh, f**k off with that s**t. You know damn good and well there ain’t no please in this business.” Without a blink, or a shiver, or any other tell-tale sign that this bothered him, Adriano shot the man straight through the hand. Never, in her life, had she heard a cry pierce the air as loudly as that one had. And before she could get her bearings, the gun was going off again, this time through the other hand. Izzy blinked back her nausea at the sight, and through the darkness of it all, she had to give props to Adriano for his aim. She didn’t think a man would be able to get off the shots he had for the way Hector was holding his hand.

“Carlo doesn’t like people messing with s**t that is his, Hector and you f*****g know that. So, his message is just like it was in the olden days, a hand for a hand for stealing. You’re lucky the message wasn’t aimed at your d**k; I might have taken more satisfaction in that than just shooting your hands.” Hector just nodded as he stared at his blood-soaked, and now useless, hands. She knew the message was out and anyone who saw him would brandish him as a thief; even she knew he wouldn’t last long on the streets at this point. “Bring Mike in.” She glanced around, surprised to see that he wasn’t there, so she was curious how the hell Adriano even knew he was there. She stepped forward to ask but when he pulled out a wicked-looking knife, she froze.

“Wh…what…is…that?” His eyes finally landed on her and she wished they hadn’t.

“You know a knife.”

“I do, but….wh..w.hat are you…go…going to…do…with it?”

“Pass along another message.” She took a step back when Adriano got in her face, an evil smile on his lips. “Is it too much for you yet?” This was a lesson for her? To see this pain, this bloodshed? She stood a little straighter and narrowed her eyes at him, causing his smile to grow. “We will see, firey one, just how much you listen next time.” With that, she glanced over her shoulder as Mike came in with Santino. Mike’s eyes took in the scene and then started shaking his head at Adriano.

“Wait, man, before you do anything, hear me out!” Adriano just shrugged and chucked the knife, watching with satisfaction as it embedded itself in his thigh. Mike screamed and Izzy turned her gaze away. She got the message, she learned the lesson; the next time someone said to keep her ass away, she was, regardless of the outcome.

“Speak, Mike.”

“I was told something was happening outside. I thought I locked the joint up before I left. There was a fight, our men when doing stupid s**t. I know the boss wouldn’t like that, so I ended it. I didn’t think anyone was coming in but Santino.”

“He f*****g got you out of here, you dumbass! I don’t know what he did with those men, but it was enough time for him to do what the f**k he did.” With that, Adriano grabbed Mike’s hand and Izzy had to squeeze her eyes shut as that wicked knife landed on his fingers. He howled in pain, and she fought not to throw up but it was useless. She followed the faint light and ran out the door, throwing up what they had for breakfast, and then some. After several moments, when she was finally able to stand straight with some semblance of a calm stomach did she feel the presence behind her.

“He told me to take you to his home,” Santino muttered, and she nodded. She wasn’t sure she’d feel as safe with him, but she knew that at this moment, she couldn’t get in the car with Adriano and not want to cry or beat him to death!