Carmine

––––––––

...two, one,” Adriano concludes, forcing me to decide.

When I embrace Eva, the rage and dread that are pinging inside me transform into hurt. How can I save myself and just abandon her? I haven’t even come to terms with letting her go, and now I have to erase her from my life as if she never existed? As if she hasn’t turned my world on its axis?

“It matters to me, little thief,” I say against her hair, touched that she would sacrifice herself for me, and her head whips up.

While gripping my lapels, she implores, “But if you can get out of this—”

“No!” I cut her off. “I’m not throwing you to the wolves!” And I slam my back against the door, shoving Eva in the other direction and ordering, “Run!” Then I see a steel rod on the floor, so while pressing the door shut, I pick it up and place one end against the floor and wedge the top beneath the handle before stepping back.

Adriano yanks at the handle and curses. Rotating around, I catch up to Eva racing toward the far end of the aisle. But when we’re just over halfway there, the door crashes open and Adriano, Luca, and Cam sprint toward us.

Adriano’s order echoes off the high ceiling, “Stop moving, Carmine, or I’ll shoot!”

With that, we stop since we haven’t reached the other door, and as I circle around, I raise my arm with my Smith & Wesson in hand.

Adriano, Luca, and Cam are midway down the aisle with their weapons cocked at us while they stride closer, and I edge in front of Eva. “Stay behind me.”

For the first time, my brother and I are on opposite sides. I didn’t think it was possible for me to feel more conflicted.

Adriano continues to point his gun at me with a pained expression that’s clouded with fury, and his scowl is unparalleled as he slides his finger over the trigger. Although I’m not positive he’ll open fire, I’m backed into a corner, and furthermore, we’re not close to the door yet, so I propel Eva sideways behind a metal storage rack, shouting, “Duck!”

Eva falls on her hands and knees, and I cover her with my entire body right before a gun discharges with an earsplitting bang and a bullet hits the rack beside us.

“Fuck! He shot,” I grumble, astonished, tugging Eva upward. “He won’t miss next time. That was a warning shot.”

“Carmine!” Adriano’s manic tone resonates off the walls.

I grab Eva’s hand and tow her behind me through the rows of racks.

“Run on your toes, Eva,” I whisper, straining not to make any noise.

After passing more than ten racks, we slump against one to catch our breath, and I can clearly see that Eva’s distraught. “I’m scared.”

I wrap an arm around her shoulders, tucking her into my side. “We’ll be fine. I promise you.” And I kiss the top of her head as she clings to me.

“Carmine? I know you’re still in here!” Adriano yells.

“Fuck!” I mutter and inch forward, tangling my fingers with Eva’s.

“What’s your plan, Carmine?” Adriano taunts.

I halt abruptly and Eva slams into my back. Turning on my heel, I signal in the other direction to her, and we hurry away from Adriano’s voice, which is coming from the middle aisle where he’s looking for us in the spaces between the racks behind us.

We keep running through this enormous place and end up almost back at our original spot where we can escape through the main entrance. But all of a sudden, a noise ricochets through the warehouse and everything goes completely dark.

Christ! Henry’s probably also here and cut the lights.

“What the fuck?!” Both Adriano and Luca boom through the space.

Eva clasps my hand harder as we come to a standstill. There’s no sound except for our breathing. No movement. No footsteps. Adriano, Luca, and Cam aren’t moving either, or at least, I can’t hear them.

Raising my arm, I search for Eva’s face. She’s standing in front of me when I quietly implore, “Don’t let go of my hand, okay? Whatever happens, hold on to me so that we can stay together.”

I feel her nodding as my thumb strokes her cheek, and I sense her shuddering in fear, making me wish I could end this quickly. For her sake. A similar panic races down my spine. I don’t want to be apart from Eva, because I desperately crave to protect her.

So I skulk forward again and find the cold metal of a rack, edging alongside it and keeping a death grip on Eva’s hand while the sentiment, which I thought was guilt, that I’ve never experienced in the past rears its head again. Only, this time, I recognize it for what it is – an undeniable attraction that’s turned into pure affection; that’s the truth that burns in my veins.

But unfortunately, now is when I realize that continuing on is growing problematic because of the blackness surrounding me.

“What should we do?” Eva asks, plastered to my back.

“I’m not sure. I have no idea where the entrance is now.”

“Carmine, I can’t see a thing. Can you see anything?”

“No.” I turn to her and she embraces me.

“I’m terrified, Carmine. Who turned off the lights?” Eva whispers just as I wonder if Henry is actually here, because Adriano and Luca cursed in confusion when the lights switched off.

Yet I seek to comfort Eva. “I don’t know.” As I caress her hair tenderly, she lays her head on my shoulder and I enfold her to me. All that matters is getting us out of here in one piece. “I swear to you that I’ll do anything to protect you. Do you believe me?”

Apparently, in the dark, I’m able to bare my true emotions. Eva has not only become enamored with me. I’m infatuated with her too. I’ve known it for a while but only just now accept it. Under these dire circumstances, I’m able to acknowledge how this woman has become important to me.

“I do believe you,” she answers.

“Do you trust me?” I ask, whispering.

“Yes.”

“Then all I need you to do is stay with me. I won’t allow anything to happen to you,” I vow, stroking her hair and calming her while I absorb the sounds around me. “I won’t leave you alone.”

Out of nowhere, a voice rings out near us. “Oh, dear god, aren’t you two just adorable.”

Eva gasps when she’s ripped from my arms, and I reach for her, but she’s gone.

“Carmine!” Her distressed tone floats farther away.

At the same moment, a string of overlapping shouts and curses resound through my eardrums and chaos explodes. I hear people grunting, smashing, and metal railings clanking.

“Eva!” I lunge forward in the dark, feeling left and right and bumping against racks in a wild attempt to get to her.

“Carmine—” Her mouth is smothered.

Dread multiplies instantaneously while my main goal is to get her back. I don’t know which way I’m going, yet I keep running. While I’m moving toward her voice, the lights turn on again, gradually shining brighter, and I freeze in the middle aisle of the warehouse as the reality of the situation grows more horrific. My palms fly up in surrender as two men come up behind me, and we’re outnumbered by far. And standing several feet in front of me is Roman with his knife at Cam’s throat as he holds her against his chest. He’s flanked by Gwen and two more soldiers, all armed. To his right are three men who are aiming their pistols at Eva, Adriano, and Luca. Adriano stares at Cam, helpless, while his face flames with rage.

“Take his gun,” Roman instructs, and one man standing behind me confiscates my revolver while my arms are pulled back.

Adriano and Luca, who have their hands up, scowl at me as Roman’s men thrust them to stand next to me. But Eva and Cam catch each other’s eyes for a second, and then Eva leaps to the side while Cam elbows Roman in the stomach, breaking free. However, as Roman howls from the pain, he clutches a fistful of Eva’s black hair, yanking her head back, and winds his arm around her throat to keep her captive in the same position in which he had Cam.

“No, Eva!” I roar, which results in the butt of the pistol being jammed against my nose, pain crushing me as blood drips from my nostrils. Yet the second I see an opportunity to defend myself, I hurl sideways to head-butt my assailant, but the guy holding my upper arms anticipates it and blocks my attempt by tightening his grip.

In the meantime, Cam stumbles and Adriano jumps forward to catch her but is clocked in the back of the head as Cam cries, “Adriano!”

But she’s caught by another soldier as Adriano growls in anger while he’s pulled upward. “Don’t touch my wife!”

Roman taps his chin, evaluating Eva, then me.

I’m afraid that any unexpected movement would prompt Roman to cut Eva. Still, I try to tread forward, but the man behind me imprisons me.

“Stop right there.” Roman inches back with Eva, whose terror is palpable as he whispers into her ear, “You’ve just made things worse for yourself.”

Eva spits, “You wanted me and you’ve got me. Let them go.”

“Don’t, Eva,” I shush her while the rest of us stand in a line, and Adriano frowns at us while Eva and I lock eyes, hers teeming in tears, so I tell Roman, “Hurt her and I will cut off your limbs.”

Roman’s victorious smile is directed at me as he pulls Eva closer. “No way. He likes you. Well, then I’ll use you instead of Cam.” He glances at Cam, who’s standing to my right, between Adriano and Luca, and says, “But don’t worry, you’re next, Cam,” before he glares at each of us. “On your knees.”

His men all have their guns aimed at our heads – we’re at Roman’s mercy.

Adriano clenches his jaw while I grit my teeth, and he obeys, going down. So Luca, Cam, and I follow suit.

“Since that’s out of the way, I can welcome you to my party. While it was entertaining to watch you go against each other, I have other plans.” Roman peers at Gwen, whose dirty sneer is pinned on me. “Look, Gwen, while you obsess over him, he sticks his cock in a whore!”

Tears pour from Eva’s grey eyes as she stands stock-still, regarding me in anguish, as if she’s memorizing each line on my face.

Then Roman rips her sweater right down the middle so that it falls open, partially exposing her breasts. He licks his lips, his expression taking on the glow of a predator. “Someone who’s captured your interest for longer than a minute must be an exceptional fuck, Carmine.”

“What the hell do you want?” I snap, my patience lost. “Or do you want to keep provoking and talking all night?” My fury that’s yet to be unleashed builds inside.

“What if I do? There’s nothing you can do about it.” Roman tightens his clutch on Eva’s throat, making her grimace.

On instinct, I start to struggle again while I’m on my knees with my hands being held behind my back.

“Stay there!” the man pushes the barrel of the pistol against my head and I go still once more, breathing hard.

“But to get back to your question. I want my sister to see who you really are. I want you to fucking pay for what you did to her!”

In complete confusion, I retort, “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“You took her virginity and dumped her!”

I glare at Gwen. “I didn’t know that. And she never mentioned it. We never even dated. She was very nice when I told her I wasn’t interested,” I counter, provoked, and Roman frowns, betraying that Gwen has given him some sob story, and I also get the sense he doesn’t realize that this is all ancient history. “Did she tell you this all happened years ago? And we barely knew each other! Why is it my fault your sister’s a nutcase?!”

“You bastard!” Gwen marches forward and slaps my cheek. But I keep steady, spitting out blood at her feet, causing her to leap back. “You never realized how much I loved you?”

“You don’t even know me! We fucked a couple of times, Gwen, and you gave me the damn watch. You pretended everything was fine when I told you I wasn’t interested in a relationship.”

“Because I was hoping you’d see how good of a woman I could be by your side! But you only want to sleep with whores!”

“Stop calling her a whore!” I fume, fighting against my captor.

“Gwen!” Roman interrupts, jerking his chin at her to return to him before he says, “I don’t care about the details, Carmine. You have to pay because she’s so infatuated with you, yet you’re not even worth shit.”

“You want me? Then take me. But let Eva go!” My tone is unlike it’s ever been before: unsteady, desperate.

He chuckles dismissively. “No, I want to hurt you. And what better way is there than to use this feisty one you seem to care about. But I also want to hurt the Syndicate; you started this war by hiding this whore!”

“You’re playing a very dangerous game, Roman. Empires fall due to egos, not wars. Don’t threaten me with a war. I will come at you with the full force of the Syndicate.”

“Ha! The full force of the Syndicate are on their knees, which suits me just fine, because while I shadowed you, I discovered that not only do you have my escort, but the Syndicate has met with Pelayo.” Scowling at Adriano, he adds, “You want me out, don’t you? You think you can get a better deal with him. Well, I am done with you. While, at first, I just wanted Carmine, this little whore has now gotten me the highest ranking men of the untouchable Italian mafia. You think you’re all-powerful. But your Syndicate has fallen because of your own brother and a tramp.”

A calming breath is out of reach. I betrayed my Syndicate, and now we’re all going to die here together due to my recklessness.

Roman abruptly shunts Eva down and she’s forced spread-eagle, trembling as one man snatches her ankles and another slams her hands against the floor.

A cold fury impels me to tug free, yet as I dive forward, I’m kicked in the rear and collapse flat on my stomach on the cold concrete when the man jumps on my back, pressing his knee into my spine.

“Look at him, Gwen. He risks his life for a whore!” Roman goes down on his haunches while Eva gulps back sobs, and my guard takes my wrist, extending my arm as sweat trickles down my temples.

In a flash, he slices his knife across my palm, deep enough to make me growl from the burn, and a line of crimson trails out. Lifting his arm, he stabs the knife through my hand, all the way to the floor, and Eva shouts as I bellow from the pain.

Roman then grips Eva’s throat and one of her breasts over her bra. “I’m only going to ask this once, and if you fail to answer, I’ll do to you what’s meant to be done to whores, right in front of your lover. Did Carmine help you escape and did he kill my soldier?”

Silence stretches on as she purses her lips.

“I’d answer if I were you, or I’ll cut Carmine’s pretty face up,” Roman advises viciously.

The quietness infuriates an impatient Roman, who signals to his accomplice again.

The knife is torn from my hand before the guy grips a fistful of my hair and gradually cuts the blade along my jawline. I grumble from the trail of fire it leaves on my skin.

“Noo!” Eva cries, paling as she witnesses the blood dripping from my chin, and I hear Cam’s awful screams coming from somewhere behind me.

All the while, Eva and I study one another as if we’re alone, her manner packed with fear, the suffering she’s experiencing evident from her blinding haze of tears that singe my soul. I can handle the torture, but I’m not sure what Roman will do to her. And I know deep down that it’s all my fault that she’s now being assaulted in this remote warehouse.

Roman snaps his fingers to stop the guy from mutilating me, and my mood is savage when he grips Eva’s breasts. As my hand gushes blood profusely, he commands, “Force his head to face the other way. Let him wonder how I play with his woman.”

Without preamble, my head is tugged back and my other cheek is pushed to the floor so that I can’t see Eva. I notice blood pooling around my chin as the cut along my jaw throbs. And I witness Adriano glaring at Roman instead of me while Cam observes me in horror and empathy.

My wounds drain my body of energy as Roman taunts me, “Carmine, she has a wet pussy.” And when I stare at Adriano, he grimaces, causing my panic to reach unmeasurable heights.

“Son of a bitch. If you rape her, I’ll cut your cock off!” I thunder, twisting against my captor.

“You will do no such thing. You may listen while I fuck her raw; that’s what she’s here for. And when she’s about to come, I’m going to make you watch.”

All of a sudden, Cam begins to weep uncontrollably while Roman and Gwen shout at Eva, I think, yet with my head turned and the fuzziness in my mind due to the trauma to my body, I can’t distinguish Eva’s voice. But when Adriano winces and I recognize sympathy in his gaze before he looks away, I feel more agony about what Roman’s currently doing to Eva than anything else. Not knowing might be worse.

I’m unable to breathe, damning Roman to hell while I keep struggling, but I’m too weak and there’s a pain in my chest that won’t go away.

“Eva?!” I shout.

“Carmine!” she answers before I hear her cry being smothered.