Two successive shots rang out.
Tap stared at Willow as disbelief filled his cruel blue eyes and then he fell onto the floor in front of her like a huge dead oak tree.
Her eyes rose up to see Calderone holding two smoking guns raised up.
She blinked hard.
The man she’d spent the night with looked like a gangster now. He wore his dress shirt and no tie, but he still looked magnificent. His face was set in a hard expression, his gray eyes like steel. Then those eyes swung down to her face and the look in them softened.
Hawk stepped forward and gave the other stunned looking man an uppercut to the jaw with his rifle.
Teague flew backwards hitting the wall hard. He slid down the metal container wall and lay there crumpled on the dirty floor.
Hawk then turned to look around to be sure there weren’t any more men here.
Heaving a huge breath out, Willow slumped forward in the chair.
The two dogs ran in while barking. One ran to Willow while the other went over to the man slumped against the wall. The dog growled then sniffed him to make sure he was no longer a threat.
Calderone snapped his fingers.
The dog then went over as they both sat on either side of Willow.
“Oh, Zeus! Molly!” she cried feeling so happy to see her dogs that she almost forgot everything that had just happened.
Calderone stepped closer and snatched the knife off the floor and cut the ropes holding Willow to the chair. He knelt beside her and grabbed one of her hands rubbing her wrist as his eyes traveled over her bruised and bloody body. “Are you okay my Tesoro?” he whispered.
The dogs licked her hands and whimpered in concern.
Willow raised her gaze from her dogs and saw the concern in his eyes. “I-I’m not dead?” she whispered.
“No… God no, piccola regazza.” Calderone removed his own shirt and draped it over her abused body. “One of Hawk’s men is coming with a vehicle. We’ll get you to the hospital, so they can patch you up.”
Willow shook her head. “No hospital. I don’t want this boss of theirs to know anything.” She tried to explain in a breathless voice. “Can’t someone at their club take care of this?”
“Maybe she’s right,” Hawk suggested as he tied the unconscious man up. “We can’t exactly bring the police into this.”
Calderone lifted her into his arms. “Yeah, the Council wouldn’t like that much either. You got someone to take care of her?”
The dogs were agitated in their worry as they stayed on either side of Calderone while looking up at Willow in his arms.
Hawk nodded. “Yeah, someone good. We have our own doctor.”
Willow lifted her arms to circle Calderone’s neck. Laying her head on his shoulders she felt light headed but happy. Then she smiled down at her dogs. She was amazed at how they followed Calderone the way they did. It was truly odd, as they had been trained to only respond to her. Maybe they knew what he meant to her? Somehow?
“Was there only the two of them?” Hawk asked her.
Willow’s lips curled upward. “Their boss never showed. They… were going to rape me as part payment.” She shuddered in Calderone’s hold.
Hawk’s brows went up.
Calderone then did something shocking… He kicked the dead man lying on the floor in the balls.
The dogs growled at the man as well.
Willow gasped. “He can’t feel that.”
“Well, I did and that suits me just fine.” His smooth voice sounded like a growl.
Willow simply gawked at him. She’d never known a man like this one. Even in his undershirt, he exuded such confidence and power. So, it was never the suit that gave him that air of command or the class he exuded. It was all Calderone.
“Did you hear anything that would lead us to him?” Hawk asked her.
She was still staring up at her man and then shook her head as she sighed. “They just called him boss. That’s all.”
Hawk snorted, looking over at Ranger. “We’ll have to get it out of this guy. Get his sorry as out of here.” He nodded at the unconscious Teague slumped over sideways on the floor. “We gotta hurry though. Might not be free out there at the moment, cops are gonna be flooding the place soon. At least, he ain’t feeling any heat anymore, the fucker.” Hawk sneered as his hard glance moved over the hulky dead man on the floor. He called out, “Jackman! We need more muscle in here!”
“I hate to rush this but she’s still bleeding here,” Calderone called out in a worried voice as he walked to the metal door.
Both dogs followed closely.
Willow turned her face into Calderone’s shoulder and groaned.
Hawk looked around the room and saw her clothing. Picking it up, he followed Calderone and his men out.
Calderone was sitting in the back seat of the truck with Willow on his lap.
Hawk leaned over them and lifted Calderone’s shirt out of the way. Pulling her away from Calderone slightly, he balled Willow’s shirt up and pressed it against the bleeding wound on her belly.
The Labrador was at Calderone’s feet on the floorboard and the German Shepard sat beside him on the seat as both watched every move Hawk made.
Willow groaned but didn’t fight him. Calderone then placed his hand over the blood-soaking shirt. “Shhh, Tesoro. It will be okay.” The bleeding had almost stopped and the pressure from his hand would stop it altogether.
Hawk nodded. “That should hold until we get back to the clubhouse.”
Calderone glared at him. “I hope your man can deal with this. She’s lost a lot of blood.”
“He can deal with this,” he assured the angry looking Italian. “Can you?”
“Yeah, I can.” Calderone met his stare with an intense expression on his face.
Nodding, Hawk glanced at the dogs then backed up and slammed the back door shut. He climbed into the front passenger seat slamming that door shut as well.
Then they all waited for the others to put the kidnapper’s bodies into the back.
Willow stared up at Calderone for a long while as she felt both dogs… one licked her ankle and the other her arm.
Calderone held her in his lap the entire time and then the light of his face faded as she went out.
Calderone waited as the doctor stitched up the slash on Willow’s stomach. She was still out and he had given her a shot to keep her out for a bit. “It wasn’t life threatening, but the man was just getting started I think,” the doctor spoke for the first time in ten minutes.
Calderone held her limp hand as he stared at him. “What do you mean?”
The older man sighed. “I’ve been in this violent world for most of my life, unfortunately. I’ve seen the results like this on the human body before done by some sick individuals. You can stab the body in several places and not kill a person. If you do it the right way, you can deliver however many stab wounds you want and the person will never die, at least not from being stabbed, they would die later on though from blood loss. This cut I recognize as that type. He’d planned to slash her many more times before he woulda’ been through. It’s sick, but there are killers out there that apply this technique to get their jollies.”
Calderone felt rage and wanted to kill the man all over again. Unfortunately, he couldn’t but the one who sent this killer was marked already…Due to die by his hand. He was disappointed that he had to kill again. He’d never liked doing it and had managed to avoid it for years at a time, but this fucking greedy world wouldn’t let his hands stay clean. Whoever this fuck was, still needed to die.
The doc nodded at him and finished bandaging her. “She will sleep for a bit. Then she should be a bit weak. But make sure she gets plenty of liquids, like orange juice if she drinks that. Then she needs to eat a meal or two with plenty of protein. She lost some blood with that wound.” He turned and left.
Calderone let out a sigh and raised her hand to his lips. He then glanced down at her dogs still on the floor next to the bed. “We got her back with us now. She is going to be all right. I promise you, no one will hurt her ever again.”
The dogs raised their proud heads and actually stared at his face as he spoke. Then they both laid down and rested their heads on their paws to await Willow awaking.
Calderone stared at her pale but beautiful face then stroked his fingers over the bruise she had on her cheek. “I will do whatever it takes,” he whispered in the quiet of the room.
Willow awoke and saw the sunlight streaming in through a window. Again, she’d awoken and did not know where she was. She gazed up at an unfamiliar ceiling. She felt warm though and realized Calderone had his large arms around her.
She winced a bit as her jaw hurt but amazingly, she felt good. It was good to be alive, is why she concluded. She truly had believed she was going to die and never know this feeling again, the one she had when he held her.
Calderone reached out, grasped her face with his hands, and gazed into her eyes. He leaned over her and pressed his lips to hers.
Willow opened her mouth and groaned as his tongue slipped in. Calderone’s hands slipped under her night shirt and passed his fingers over her breasts. Squeezing them, he pushed her shirt up and uncovered her. Pulling the cups of her bra down, he moved his mouth down to suck on her nipple. “I need you and this,” he whispered close to her skin.
Willow moaned in pleasure as his hand slipped down to her pants. He slid past her underwear and his hand disappeared inside them.
She felt his fingers bury themselves deep inside her body. Willow gasped and moaned. “And—I needed this…” Her words were breathless.
“I know you are weak and sore, so I plan to just give you what you need.” He stroked his fingers inside her.
She moaned as she raised her hips up to get more. “I am fine, no pain. Give me yourself.”
He paused and licked her nipple. “Mi, tesoro, I’m unsure, and you have stitches.” He nibbled on her hard pink peak.
“I don’t care…” She whimpered. “I thought I would never be with you again, please?”
Calderone stared at her face. “You make me crazy, regatta matta.” He buried his finger deep then added another and another. When he was thrusting three fingers deep inside her, he could feel her respond. His cock throbbed against his zipper. He resisted this temptation, as he wasn’t sure she was up to it.
Willow pulled away and tugged her night shirt off.
He paused and then took his dress pants off. He promised himself he would go slowly and not press on her stomach at all. Gingerly, he settled himself between her legs. Without a word, he thrust his cock deep into her.
Willow closed her eyes and moaned.
He took a slow pace and just made love to her in a leisurely way, like a slow rocking in and out of her.
“Please go deeper, harder,” she pleaded.
He ramped up his strokes a bit more. It felt so dammed good, even at this pace, he could do this all damn day. It was the sweetest interlude he’d had in many years.
Her moaning and whimpering grew as thrust after thrust had her ready to explode. “I’m so close.”
Calderone felt the zing of his climax approaching as well and he thrust even faster. He felt her body tighten and he pulsed in her deep.
Willow wrapped her legs around his waist and held on, as Calderone sank into her. They came together and held onto each other tightly as they both ran out of breath.
Calderone finally rolled to her side. Wrapping his arms around her, he held her close. “I could get used to this,” he whispered as he kissed her temple.
“I could too. I think I’m addicted,” Willow answered breathlessly.
He sat up and peered down at her. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
She nodded and bit at her lip. “Damn, am I. Gosh, you are better than any pain killer.”
He smiled then leaned over to grab a bottle of juice he had in an ice bucket. “Here, drink your juice.” He took off the cap and popped in a straw.
Willow dutifully sipped. She was thirsty as hell for some reason and OJ was her favorite.
He pulled it back and gave her that dazzling smile of his. “Better?”
Nodding, she stroked her fingers down along his abs. “So much better.”
He prompted her to drink a bit more. Then he set it back in the bucket and snuggled down with her. “I want you to rest some more.”
Willow suddenly did feel tired. “Yes, sir.”
He chuckled. “Oh, I like that. Call me sir and I will do anything your little heart wishes.”
Willow giggled. “Smart ass.”
“You better believe it.” He kissed her cheek.
They both lay there as Willow fell asleep.
Calderone knew he would be leaving her soon, but she would have a 24 hour guard on that door. No one would get in except for the doctor until he returned.
He had to join his father. In fact, he was fearful that Leon wasn’t safe at all. He wanted him to leave their house until this was over, but the damn man was stubborn. He also felt they needed to get men from the council rather than use any of their own. It disgusted him but… he had to do it. He had so many loyal men there. Ones who’d been with them for years now, and he hated that they could not rely on any of them when they needed them the most actually.
Calderone tried to think of any new men they had hired. No, there hadn’t been anyone new in several years. Then there had been Navarone. The man had disappeared about a year ago. It had been odd as he’d been with them for many years. No one ever found a trace of him. But the man hadn’t anything against them, that Calderone knew about anyway.
After an hour, he wrote a note for Willow and sat it next to her juice. He then went out to the hall.
A very large man sat there. Tats, vest, beard, and huge arms.
Calderone nodded at him. “When did you come on watch?”
“Five minutes ago,” the man replied.
“Okay, no one goes in except the doctor, got it?”
The man nodded. “Same instructions came from Hawk.”
“Good, she was taken once already from a Sinner’s safe house and won’t survive another capture.”
“I understand. This was explained to me by my prez. I will give my life to follow his orders for the club.”
Calderone stared at him. He hoped so. He wished he had his own men… but he didn’t.
“Zeus and Molly,” he called out.
The dogs came running up the hallway.
He knelt down and spoke, “I am going for only a little while. Go in and protect.”
The dogs whined.
Then Calderone opened the door, allowing them inside. He nodded at the man who stared at him then walked down the hall and stopped to use his phone. Time to get his father safe.
