Perhaps he’d just been humoring her in the hope of another round of that glorious sex—
No!
She refused to believe that of Leon. He simply wasn’t the type of man to tell a woman he loved her one minute and forget about her the next. Carla completely believed him when he said he’d never told any other woman he loved her.
Even the thought of that filled her with the sort of overflowing happiness she’d never know before.
She was loved by Leonardo Brunelli!
Then maybe, if she was going to be a gangster’s girlfriend, she was going to have to learn some patience?
Maybe she was.
But that wasn’t about to happen today.
Carla pulled on her jacket and picked up her phone and bag before hurrying out of her apartment.
Except when she got outside, she found the SUV still parked in the same spot, as expected, but there was no sign of Padraic.
Carla searched the front and back of the building. Without success. Where the hell—
She stilled as she heard a thumping sound, listening closely to try to decipher what the sound was. She finally realized it was coming from the SUV.
There was no one sitting in the front seats of the vehicle, and it was difficult to see inside the darkened windows, but the noise seemed to be coming from the storage area at the back.
Carla jumped back with startled gasp as the back window suddenly burst outward before landing on the tarmacked road behind. Seconds later, before Carla had chance to recover from her shock, a familiar head popped up into the space where the window should be.
Despite the fact he had a black eye and cuts and bruises on his face, with a gag tied tightly about his mouth and his hands secured behind his back, Carla recognized him as Padraic. The bodyguard Leon had left here to keep her safe.
Leon!
Carla rushed forward to pull down the gag over Padraic’s mouth. “Where’s Leon?”
“Bastards took him about an hour ago. They’d already shot me, and they then secured me and thrown me in the trunk of the SUV before the boss left the building.”
Someone had taken Leon?
What the fuck— How fucking dare they? Leon wasn’t going to be taken by anyone but her! She would wipe them all from the face of the fucking earth—
Dear God, she was channeling Leon and the way he always used the f-bomb when he was upset or angry. Admittedly, she was both right now, but swearing wasn’t going to help get Leon back.
“Do you know who took him?” she demanded.
Padraic nodded grimly. “I recognized Roberto Russo, younger brother of Don Sebastian.”
“His brother?” No wonder Don Sebastian wasn’t talking if he’d known his brother was close enough to try to rescue him.
Padraic grimaced. “Roberto wasn’t invited to the wedding, so we had no idea he was even in London until I saw him today.”
“We need to go to the warehouse— Wait a minute, did you say they shot you?” While they were talking, Carla had unlocked and lowered the back door before managing to find the little tool kit her father insisted she keep in her bag. She offered up silent words of thanks for his fussing as it now enabled her to cut the plastic ties off Padraic’s wrists and ankles. “Where were you shot?”
He raised his hand and pulled back his jacket, allowing Carla to see a hole in his shirt, exactly over his heart. “Bastards didn’t know I’m wearing a vest.”
Which meant they’d intended to kill him. “Are you hurt?”
“I’ve probably cracked a rib or two, but otherwise, I’m fine.”
He wasn’t fine, but Carla didn’t have the time right now to challenge him on the claim. “Can you walk?”
She helped to steady him after he nodded and slowly got down from the vehicle to stand up. Obviously, he was hampered by both the blood returning to his feet and hands and his possible broken ribs. “Give me the keys to the SUV, and I’ll drive us to the warehouse,” she instructed grimly. “We’re going to need the help of some of your cousins if we’re going after Leon.”
He took the keys from his pocket and turned off the alarm as well as unlocking the doors. “I can drive us—”
“You should be going to an A&E. You aren’t capable of driving us anywhere.”
“We don’t have time for that, and I’ve driven under worse conditions than this,” Padraic dismissed. “Also, the boss isn’t going to like it if you—”
“The boss isn’t here to like or dislike anything I do right now,” Carla’s voice broke as she pointed out the obvious. “I’m driving,” she repeated firmly before helping him into the passenger seat and then hurrying round the vehicle to get in behind the wheel.
She took a moment to adjust the seat and mirrors before familiarizing herself with the workings of the SUV. She had a full driving license, but it was years since she’d bothered to get behind the wheel of a car. The bus and underground services were so good in London, and regularly parking a vehicle in the city was almost impossible. She’d never driven an automatic either, which she was guessing the powerful SUV was, but she would manage. She had to if she wanted to save Leon.
If he was still alive, that was.
“You’re going to die very slowly, Roberto,” Leon told the younger man in a conversational tone. “A prolonged beating and lots of broken bones first, which I’m sure Padraic’s cousins will very much enjoy administering. After which, I’ll allow them to kill you in whatever manner they decide upon. I have no doubt it will be a suitable ending for the man whose men tried to kill their cousin.” At least he hoped it was only tried.
Leon had been able to do nothing but watch, after stepping out of Carla’s apartment building, as what he hoped was an unconscious Padraic had his wrists and ankles tied and a gag tied over his mouth before
