Hunted By A Shadow: Chapter 25

Halfway down the steps, I see Antonio and Roberto dragging a man who’s been beaten up toward me.

“Boss!” Antonio says, excitement in his tone. “We found him. I was just about to call you.”

The man is forced up the steps, and when I get a good look at his face, rage detonates in my chest.

“Castellanos,” I growl. “Finally we meet.” My eyes flick to Antonio. “Take him to the room.”

As they force him past me, I glance over the warehouse floor until I see Carlo and Emilio. I gesture for them to come.

It’s only when I walk to the room where they took the fucker the realization that I finally have Castellanos registers.

I have one of the men directly involved with Giulio’s death.

As I enter the room, I shrug my jacket off and toss it to the side. Antonio and Roberto have a tight grip on the man as my arm swings back, and my fist connects with his already busted jaw.

The satisfaction I feel is fucking intense, but it does nothing to lessen my need for vengeance.

I hit him twice more before Carlo and Emilio join us.

Taking a step back, I unbutton my cuffs so I can roll up my sleeves.

“Good job, guys. You can leave,” I say to Antonio and Roberto. “Go to Elio so he can pay you.”

“Yes, boss,” Antonio replies before they leave.

I need to promote Antonio. He’s become a valuable asset.

“Strip the fucker,” I order.

Carlo and Emilio get to work while my eyes burn on the man who belongs to The Harvest.

When he’s as naked as the day he was born, I signal for my men to force him to his knees.

“You supplied a kidney to Dr. Bentall,” I say to bring him up to speed in case he has no idea why he’s here.

Castellanos’ eyes snap to my face.

“The faster you tell me everything I want to hear, the quicker this is over,” I lie because I’m going to fucking make him pray for death before I kill him.

“I don’t know a Dr. Bentall,” he mutters.

My chest rises and falls with heavy breaths as my focus zooms in on the fucker, and unable to stop myself, I repeatedly kick the fucking shit out of him.

Before I kill him too fast, I manage to pull back and roll my shoulders to ease the tension building in them.

“Let’s try this again,” I say. “You supplied a kidney to Dr. Bentall.”

“So fucking what?” he spits as he moves back into a kneeling position, his face torn with pain. “Hah? What does it have to do with you?”

I crouch down until I’m at eye level with him. “Who grabbed Giulio Pirrotta? Who cut him open?”

A bloody smile pulls at Castellanos’ busted lips. “Oh, you mean the boy who cried like a baby? Why do you care?”

“He was my little brother,” I grit out between clenched teeth.

Castellanos’ eyes widen as he realizes he’s not getting out of this alive.

“Your brother?” He shakes his head. “You have no siblings.”

“I fucking adopted him. He was my heir, and you fucking gutted him.” Rage flays me to the bone and strips me of all my self-control. Lunging at the fucker, I force him onto his back and shout, “Hand me a fucking knife!”

Emilio acts quickly, and when he places the knife in my hand, I order, “Hold the fucker down.”

They grab his shoulders, and I move off Castellanos. Pressing the tip of the blade against his side, I shove it slowly into his abdomen.

He lets out an agonizing cry, and with a cruel smile on my face, I say, “Look who’s crying like a baby now, bitch.”

His body trembles from the shock, and his eyes are wide as he finally has the common sense to fear me.

Keeping the blade embedded into his abdomen, I growl, “Who grabbed Giulio?”

“I did,” he hisses. “I fucking gutted him like a meatbag.”

He’s pushing me, so I’ll just kill him.

“Where does The Harvest operate from?” I demand.

Another bloody smile stretches over his face. “We’re everywhere…move from city to city…never in one place… longer than three months.”

Using force, I cut a deep line down to where his pubic hair starts.

The fucker howls like an animal, the sound making a powerful wave of satisfaction fill my soul.

“Who’s your leader?” I ask through gritted teeth.

A humorless chuckle ripples from him. “Montes.”

“Montes fucking who?” I shout.

Castellanos’ eyes lock on me. “Servando…Servando Montes. He’s a…ghost. You’ll never…find him.”

The corner of my mouth lifts. “Don’t underestimate me.”

Pulling the knife out, I shove my fucking hand into his abdomen, grab a fistful of whatever fucking organs I touch first and yank it right out of his body.

His agonizing cry is cut short as his body starts to convulse.

I rise to my feet and watch as he goes into shock, and with his blood dripping from my hands, I savor his last breaths.

After reassuring Dad for the hundredth time I’m okay, I take a step away from him and cross my arms over my chest.

“Why did you do it, Dad? Why go to such extreme measures for a kidney?”

“I couldn’t lose you, sweetheart,” he whispers.

“I made peace with dying,” I say, my voice still thick with tears.

“I wasn’t…I couldn’t just watch you die!” he exclaims.

“So you got a kidney on the black market? Surely, you know how they get most of the organs. Innocent people suffer and die to supply the market.”

“I didn’t think about that,” he admits. “Dr. Bentall told me he could get a kidney, and I didn’t ask any questions. I just wanted to save you.”

“At the expense of a twenty-year-old man! His life had barely started.” I suck in a breath to try and calm down.

Finally, being able to express my anger and heartache, it’s hard to keep my temper under control.

“What is done is done,” Dad says, making my eyes widen on him.

“It’s far from done,” I almost shout. I slap my hand against my chest. “I’m a freaking prisoner. For the rest of my life.”

Dad’s face crumbles under the strain of knowing he failed me as a father.

“I’m trying to think of a way to get us out of this mess.”

“Us?” I hiss. “There’s no us. I’m the one spending day in and day out in that penthouse with a monster.”

I move farther away from Dad and close my eyes as I suck in deep breaths so I can calm down. I don’t have long before I have to return to the penthouse, and who knows when I’ll see Dad again.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper.

“It’s okay, sweetheart. I deserve your anger.”

Suddenly, a man screams in pain, and the sound has me jerking with fright.

Dad and I stand frozen, staring at each other with wide eyes.

That did not sound good at all.

A howl of pain fills the air, and I quickly move to Dad’s side and grab his arm.

Dad shakes his head before looking at me again with urgency filling his eyes. “I’ll find a way to get you back. I promise.”

“I think I have a way, but it’s risky,” I whisper, scared someone will overhear us.

“What?”

“I think I can make him care about me.”

Dad immediately shakes his head. “No! No, don’t do that. It’s too dangerous. A man like him will rape you if he thinks you’re interested in him.”

Yeah, I’ve thought about that as well, and honestly, I’m willing to sleep with Renzo if it means I’ll get my freedom.

“I’ll be careful,” I say. When Dad shakes his head again, I remind him, “Renzo hasn’t hurt me, Dad, and I don’t think he’ll force himself on me. He seems to be softening toward me. I really think my plan will work.”

An excruciating, pain-filled wail tears through the air, making us freeze again.

Someone’s being killed.

Jesus.

The air fills with tension, and before I can catch my bearings, Renzo stalks into the room. His hands are bloody, and the rage on his face is so dark it makes my soul cower back in an attempt to escape him.

Dear God.

Without saying a word, Renzo grabs my forearm, and I’m ripped away from Dad.

Glancing over my shoulder, I hurry to say, “Bye, Daddy. I love you. Don’t worry about me. Remember, I can see you on the live stream.”

“I love you, sweetheart!” Dad’s face crumbles as he watches me being dragged away by Renzo.

As we pass an open door, I make the mistake of glancing inside, and horror crashes over me. A naked body of a man lies on the concrete floor. He’s been brutally beaten and disemboweled.

Jesus.

I’ve never seen such a level of violence in my life.

The air is knocked from my lungs as I’m reminded who Renzo really is. The past two weeks I’ve forgotten what he’s capable of.

He drags me down the stairs to the lower floor while my mind reels with terror.

I’m pulled into the office, where Renzo addresses the man behind the desk with rage simmering in his tone. “We’re looking for Servando Montes. He’s the leader of The Harvest. Have every available man look for the fucker.”

“Will do, boss,” the man replies, not at all bothered by the blood on Renzo’s hands.

The blood that’s now on my arm.

Oh God.

My stomach churns as I glance down to where he’s holding me.

My breaths become audible, drawing Renzo’s attention to me. When he notices what I’m staring at, I’m pulled out of the office and taken to a restroom. My arm is shoved beneath the tap, and Renzo rinses the blood off my skin.

The moment he lets go of me, I pull my arm away and take a couple of steps backward.

I watch as he washes his hands and how the blood-stained water swirls down the drain.

He just tortured a man. He pulled his freaking insides out with his bare hands.

Jesus, what was I thinking? I’ll never be able to make this man care about me. Someone like him isn’t capable of feeling love.

Renzo dries his hands, and his eyes settle on my face. “Did you enjoy your visit with your father?” he asks.

“W-W-What?” I stutter as I struggle to switch gears from being engulfed in terror to answering such a simple question.

He moves closer to me, and taking hold of my jaw, his eyes sweep over my face. “Another panic attack, topolina?”

I quickly shake my head and suck in a deep breath of air so he’ll see I’m breathing just fine.

“Didn’t you enjoy the visit?” he asks, his eyes sharpening on my face.

“I did,” I whisper. “Thank you.”

He tilts his head. “Then why do you look shit scared right now?”

Seriously?

My eyebrows pinch together, and I pray to all that’s holy I don’t piss him off as I say, “You j-just killed a man w-with your bare h-hands.” I pause, and my tongue darts out to wet my dry lips. “You disemboweled h-him. The blood…t-t-the blood…”

Once again, this man surprises the hell out of me when he suddenly pulls me against his chest. His arms lock around me, and his hand settles against the back of my head.

A tremor wracks through my body from feeling his powerful body against mine.

Maybe he does care? Why else would he try to comfort me?

“He deserved to die,” Renzo whispers, his voice still laced with darkness but also carrying an undertone of sorrow. “He’s the one who killed Giulio.”

I nod quickly to show I’m listening.

“My little brother was my heir. There was no one I loved more than him,” he admits.

Realizing Renzo is actually opening up to me has my lips parting with shock. This is a side of him I haven’t seen before.

Silence falls around us, and I become overly aware of how it feels to be held by this man. Whether he’s holding me to offer some comfort or because he’s playing with my emotions is unclear, though.

Turning my head, I rest my ear against his chest, and my face goes slack when I hear how fast his heart is beating.

Is it racing because of me?

Do I dare get my hopes up?

Not wanting to miss my chance, I pull my arms free from between us and wrap them around his waist.

My heartbeat speeds up dangerously fast when his body curves around mine, and he presses his mouth to my hair.

Holy. Freaking. Shit.

Suddenly, he lets go of me, and walking past me, he mutters, “Let’s go home.”

I quickly follow him out of the restroom while my mind races a mile a minute to process what I just learned.

Renzo has to care about me to react like that. Right?