Luca

So I fought those men with everything I had, I kicked them in the legs, the torso, I even got a lucky kick in the face of one of them but it was all pointless. Eventually my energy levels depleted and the thug with the needle straddled me holding my arms in place with his massive frame as he jammed the needle into my neck.

Within seconds the drugs were dragging me under into the darkness, as I heard Sanchez telling his men it was a shame such a pretty little thing had been sold to such a monster and that I wouldn’t see the week out in his opinion.

I had no idea who had brought me or what lay ahead in my future, but I wasn’t broken, I wouldn’t ever be easily broken. I would fight with my very last breath before I ever let the likes of Sanchez or anyone else defeat me.

Chapter 27

Luca

“She put up a decent fight, I’ll give her that.” Leo said as we poured over the CCTV footage from the house and grounds checking over every minute detail from every available angle for a hint or a clue as to where they might have taken her.

“Didn’t really stand much chance though did she?” Dan replied.

I could barely contain my fury watching those bastards put their hands on her. How dare they think they could walk into my home, touch my girl and then take her away from me. All with a smug as fuck grin on their sadistic faces. Their own Mother’s wouldn’t be able to identify them when I’d finished with them. A special place in hell would be

reserved just for them and I was going to make sure they got there sooner rather than later.

I glanced over to my brother and he looked as venomous as I felt. His jaw was tense and he wasn’t normally a teeth grinder like me. His hands were balled into fists by his side and he was breathing deep and fast. Every time one of the men went anywhere near her he sucked in his breath as if he was in pain. I think he actually was hurting to be honest, we both were.

When we made the call to bring in our men to look over the footage and help us create a team to face off with Sanchez, I decided to include Vinnie. I knew how he felt about Chloe and although it pissed me off I knew he’d stop at nothing to protect her. I needed my best men beside me when I went to get her back. I couldn’t afford to fuck this up. Sanchez had crossed a line and made a bold statement coming into my home, I had to respond with as much force as I could otherwise my whole network would collapse around my ears. Sharks were always circling and I couldn’t afford for any cracks to appear in my organisation or someone would come along and take advantage. The fact that Sanchez had taken Chloe was the worst fucking statement he could have made towards me. If I couldn’t even keep my woman safe what did that say about me as a boss? It needed sorting now, and I couldn’t wait to get our team together and head over to the warehouse where I knew Sanchez would be hiding like the vermin he was.

I was going to burn the place to the ground and I’d tear down every last building in this God forsaken city until I found her. No man was going to stand in my way. Not unless they wanted to be taken down, permanently.

I split my men into groups, one to secure the perimeter of the warehouse, three groups to secure the main building and my team who were coming into Sanchez’s office; lair might have been a better term for it; to interrogate him and find out where he’d taken Chloe. I knew she wouldn’t be at the warehouse, he wasn’t that stupid to keep her in such an obvious hiding place.

We checked our weapons, guns, knives and protection. Sanchez had no idea what was heading his way, I was a man on the edge with nothing to lose. That made me his deadliest enemy and worst fucking nightmare.

We headed out to the compound on the other side of the city in a convoy of blacked out trucks, vans and SUVs ready to drive straight through the steel gates and into their territory. As the first van charged through the suspiciously opened gates the men around the building stood back. I had no idea why they weren’t firing, I guessed they were expecting our arrival and had been told to let us through. Marco asked me if I thought it was a planned ambush, whether we were being set up, but I just shrugged and said I couldn’t give a fuck. We were going in regardless. This was the only way we could reach Sanchez; it was our only link to Chloe.

The first team assigned with securing the outside perimeter exited their vehicles first and approached Sanchez’s men. After a few minutes two of them came over to our vehicle to let us know Sanchez was expecting us. The three teams securing the building led the way into the compound as we followed, heading towards the office where Sanchez and his top men would be hiding out.

As we walked through the warehouse we could see drugs being packaged, cut, weighed and processed in one far corner. A strange indoor caravan park with approximately fifteen or twenty old dilapidated caravans were on the right side of the warehouse. Holding bays for the people they trafficked I guessed. Was Chloe being held in one of those? I’d figured Sanchez would be a fool to keep his ‘merchandise’ in the same place that he worked but maybe he wasn’t as smart as I first thought.

This place stunk of death, misery, violence and deceit. It was damp, with zero natural light, old rainwater dripped from the ceiling as you walked through and the dirty hard floor was covered in filth and shit probably from the rats who shared the building. Looking at the men who worked for him I wouldn’t have trusted them as far as I could throw them. They all wore shifty expressions on their surly faces and the whole outfit screamed of corruption, or so it appeared. Business dealings happening in shady corners, everyone looking like they were out for themselves. No camaraderie whatsoever. I never claimed to be the best boss or control the best operation but at least I knew with true conviction I could trust every last one of my men to support me and have my back.

When we got to the back area of the compound and the steel door that stood between my team and Sanchez we each braced ourselves for what lay ahead, standing a little taller and flexing our muscles ready to do battle, ready for whatever onslaught Sanchez had planned for us.

One of the men outside the door insisted we surrender our weapons to him before entering so Dan agreed to stay outside and hold our guns and ammo; we weren’t about to hand over our protection into their hands. Freddie, Vinnie, Marco, Leo and myself entered the office to find Sanchez sat behind his desk, a smug satisfied smile on his face and three men stood around him with guns hung over their shoulders.

“Marquez, you came sooner than I expected.”

He leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on his desk like it was some cosy social visit.

“Where…the fuck…is she?”

I snarled putting both of my hands flat on his desk and leaning over to stare him dead in the eyes.

He chuckled to himself making my back go up and my instinct to attack him across the desk surged forth as he grinned mocking me.

“You know, you came earlier than I expected but you’re just too late.”

He shook his head and smirked at the man stood to the right of him.

“Fucking tell me!” I snapped. “Where is she? I’m not here to play your fucking games Sanchez.”

He took his feet off his desk now and leant forward towards me, his eyes ablaze as if I’d offended him.

“I don’t play games.” He took a deep breath in, then pointed over at Freddie. “Your brother on the other hand…he seems to think it’s a fun game though, coming into my clubs and taking what belongs to me. Now that…that is a dangerous fucking game to play Marquez.”