Captivated by the deadly mafia boss

“I’m so tired,” Joseph says and his head rolls to the side, his eyes close again.

“No, stay awake.” I hurry back over to him and crouch down. I need him.

“He’s gonna be asleep for a while.” Henry’s voice wafts through the air from the door.

I spin up to my feet, nearly tripping myself in the process to find Henry standing in the doorway, a gun in his right hand and a cigarette burning in his left.

“Henry.” I have never felt so nauseated by the sight of anyone in my life. “What the hell is going on?”

He lifts a shoulder. “Well. I think you can see pretty plainly what’s happening.”

I look down at Joseph, then back to Henry. “Why… why would you do this?”

He shrugs. “You chose their family. So… yeah.”

He’s drunk. I can smell the booze on him. His blink is slow, and he inhales a long breath through his nose.

“Joseph needed to learn a lesson. So did you. So, I’m killing two birds with one stone.” He brings his cigarette up to his lips and takes a long hit. The lit end glows bright orange.

There’s enough light behind Henry I can tell we’re in a warehouse or storage building of some sort. It’s not large, I can make out the main door not too far off behind him. Maybe if I run full charge at him, I can knock him down and get out.

But I’d have to leave Joseph behind, and that’s not an option.

“Henry, is this because I left New York? You know I had nothing to do with the cops pinching you.”

“Oh, yeah, I know,” he says, taking another drag of his smoke.

I blink a few times. “Then why all of this?”

“You should be mine. It’s not right-you picking one of them over me. It’s not right.” He taps the end of his cigarette, letting the extra ash fall to the ground.

There’s gasoline in the room, all around us I think from the strong scent. If he drops that cigarette, the entire place could go up in flames.

“Henry.” I step closer to him. “Why don’t you let him go and you and I can talk about all of this. Hurting him will only cause trouble between everyone.”

Henry looks over to Joseph who drifts in and out of sleep. “He’s already hurt.”

“Yeah, but if you can get him out of here, send him home, then it won’t be so much trouble, right?” It’s all a flat-out lie. Henry signed his death warrant the second he touched Joseph. But in his inebriated state, I might get him to believe me.

Henry takes another pull of his cigarette. “I can’t. Piotr said to keep him. He wants a meeting.”

“A meeting? Piotr wanted you to kidnap him for a meeting?”

“No,” Henry whines. “He just wanted a meeting with him. But the old fucker wouldn’t have come willingly. I had to do it.”

“And me?” Talking about Joseph is sending him into a spiral, so I need to pull him into a different direction.

“You never should have been with that prick. I hear you were fucking him before you moved to New York. Is that right? You were fucking that asshole?”

He sets angry eyes on me.

“Henry.” I take a breath; even a small one hurts like hell. “Look. Whatever is going on here, we have to stop it, right? We have to call Jakub or Dominik so they can get Joseph. Then maybe you and I can go, we can leave. You know I was leaving, right?”

He looks at me with narrowed eyes. “We intercepted your app; that was smart, right?”

We aren’t getting anywhere.

I look around the room; there has to be something I can use against him.

“Get away from her!” Joseph grumbles from the corner, sending himself into another coughing fit.

Henry stumbles forward, pointing his gun at Joseph.

“Shut the fuck up, old man!” He’s unsteady on his feet but catches himself just before tumbling forward on to his face. But he’s not done with Joseph.

I hear the click of the hammer being pulled back and react. No time for thinking or worrying. I grab hold of the first thing I can, a piece of wood on the floor and swing it full throttle at Henry’s head.

It strikes him, throwing him to the ground. The gun goes off, hitting the pile of blankets I pulled off Joseph when I first found him.

It all probably takes a second, but in my head, before my eyes, everything moves as though time crawls. By the time my brain catches up with reality, I’m staring down at Henry, unconscious on the floor. The gun spun away when it hit the floor and I grab for it before Henry comes to.

“Nicole,” Joseph rasps. “Gasoline.” He points with a shaky finger behind me.

Henry’s cigarette has been flung to the ground, landing in what was probably a patch of gasoline. Flames burst into the room, then follow a trail out into the rest of the building we’re in.

We have to get out. Smoke is already filling the room.

“Joseph, we have to go.” Flipping the safety, I tuck the gun into my jeans, and squat down beside hm. “Can you stand?”

“Yes. Yes.” He nods, but as I wrap my arm around his middle to help him, he calls out in pain. I shove away more of the blankets. His leg is broken.

“Fuck!” I bite my lip. I can’t leave him here. We have to get outside, away from this building. Who the hell knows what else is in here.

“Okay, okay!” I say, but I’m talking to myself. My mind is spinning with ideas and worries. “Push up on your good leg, we’ll get you out.” I take his arm and wrap it around my shoulders, hugging him around his torso. “Put your weight on me,” I order him.

“I’m too heavy.”

“Do it!” I yell into his face.

His eyes go wide. I’m not sure if anyone’s ever yelled at him like that before and lived to tell the tale. But he nods. “Yes. Let’s go.”

I count to three, and we’re on the move. Joseph screams as he gets up to his feet. He’s taller than me, and bigger, but I take on as much of his weight as I can stand while maneuvering him out the room. The flames are licking up the wood door that’s wide open, leaving the doorway safe. If we waited much longer, we’d be fighting the blaze while trapped inside.

The open space of the warehouse is filled with black smoke and flames. Boxes and pallets act as kindling around us. The path to the door is clear, but we have to hurry.

“Almost there,” I say, taking a deep breath. Instantly I break out coughing and Joseph tries to stop us. “No! Keep going,” I say, mostly dragging him to the door. My muscles rage at me, but I’m running on enough adrenaline to keep going.

My shoulders hurt from his weight, my ribs are killing me with every breath I take, and my lungs burn from the hot air I’m breathing, but when we get to the door, I’m able to get it open and yank us outside.

Fresh air greets us as we stumble forward.

A pair of headlights blinds me as a car pulls into the gravel lot before us.

“A little more,” I tell Joseph. “We have to get away from the building.” And maybe away from the car. If it’s Piotr coming to finish the job Henry fucked up, we’re screwed. I’m out of energy, and Joseph’s too weak.

“Nicole!” Jakub’s voice comes from the car as the door flings open.

“Fuck! Dad!” Another voice, deeper than Jakub’s comes next and then the two of them rush at us. Another car pulls in behind them, but I’m focused on Jakub.

“He’s hurt,” I tell him, helping Joseph to the ground.

“Dad, where are you hurt?” Dominik is the second voice, and he goes straight for Joseph.

“I’m fine, I’m fine. Check her. She’s hurt too,” Joseph says, but I’m already being grabbed by Jakub.

“What hurts?”

I wince as he twists my torso. “Everything,” I say and pull away from his groping. He grabs my face, tilting it.

“You’re bleeding.”

“Nicole!” A shrill voice screams from inside the building.

“Henry. I hit him,” I say. “Fire.”

Another car has pulled up while Jakub is looking me over. I can’t breathe, so I bend over, grab my knees.

“We’ll get you to a hospital,” Jakub says, crouching down in front of me, wiping the wisps of hair from my face. “Breathe slow, Nicole. Easy breaths.”

I shake my head. Nothing is easy right now. It hurts. So much.

“Nicole! No!” Henry’s voice is closer, but I’m too tired trying to breathe to care. Jakub’s here. He’ll keep me safe. He won’t let Henry near me. He’ll be here now with me.

I sink to my knees, sucking in a clean breath but it hitches and I’m coughing again. Searing pain spreads up my arm, but it’s the lack of air that drowns me.

Sirens blare off in the distance.

Henry screams my name again.

There’s a gunshot.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper and close my eyes. I never should have left the apartment. “I’m sorry.” It’s all I can say, but it’s not enough and I don’t feel Jakub’s hands on me anymore.

My eyelids are too heavy to open, so I let my mind take me away. We’re safe now. Just a little nap.

I’m safe now.