Angel’s Trumpet by Sem Thornwood

 

The next day I woke up wrapped in Sal’s arms. Pretty routine stuff.

We managed to take the twins home after some talking and finally had a good night’s sleep. Now both of us needed to go, though. I wished we could just take the day off, but it was not possible. I mean, I could ditch school for a day, but Sal had been away from work long enough. He was still all worried about the Russians and Ricci.

When he pressed himself to my back, he didn’t seem very worried, though. I could feel his morning wood between my asscheeks as he nuzzled my neck. I snuggled close to him, smiling, and Sal cupped one of my breasts. “I love your tits.”

I chuckled. “I almost don’t have tits.” I was never self-conscious about my body, but it was true that I didn’t have curves to spare. I was petite and mostly flat.

Sal bit down my shoulder and pinched my nipple. “But they are so delicious. Just like the rest of you.”

I felt the smallest thrust of his hips and knew I shouldn’t fell into the trap. “I need to get up. I have school.” I was actually more worried about his job, but this was a better excuse.

“I’ll make it quick.”

“You never make it quick.” And thank God for that. Sal always liked to take his time with me.

He made a frustrated sound. “Come on, Angel. I know you are wet for me.”

Well, I was, but it didn’t matter. I turned in his tight hold and pressed a kiss to his mouth. “Tonight. Tonight, you can fuck me for hours. Now we have to leave.”

He kissed me again and slapped my ass. “I will be ready to collect that promise.”

“Deal.”

Then he actually kept his hands to himself, and we got ready. Life was just going on as regular. I went to school. Had lunch with Dakota. Decided to make dinner because I robbed my husband off of morning sex. It was a nice routine day. At least until one point.

I went to the grocery shopping after my classes were done, and Verona called me when I was about to go back home. A hint of worry crept into me, but I still managed a calm tone when I answered. “Verona? Everything okay?”

She was not too calm, though. “I want to come home!”

“What? Your school is not over.”

“That is what Aldo is telling me. I need you to tell him to take me home.”

Aldo was Verona’s bodyguard, and it was only natural that he refused her wish. There were still two hours before her school ended. “Why do you want to go home?”

I heard a shifting noise like she was trying to get away from someone. Then she whispered, “I got my period.”

That was no reason to come back home. “And?”

“I never had it before!”

Well fuck maybe I should have paid more attention to those things. Being a kind of mom to two twelve-year-olds at the age of nineteen was no easy task. But at least I knew how Verona must have felt. She should come home to feel nice. I felt angry at Aldo for making her call me. “And Aldo still didn’t take you home.”

“I didn’t tell him.”

“Why?”

“I can’t tell him that!” she said angrily. Oh boy, so we also needed to have a talk about not being ashamed of our periods. Mom in training time.

“Okay, give Aldo the phone.”

When she did, I told Aldo to take her home. He mumbled shit about security, and I told him that he was taking her home, not to a strip club. In the end, he accepted.

Instead of hopping back into my car, I turned back on my heel to go get her tampons and pads. I didn’t know which one she would prefer, so it was best to buy a few different types from both.

After I came back from my second shopping trip, I got into the car with a small smile on my face.

“Something nice happened?” Mateo asked, but there was no amusement in his tone. He seemed tense. He always seemed tense.

Since everything in my life was going great, I mostly ignored him, but he still managed to piss me off sometimes.

“Verona got her period,” I explained. “She couldn’t tell Aldo, so I had to tell him to take her home.”

With that, he seemed a little more tense. “She is going home right now?”

“Yeah, she probably is there already. Is it a problem?” I asked because he acted like it was. What was it? Was he going to confess his love for me when we were alone? I was really far away from understanding Mateo’s weird acts. He changed so much since I got married.

He murmured, “Of course not.” I could still see that his shoulders were tense, but just like I always did, I ignored it. Instead, I focused on the road, the dinner I was going to make, and the talk I was going to give to Verona.

When I saw a bakery, I parked the car. I wanted to buy her a cake. Maybe I was acting like one of those moms who were too enthusiastic about anything, but I didn’t care. Her first period was something we needed to celebrate.

Mateo looked at me with concern, but I didn't give him time to talk. I bought a big vanilla cake with peaches because it was Verona’s favorite. I stopped myself and didn’t make them write “Happy First Period” or “Welcome to Womanhood,” though.

I was very good.

After that, I got into the car and drove, ignoring Mateo’s tense shoulders. I really couldn’t give any shits. I was too excited for Verona and the dinner and whatever Sal had in mind for when we would go back to our bedroom tonight.

My life was truly great.

When I pulled in front of the house, I saw Mateo texting on his phone. “Come on, I can’t carry everything on my own.”

He nodded and got off the car. We took the bags out of the baggage. Mateo took all of them. I eyed the garage before going into the house. The car Aldo used for Verona and Valerio was already parked.

No security problems, then. Good.

I got into the house after Mateo, but for some reason, it felt a little too silent. I thought Aldo would be waiting for me, but he was nowhere to be seen. Verona was not here too. She must have been upstairs looking for a tampon or a pad, probably.

“I should go look for Verona. Can you take the groceries to the kitchen, please, Mateo?” I started walking to the stairs, but Mateo didn’t move. I looked at him over my shoulder. “Mateo?”

He gritted his teeth. For some reason, there were tears in his eyes. “I am sorry, Mia.”

My brows came together. “What do you…” I couldn’t finish my sentence because five men appeared from all sides. I didn’t even have time to think who they were or how did they get in. I just knew they were danger, and I knew Mateo was the rat.

I screamed and rushed to the door, hoping any guard to hear me even though they probably eliminated them before I came. It was better than giving up. I needed to make someone aware. If not for me for Verona upstairs.

I wished that I didn’t let her come home. I wished that I told her to ask for a pad and stay in school until the end. But I didn’t have much time to regret my decisions. One of the guys grabbed me by the arm, pulling me back from the door. I tried to fight off his hold, but he was three times bigger than me.

I screamed and kicked around, but then one of the men cursed, and I felt a sharp pain on the back of my head. Then the world turned black.

My last wish before losing it all was for them to the left without realizing Verona was home.

 

I tried to focus on the papers in front of me so that I could be done earlier and go home. When Aldo texted me that he was taking my siblings home early, I got tense, but then he told me it was Mia’s order. I didn’t question it or even called Mia to ask why she did that. She must have had a reason. And now that I knew my family was home, I wanted to be with them. All the warm fuzzy stuff from yesterday still had an impact on me. I was eager for more family time, and I was eager for more Mia. I thought about her promise to me for tonight and smiled to myself. I was really going to tire her up.

I said fuck it and pushed the papers away. Got up from my chair to get on my way home, but my phone ranged. I took it out, hoping it was Mia. Unfortunately, it was not her. It was a name that set alarm bells on my head. Franco Ricci.

“If you are calling to ask which hooker is the best at blowjobs, I am going to kill you.”

His voice didn’t sound like he was asking about that, though. He didn’t sound like Franco Ricci. He sounded serious. “You should check up on your family. Bianca called.”

My steps immediately got faster. He was shitting on me or not. I needed to get home. “What did she say?”

“She doesn’t know what he did or going to do, but she heard him talk, and then he left. Bianca says that he is about to do something big. Call your sister your wife, I don’t know. He is about to do something dirty, Salvatore. Bianca said they got the okay from the rat.”

“Fuck!” I shouted as I reached my car. Soldiers around me looked alarmed. “Follow me to the Mansion,” I ordered and got into my own car. Alessio was still at home with Bella, so I was not very worried about them, but Mia and the twins were at home.

The thought of someone hurting them tightened my throat. All the control I managed to gain left my body. Ricci wanted me unhinged, and he knew this was the best way to do that. But there was no way I was letting him hurt my family.

“Franco get your sister and go to Vista,” I ordered. “I want her safe in case she knows more.” Then I hung up without waiting for an answer.

I dialed Mia. I needed to hear her voice, know that she was safe. She didn’t answer.

I called Mateo, thinking that maybe Mia was still driving. He didn’t answer.

I called all of my guards, but none of them answered. I was driving like a mad man. I was not losing my family. I would set the world on fire to keep them safe.

When I was close to home, my phone rang. I took it out, praying it was Mia. Praying that she was just making a silly surprise or something and stopped everyone from taking my calls. Praying that it was just a stupid fucking joke.

I wouldn’t even be angry. I would just be grateful. Everything was better than finding out that my wife was gone.

But it was not Mia. It was Valerio. I answered at once. “Valerio! Please tell me you are with Mia and Verona.”

He coughed, and his voice came so tired, so broken that it tore my heart in pieces. “They broke in, Sal. Verona is with me.”

“Mia?”

“I don’t know.” Then it sounded like he was ready to cry but couldn’t bring himself to do it. “Please come home.”

“I am here,” I declared and pulled in front of my house. My soldiers came just after me. I rushed into the house. “Find my wife!” I ordered.

My need to find Mia was great, but I also needed to make sure my siblings were okay. My soldiers were going to search the house anyway. I fisted my hands and ran upstairs to Valerio and Verona’s wing. “Valerio!” I called out.

“We are here,” a weak voice came, and I walked towards Valerio’s room, but before I could open the door, he stepped out. His long hair was disheveled. There was a cut on his lip and a shiner on his left eye. The sight boiled my blood.

He swallowed thickly. There was something dark but broken in his eyes. “Verona doesn’t want to see you,” he said.

I rubbed away the blood on his face. “I am going to kill them,” I promised. “Did they hurt her too?”

His eyes teared up. He was probably carrying the weight of not being able to keep Verona safe. He was a kid himself, but when he nodded, I knew no word was going to help him. He was going to bear the pain of two people.

“You will be there too,” I declared. He was going to get initiated one of these days anyway. “Now go back to Verona. She needs you.”

He opened his mouth to answer, but I didn’t let him. All was said. Instead, I walked out of their wing and asked the first soldier I came upon. “Is she here?”

He shook his head. “We are still looking.”

I tried my best not to punch the wall.

I failed.

She was the most precious thing in my life, and I let her get hurt. I wanted to strangle myself. If I found out something happened to her, I might do just that.

I was about to go unhinged and ruin every part of the house, but the ringing of my phone stopped me. I might lose all control, but the slightest chance of hearing about Mia still managed to bring me back to reality.

She was my everything.

She was the only thing that mattered.

It wasn’t Mia. But it was an unknown number. I answered at once very well, knowing it could be Ricci or the Russians calling to inform me they had my wife. At the moment, that was a good possibility. I would give fucking anything to take her back. If she was not dead, I would get her back one way or another.

And she was not fucking dead. It was just not possible.

“Who is this?” I answered the phone. Nothing good would come from an unknown number, so there was no need to be civilized.

“Salvatore Vasile,” I recognized the thick Russian accent of Igor Zakharov, Chicago boss of the Bratva. “How does it feel to know I can easily access your house?”

I had no time for fucking chit-chat. “Where is my wife, Igor?”

“Oh, I can’t tell you that.”

Hell, you can’t. “I will set this city on fire if you hurt her. Just tell me what you want.”

He laughed in delight, and I wanted to reach from the phone and rip out his tongue. “You think I kidnapped her? You are about to feel really dumb, Salvatore.”

“Speak before I fucking kill you.”

Again, he laughed. He didn’t even sound threatened, which was natural considering he held my heart and soul in his hands. “My rat was your wife. She told me how to get into the mansion and how to drive you crazy. She was with me all along.”

“You’re lying,” I answered quickly.

“It must be hard to accept. I thought you were different, Salvatore, but I see, just like your father, you are also obsessed with a woman who is eager to run away from you. Take it from this old man. Love is a weakness.”

What kind of trap was that? I didn’t even find it in me to get mad at him for comparing me to my father. All I could think about was Mia. I didn’t believe she was gone willingly, even for a second. “Even if she would leave me, she would not leave her brothers.”

“Love is a weakness. She would leave everyone for love. She needed an out with that bodyguard of hers, and I offered help. She is long gone with her lover.”

I remembered how Mateo looked at us. I remembered how he only reported me when Mia was talking with another guy. He was watching her with strange looks as well. He might really be in this, but Mia was not.

Mia loved me.

Mia belonged to me.

She would never leave me.

“You are lying,” I repeated.

Igor laughed again like I was a stupid kid. “I will send you the pictures so you can start looking for what else you are missing other than your wife.” He hung up. I didn’t fucking care what else they took. My topmost priority was saving Mia.

I rushed into my car, so I could go to Vista and take as much information as I could from Bianca Ricci. I just needed a location. After that, I wouldn’t even hesitate to start a war for her. I would put everything in line for her.

Then my phone rang but this time with a message. I opened the message and saw a bunch of pictures, all taken the same day. Mia and Mateo were on a peak looking over the city. Mia was sitting on the car’s hood, and Mateo was leaning against it. They were kissing.

Mateo was kissing my wife.

Dead man walking.

I was in no headspace to focus and see how Mia was reacting. Did she seem uncomfortable or willing? I also didn’t have the heart to do it. I punched another wall and started walking towards my car. True or lie, I still had to save Mia. I still needed to make sure.

I only had one question on my head as I sat behind the wheel. Which was better, Mia kidnapped but still in love with me or Mia safe and sound but away from me?