Protettore.

Chapter 23.

Nora's POV

I pulled my knees to my chest, trying to make myself as small as I could. I never should have left Enzo's side. We drove for hours, and I didn't recognize any of my surroundings. The nerves were sinking in, causing stomach cramping nausea to hit me.

I mustered up the courage to ask Raffaelo where we were going, and the sadistic grin he gave me sent shivers up my spine. "I'm taking you to see an old friend of yours. It's always nice to see old friends, isn't it?" he asked rhetorically. "Varlam has been waiting so patiently for his turn with you."

He made me sound like an object, a toy, that was being passed around the playground. I shuddered at the thought of what Varlam had in store for me when he finally got his hands on me again.

"Varlam promised me Lorenzo's territory when we get rid of him and those loyal to him. Fiero is next on that list. I'm glad his bitch got some of that poison. Nothing makes me happier than seeing those bastards suffer." His eyes held malice I was very familiar with.

"What did they ever do to you?" I demanded. Raffaelo wasted no time in snatching a fistful of my hair and pulling my face close to his. I struggled against his hold but his strength outmatched mine.

"Watch your tone when you speak to me you little bitch." He growled in my face, before he pushed me away from him, knocking my head against the car window. Tears burned my eyes as I pressed my hand to my head. While I did this, I caught the eye of the driver looking at me in his rear-view mirror. His face showed a flash of concern, but it was gone as soon as it appeared, making me question if I had really seen anything at all.

The driver was wearing black on black. Typical bad guy attire. He was blonde and had a medium build. I didn't remember seeing anyone blonde at the meeting Enzo held at his building in the city, so this must be one of the Russians Raffaelo had become so chummy with.

Raffaelo hadn't bothered to blindfold me, and he was being very open with the information he was sharing. They weren't worried about me telling anyone where we were or what their plans were. They didn't think I was going to get out of this, and I was starting to think they were right.

We stopped at a chain link fence that had a guard's station at the main entrance. The guard buzzed us in without more than a glance up from the magazine he had in hand. We finally came to a stop in front of a huge house. I would go as far to call it a mansion. My head was pounding from where it made contact with the car window, and when I saw Varlam waiting to greet us on the porch, the headache I was developing only worsened.

"What is she doing here Raffaelo?" Varlam demanded. He was angry and that meant nothing good for me. Raffaelo hauled me out of the car by my upper arm as if I weighed nothing, then threw me at Varlam. As much as my skin crawled at his touch, I knew I had to bide my time. If I began fighting now, they would keep a closer eye on me. Varlam held me close to him as if I were something precious. I tried to keep the disgust off of my face.

"What was I supposed to do? She heard me on the phone with you. She knew too much. If I let her leave, she would have blown everything!" Raffaelo shouted back.

"Lorenzo will come for her!" Varlam spat.

Raffaelo stomped forward and got in Varlam's face. "Then let him come!" He screamed.

Varlam pushed me behind him, as if to protect me from the raging Italian. These are the things he did that confused me so much when I was still with my uncle. He made it seem like he really cared about me.

"I'm sick and tired of people treating Lorenzo like a God, as if he was untouchable. I am stronger than he's ever been!" Raffaelo continued to scream.

The shouting had some of Varlam's men out on the porch in seconds with their guns drawn on Raffaelo, who only responded by sneering at them. I watched the blonde driver hesitantly pull his gun as well, but he kept it at his side.

"Remember who you are talking to boy." Varlam stated coldly. He spoke down his nose at Raffaelo. "You've gotten a big head in the leadership position that I have put you in. You have no power over me. I mean to say we are unprepared for a full-on attack from the entire Italian mafia. Do you understand why that may be an issue, if we don't have enough men here on site to deal with that situation, or are you too dense to see a problem in that scenario?"

Raffaelo's face became crimson with rage. "We outnumber his men three to one! Who cares if we lose a few men along the way?" He said dismissively.

I felt my stomach churn at his complete disregard of human life. The longer I stayed in his company, the more unsafe I felt.

Raffaelo wasn't done ranting. He continued shouting at Varlam, ignoring the guns pointed at him. "This wasn't our plan, but Lorenzo wasn't planning for this either. We're fine. You're blinded by your ridiculous infatuation with that bitch." He spat in my direction. When he said this, I saw Varlam's body language change. His back became stiff and he stood up to his full height.

"Kristofer," Varlam called, and the blonde driver turned his attention to him. "Take Nora to the room that was prepared for her. Lock her in and stay at her door. Make sure no one but me goes in or out of the room. Give her anything she needs to be comfortable."

Kristofer walked towards me. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as the crunch of his boots on the gravel got louder. He took me roughly by my upper arm, dragging me into the house. I looked at Raffaelo once more, before being pulled off of the porch. The look of contempt I gave him was only rivaled by the one he had for me.

We entered the house with shouting voices echoing behind us. The blonde man took me up a flight of stairs and through the hallways, making so many turns I knew I would never be able to find my way out on my own. I had always been so terrible with directions. Now that we were out of sight of the other men, his grip on me loosened. He would occasionally look down at me and sigh.

I didn't feel like I was in immediate danger with him, but I knew better than to let my guard down. If I kept my mouth shut, I might avoid worsening my situation. When he stopped pulling me, he opened a door into an elegant suite that was decorated with the best of everything. I hated it. All of the money that had bought these lavish things had been made in unsavory ways. How anyone could sleep soundly in a house like this was beyond my comprehension.

"I'll be right outside if you need anything." Kristofer said and he placed his hand on my lower back, to shove me into the room I assumed, but when his movements paused, my heart sunk. He had felt the gun I had on my belt. Any pitiful remnants of hope that I still had dissolved into nothing.

I spun around and met his eyes. His face began to blur as tears filled my eyes, the realization of what just happened crashed upon me. My breathing was labored, and it took everything in me to push that panic down. Hyperventilating would only make things a thousand times worse. In a last-ditch effort to hold onto my freedom, I drew my gun from its holster and pointed it at this man's heart. I had never pointed my gun at anything that wasn't a non-moving target. My legs were trembling and there was nothing I could do to stop the tears from rolling down my cheeks.

Are you capable of killing someone Nora? Is your life worth so much?

I didn't know if I was even strong enough to do this. How would I live with myself? Was I even worth this much trouble? Why was my life worth more than his? The simple answer was: it wasn't.

Then I heard Rosie's voice in my head. "You brought life into his heart." With this in mind, I felt my resolve solidify. I couldn't just give up on Enzo without a fight. I steeled my gaze on the man in front of me and stood firm in my stance. He put his hands up in surrender. I moved my finger to hover over the trigger but before I could pull, he said something that had me frozen.

"He's coming for you."