Hush 2: Slow Burn Read online

  Hush 2

  Slow Burn

  Blue Saffire

  Perceptive Illusions Publishing, Inc.

  Bay Shore, New York

  Copyright © 2016 by Blue Saffire.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.

  Blue Saffire/Perceptive Illusions Publishing, Inc.

  PO BOX 5253

  Bay Shore, NY 11706

  www.BlueSaffire.com

  Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

  Ordering Information:

  Quantity sales. Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the “Special Sales Department” at the address above.

  Hush 2 Slow Burn / Blue Saffire. -- 1st ed.

  ISBN 978-1-941924-83-9

  To my number one for always being a hitter for me.

  There is a thought behind every action and everyone believes they are right even when they know their action is wrong.

  ―Blue Saffire

  ProloGUe

  Revenge

  Uri

  New York

  I am standing at the window holding my daughter in my arms when headlights pull into the driveway. I know right away something isn’t right as the car swerves to the left and then to the right before straightening. Valentina’s new Jaguar stops in front of the house and she stumbles out covered in blood from head to toe.

  “Mum,” I call through the house for my mother. She appears in the drawing room wiping her hands on a towel.

  “What is it Uri,” my mother asks with concern in her voice. “Is everything okay?”

  “Take Vita for me please and keep her in your apartments,” I say as I move swiftly to place the baby in her arms.

  Valentina has been gone for almost twenty-eight hours. In that time, I have paced the house bonding with our little daughter, vowing to never allow her to know the hurt her mother and I have been through. No one should have to see the things we have.

  Just the thought of Valentina being so small and helpless when her family was taken from her right in front of her face, makes me clench my jaw as I make my way to the front door. Michael appears from my study with the same concern our mother had on her face. I wave him off, moving quickly to the door.

  “I will take care of this,” I call over my shoulder.

  “I will be in the study if you need me,” he says simply.

  I have to say that I have become accustomed to having my family here with us. No one has asked why I have been caring for my daughter for the last twenty-eight hours without her mother in sight. My family just understands that something important is going on in our lives right now.

  No one here doubts that I will always do what is important and best for the family. So I have received nothing but support as I have been waiting for my wife to return to me. They have come to love Valentina almost as much as I do.

  I step through the front door to find a bloody Valentina standing with her forehead to the roof of the car. I can see her body shake with her silent tears. I knew this would happen. Just as I promised her, I am here to bring her back to me.

  “Come, Love, let’s get you cleaned up,” I whisper in her ear as I reach her and wrap her in my arms.

  I know my wife is hurting, she is also not herself. Val would know not to travel in this state, covered in blood and body matter. When she turns to face me, I spy the bits of brain on her face and the front of her dress.

  Her eyes are glazed over and she looks through me instead of at me. I lift her in my arms and carry her into the house. I will make this all go away, even the mistakes she has made. Valentina will never have to worry about this night again.

  “I love you, my Bella Donna,” I whisper in her ear.

  Valentina remains still in my arms as I move up the stairs to our bedroom. I push past the doorway and kick the doors shut behind us. I place her in her feet in the center of the room.

  Without a word, I light a fire in the fireplace. I start with stripping my shirt from my body and tossing it into the fire. I pull my mobile from my pocket and dial the number I need swiftly.

  “What can I do,” Michael’s voice comes through the line.

  “Make her a ghost. This night never happened. Erase anything that could prove otherwise. The tracker in her car will tell you the route she took. I want it all gone. Pull in every favor I owe if you have to,” I say into the line.

  “That won’t be necessary. I can handle this. I’ve already started, I had a feeling you would ask such a thing. No worries, I have your back as always,” Michael says before ending the call.

  I put my mobile aside and remove my pants tossing them into the bellowing fire. I move over to where Valentina is still standing stock still, staring off into nothingness. Reaching around her I unzip her dress thankful for her foresight to pin up her hair. It is caked with blood as well, but right now I will deal with one challenge at a time.

  I toss her clothes into the fire as well before entering the bathroom to run the shower. I return for Valentina once I have the temperature right in the shower. I lift her in my arms again and carry her into the bathroom.

  I’d be a bloody liar if I said I wasn’t the slightest bit worried that she has yet to say a word to me or acknowledged a single one of my words of comfort. It doesn’t stop me from caring for her or continuing with my soothing words. I soap up her body and wash away the evidence of how she spent her last twenty-eight hours.

  “I love you, Baby. This too you shall put behind you,” I murmur as I hold her under the spray allowing the water to wash the suds away.

  I release her mass of hair and reach for the shampoo. “We will get through this together. I will be your light,” I reassure her.

  It is then that Valentina finally blinks as if just realizing I am in the shower with her. She cups my face in her hands, burying her fingers in my beard. Her blue eyes search mine as they once again become sharp and clear.

  “I will only speak of this once because I need to. Once I have said all I need to say we will never speak of it again. I will not allow my soul to follow that woman to hell,” Valentina says as a single tear escapes her eyes. I nod silently as I wipe the tear away.

  “I have never been emotional about a kill. Not even my first. I killed that monster without a drop of emotion running through my being, but this one was something else for me. I don’t know if it was because I know what she brought to my family’s door or if it was because she sat under our noses for so long.

  “I just couldn’t turn it off. I – I can still hear her screaming begging me to stop,” Valentina stops talking and her lips curl into a smile. “Her screams have now replaced those of my mother and sister’s. Instead of the sound of fear and despair, I will now forever savor the sound of retribution and sweet revenge.”

  ~B ~

  Valentina

  I entered the room and she stood there whimpering to herself. One minute she was snarling threats the next she was begging for anyone to help her. When she thought I was Shannon returning she had so much to say. The look of shock on her face when I flipped on the single overhead light was priceless.

  “W-why are you h-here,” she stammered out.

  “So I guess you do believe in the rumors after all,” I said with a smile on my lips as I watch the blood drain from her face.

  Angie quickly recovered, straightening her shoulders as best she could. She looked a nasty mess, her hair greasy, and her frame thinner from lack of nourishment over the last three weeks. I was surprised she has any fight left in her. I thought she would have curled up and died by now, but I can’t say that I wasn’t more than happy that she had survived.

  I needed this more than I ever knew. As the things Uri shared with me flood my mind, as images of the last time I saw my mother and sister play on repeat in my head, I knew this was just what I needed. The arrogance still rolling off of her fueled my anger anew.

  “I don’t know what rumors you are talking about. What I do know is that you better let me out of here. Just wait until I tell your father about this. You and that brat Shannon are going to pay for this,” Angie hisses angrily.

  “You really are delusional. Or maybe you just wouldn’t know the truth even if it bit you. Well, I intend to bite Angie. You see the truth is… all you have heard about me. Every single word about me being an assassin, one of the most lethal hitters Papa has, is true,” I said with a lethal calm I really didn’t feel.

  “Truth is, Angie, Papa, knows right where you are. He knows that I am here with you. You are the first hit he has ever ordered from me directly, even before he knew I was coming for you.

  “So Angie, all I want from you is the truth. I know what I have been told. How you had my mother and sister killed. How you have been behind so much hurt and devastation in my family. I just can’t believe tha
t all this is true,” I tilted my head to the side as I peered over the woman I loathe with every fiber of my being.

  Angie snorted. “You expect me to believe that you are really Val. There is no way you are the one Gio was always so worried about,” she paused to regard me for a moment. “Ha, you have always thought you were so much better than everyone else. You want to know what I did? I’ll tell you every single detail.”

  The smirk on her face made me want to pull my gun and end it all right then and there, but I didn’t. I needed to hear her words. So instead, I walked over to the only table in the room and placed my bag of goodies on it. I smoothly sat on top the table and crossed my legs.

  Angie rolled her eyes and ambled over to the pallet that was left for her to sleep on. She sat and lifted her head in the air. I had to bite back my anger to keep myself in place and not beat her bloody. Then she started to speak.

  I blacked out at some point. As she recanted all she had done in such detail. Things Uri hadn’t even known poured from her hateful mouth. One moment she was talking and the next I was across the room beating her head in with my bare hands.

  I don’t remember dragging her to the center of the room. I don’t remember breaking her arms and legs. I don’t remember peeling her skin from her face with my hot blades. I just remember her screaming. Then I blinked and I was holding a hand full of her hair with her scalp still partially attached.

  My stiletto was wedged into her shoulder blade as I stood over her with my chest heaving. Her screams at this point were just gurgled, choking sounds. I could feel her last breath hanging in the balance. I pulled my gun and put a hole in the back of her skull. After, I just walked over her broken body still clutching her hair heading for the door. I tossed the offending flesh to the side as I reached the door and turned the handle to leave.

  When I opened the door, Uncle Valentine was standing there waiting. He just nodded at me. The look in his eyes said enough. I knew I had crossed so many lines in that room. Even if I can’t remember it all, I know what I did to her was not merciful and it came from the pits of darkness.

  I think I only stopped when I did because I could feel my breasts starting to leak. It was a reminder that I had a little girl at home that needed me. The sound of Vita’s cries broke through to me.

  ~B ~

  Uri

  “And now the voice of your husband will bring you back,” I say as she comes to the end of her tail.

  She really didn’t have to tell me. When I wasn’t holding my daughter and pacing, I was watching a monitor I had placed in the room she tortured Angie in. Valentina must have really blacked out because she just told a very mild version of what she had done.

  I am not sure at what point she stopped hearing real screams. Angie had lost that ability way before Valentina snapped out of it. None of this matters. We will never talk of this again. I have done and seen much worse.

  “Come let’s get you to bed. Vita missed you. When you are rested, we will go to her,” I say as I wrap her in a towel and lift her in my arms once again.

  “Thank you, my Uri,” Valentina whispers.

  Chapter One

  The Takeover

  Uri

  Italy

  I wish I could say that everything turned into peaches and roses after the night we will never speak of again. Things are never that simple in my life. Instead, I have been summoned to Italy. My uncle knows how much I hate that shit, but I say nothing because I have a feeling I know what this is about. I have seen it coming for some time now.

  Once I realize these two old sods, Don Vincent and my uncle, Don Nicholas, were behind pushing Valentina and I to marry I knew. I am not here because this is something I want. I am here out of respect. So whatever is said to me I will listen and then I will speak my piece. I still haven’t decided if this is something I am willing to entertain.

  Vita and Valentina come first. I will not endanger my family. Big sacrifices are being asked of me here. I know more than what these old men think. This is why I made Valentina remain in the States this time around.

  That woman is still as stubborn as the day that I married her, but Vita softens her more each day. I think our little girl has provided much of the healing my Tina needs. However, when I told her I was on my way to Italy without her she nearly drew her gun on me.

  I chuckle to myself at the memory as I make my way out to the lanai to meet with Don Vincent at his home in Italy. I frown as I step out into the light breeze. The sun is bright, kissing my face as I scowl at the four men sitting before me, Don Vincent, Valentine, my Uncle, and Luca.

  I haven’t seen Luca’s ass in months. Yet here he sits for this meeting. I swear I want to punch him, if not because of his stupidity, then because I am tired of my wife asking me where the fuck he is.

  I have told him over the phone that if he doesn’t want Shannon he needs to grow some balls and let her go. She has enough on her plate without him being an ass. While Valentina seems to be healing Shannon seems to be spiraling into depression.

  When we decided to spend more time in New York, so that Valentina could work for Briggs Security and run her business as well, we both thought it a good idea to bring Shannon along with us. She had been staying in her father’s large estate all by herself. I didn’t like that for a number of reasons.

  One reason being her security. The other reason being the fact that she needed someone to keep an eye on her mental faculties. She has been flying back and forth to Chicago at times, but mostly she has been with us.

  We keep a full house these days. Nico hadn’t told me until the very last moment, but he signed a new contract with an American football team. He has been playing soccer in the States for the last few months. It seems my daughter has both of her uncles and her aunts wrapped around her finger.

  On a positive note, Annabella and Shannon have made fast friends with the Mairettie and Briggs women. Valentina has surprised me by bonding with them all as well. Although at times, I wish she and Pam would stay away from each other, two pure trouble makers those two. Rita isn’t too far behind. I have watched her and my Tina with those looks of mischief on their faces looking as if they are plotting to go on a mission to kill and destroy.

  Luca has no idea of all he is missing out on by running from his life. I think if he were to get his shit together Shannon would too. I sigh. I will have to get to that later. This meeting is clearly about something entirely different and I want to get it over with now.

  “Welcome, my Son in law,” Don Vincent says in his raspy voice.

  “Don Caprisi, it is good to see you well,” I reply as he pulls me in for a hug.

  “You call me Vincent, Uri. Where is my granddaughter?”

  “I left my Bellas in the States this time around. I had a feeling what you called me here for will cause me to have to play a little differently from here on out,” I say pointedly.

  “Ah, yes you are right. I was just hoping to get to see them. It has been awhile, I am sure you can understand why I needed to escape from the States for a bit. It was not easy to learn what I did and remain in a place of such pain,” the Don sighs.

  “Yes, I think I can understand. We will make plans to spend some time here in Italy soon, so that you can have time with both Valentina and Vita,” I offer.

  “This brings me to why I have asked you here,” Don Caprisi says solemnly. “It is time for me to retire from all of this. I have run this family for way past my due time. I should have seen the snake in my own garden, but I lost sight of things a long time ago.”

  “Son, I see that look on your face,” Uncle Nicholas says. “You have known this was coming.”

  “Perhaps we need to shed a little light on things first,” my father-in-law says as he lifts a hand to wave someone over to us.

  I turn only to become more confused. I by no means expected to see my mum at this meeting. I had left her in New York with the rest of my family.

  “Don’t look so surprised. You are a smart boy. I am sure you have figured out that I know a lot more than you think,” my mum says as she walks up to me and cups my face.