Taken by the Underboss: A Venturi Mafia Spin-off novel, page 1
Copyright © 2023 Nikki Rose.
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.
Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Names, characters, and places are products of the author’s imagination.
Book design by Nikki Rose.
First printing edition 2023.
All rights reserved.
Venturi Mafia
Reading Order
Rendezvous with the Enemy (Venturi Mafia, #0.5)
Free with newsletter subscription
Willed to the Enemy (Venturi Mafia, #1)
Bound to the Enemy (Venturi Mafia, #2)
Devoted to the Enemy (Venturi Mafia, #3)
Taken by the Underboss (Venturi Mafia, #4)
Hired by the Consigliere (Venturi Mafia, #5)
Chapter 1
Alessandro
“Hello?” Teo's concerned voice came over the line, but he sounded different.
“Teo?”
“Yeah.”
I took a deep breath, unable to hide the pride in my voice. "We got him. We took out the bastard and his men while they were at their meeting, so we were able to get them all at once.”
“That’s fantastic. This news couldn’t have come at a better time. Thank you, my friend.” Teo was one of my best friends, but he was also my future don, and his grateful tone made my chest puff out with pride.
“I was happy to do it.”
“Do you need transport home?”
“No. We’ve got a cargo ship. We’re heading that way now.”
“Any casualties on our side?”
“Two of my guys,” I felt a pang of sadness at the mention of losing them. “Luca lost three of his men and a bullet grazed him as well.”
“Luca was shot?”
I glanced over to Luca who sat in the backseat of the car, staring out the window. “He assured me that it was just a flesh wound and that it could wait until we got back on Italian soil. He’s more concerned for the fallen men.”
“Their sacrifice was not in vain. You guys took out a huge enemy today and I will see that their families are taken care of.”
“I know they will appreciate that.”
“Make sure that Luca and the other injured men get checked out as soon as you’re home.”
“I will. We should be offloading in Tuscany.”
“Call me with your coordinates and I’ll have the jet ready to transport you all as soon as you dock. It should be patched up by then.”
“Oh yeah, I heard about your dramatic entrance into France.”
“You have no idea, but we will catch up on all that as soon as you're home.”
“I look forward to sitting down with you and having a strong drink after this.” And I would need it too.
“You got it.” Teo ended the call, and I pocketed my phone, letting out an exhausted sigh.
The fighting had been more brutal than I let on. One of Graziani's bullets had torn through my side before I put two bullets in his chest. I could still feel the residual burn from the bullet grazing across my skin, but that didn't matter. I was the one who walked away. I'd survive, and I didn't want to worry Teo while he was still enjoying his post-wedding bliss.
We left our SUVs parked out of sight, just off the main road, and crept through the tree line with our gear on our backs. It wasn’t long before the dim lights of the dock came into view along with the silhouettes of a few dock workers loading a large cargo ship, ready to depart for Italy.
It was easy enough for our skilled team to slip into the open cargo bays and the last of our men found their way on board just before the cargo doors were shut. We crouched behind shipping containers and waited for the ship to embark on its journey to take us home.
The men worked in shifts, keeping watch while the rest of us, scattered among boxes and crates, propped ourselves up on our gear and tried to get a little sleep until it was our turn as lookout.
After dozing off for about an hour, I woke during one of the shift changes and glanced at Luca, sleeping, propped up against a large shipping container. His skin was a paler olive than usual, and his lips matched.
"Hey Luke, you alright?" He didn't respond. I gripped his bicep and gently shook him. "Luca? Wake up. You okay?" He stirred a bit that time, his eyes weakly fluttering open, but something wasn't right.
I pulled my hand away from his shoulder and came away red. His jacket was blocking my view, so I moved it aside along with the collar of his shirt to reveal a wound much worse than I’d expected. Blood leaked from the amateur bandaging that he had applied earlier.
"Leave it alone. I'm fine, " Luca muttered, but I didn't listen. I removed the bandage, revealing a bullet hole in his shoulder.
"Shit, Luca. You said it was minor."
"I'm fine. I'll be fine. Just need to get home..." His voice faded out as his body slumped and started to slide to the floor.
I grabbed his biceps to hold him up.
"Luca?" I snapped but he didn't answer.
"Angelo, bring me those medical supplies."
Angelo ran from across the aisle of cargo crates to where I was carefully lowering Luca's head to the floor.
“What happened?” Angelo asked as he unzipped the bag and started pulling out all the supplies that we had.
“This idiot neglected to mention that he had a bullet wound in his shoulder.”
“What? He said it was just a scratch. I figured maybe he got grazed but I never thought it was that bad.”
“Yeah well, it was that bad. He's bled through his bandages, and I don't know how many more he's gone through that he didn't think to mention. We got to get the bleeding to stop or he's not going to make it home. Grab me a pack of gauze,” I ordered, and Angelo tore open the sanitized pack.
I grabbed out the gauze, unceremoniously shoved it against Luca’s bleeding shoulder, and pressed hard. I held it there while Angelo grabbed some bandages to wrap around the gauze, but before we had time to secure it, Luca’s blood had already soaked through.
"Shit. I need more gauze. There's too much blood.”
“We're running out. Definitely don't have enough to help that wound.”
“Grab me a clean shirt out of my bag. Over there. Quick.” I nodded toward my bag and one of the other guys, who had started to crowd around us, tossed it to me.
With bloody hands, I dug through my pack to find a clean undershirt. I balled it up and pressed it to his shoulder, managing to get the bandage wrapped it to keep a firm pressure on it.
“How much longer before we reach the dock?”
"It shouldn't be long now. This is a smaller ship than the one we took with Teo last time and it seems to be a bit faster. If I had to guess, I'd say maybe another quarter hour,” my guy, Vinnie answered from the crowd.
“He's not going to make it all the way home like this. Even if Teo sends the jet to pick us up he wouldn't make the trip. As soon as we dock, I'm taking him to get help while the rest of you disembark.”
“I'll go with you,” Gino offered.
“Us to,” Angelo said, and Vinnie nodded.
“Okay. But we keep our group small, so we don't draw too much attention. We'll find a car and take him somewhere we can get him patched up.”
Vinnie pulled out his phone and started typing. “Looks like there's a local hospital about ten minutes from the port. We could take him there.”
I shook my head. “A gunshot victim will get attention and its attention we don't want while near Tuscany. We've got more than a few enemies around this area who would love to pick off a group of Venturi men.
“So, we need to find someone outside of the hospital to fix him up,” Gino added.
Angelo looked around at the group. “Anyone got connections around here? Someone who knows what they're doing?”
“I know one guy, a vet. He can handle small things, but this is probably a little much for him. We're going to need somewhere to take Luca, though, so I'm going to give him a call. See if he can open up his office to us. At least he'll have some of the medical supplies our guest doctor will need.”
For the next half hour, Luca was in and out of consciousness. The time it took for us to get to the port, find a car, and get him to the vet's office felt like a lifetime. We left Luca with Vinnie at the office while the other three of us headed for the closest hospital. It was late by the time we arrived.
We parked in an inconspicuous spot away from the lights of the staff parking lot and turned off the car.
“I need to get closer,” I told the others. “I need to find a good hiding spot so that I can do a snatch-and-grab whenever the opportunity comes up.”
“You should wait near the front row parking,” Angelo suggested, and I looked at him curiously.
“Why’s that? Wouldn’t it be less noticeable if I waited near the back and grabbed someone as they went to one of the cars further out from the hospital?”
“Yeah. But you're more likely to just grab an orderly or nurse. Surgeons get front row spots.”
“Good thinking.” I nodded my approval. He was one of m y newer guys, but I was impressed by his wit.
I slipped my pistol into the back of my waistband and climbed out of the stolen SUV. Keep an eye out for me and be ready to go as soon as I get back. Shift change should be happening soon so I'm hoping that I can grab someone before too many people show up.”
“Let me come with you,” Angelo said with determination. “In case there's a struggle.”
“Okay, grab your gun. Let's go.” The two of us crept quietly along the edges of the parking lot where some neatly trimmed shrubbery lined the borders.
It only took a few minutes before the hospital doors slid open and the first small cluster of employees spilled out into the parking lot. There were only three in the first group, but I waited to see how they dispersed. The first was a large man in a white physician's coat. A woman in nursing scrubs walked with another slender woman in green surgical scrubs and a white coat. She would make a much easier target. I waited until the man went off on his own and waited for the right moment, hoping that they split up before the woman dressed as a surgeon got to her car. It would be a lot easier if I could snatch her without any witnesses before she got into her car.
“Please? I know your shift’s over, but you can't leave him like that,” the woman in nursing scrubs started.
The surgeon sighed, looking bored. “I can and I am.”
“But if you go now we're going to lose him.” The nurse sounded desperate to save whoever him was. “You are the only chance we have. We can't lose him.”
The surgeon stopped and turned toward the nurse in frustration. “You need to get this through your head. He's already as good as gone. I'm not going to waste my time trying to stop the inevitable, besides, what will we really be losing? He's an arrogant jerk. I say good riddance.”
“Sienna, please? Just give me fifteen more minutes to try..”
“I'm not going to waste any more time on him. You shouldn't either.”
“If you're not going to do anything, then I am.”
“Waste your time if you want. Good luck.” The surgeon's voice was cold, and I wondered how someone dedicated to healing and saving patients could possibly be so callous.
Anger bubbled up inside me as I thought back to my teenage years. My mother, lying in a hospital bed as the doctors told my father that there was nothing more they could do for her. Unshed tears burned my eyes at the memory. I blinked quickly and reminded myself that they didn't do anyone any good. Not anymore. My mother had been gone for years and my father closed off afterward.
That woman was a surgeon. She had the skills to save Luca’s life and with an attitude like hers, I wouldn't have to feel so bad about forcing her to save his life.
Maybe you can teach her a lesson about giving your all to try to save someone else and what a surgeon should really be like.
She would be grateful to be back at her normal hospital when I was through with her. If she was so quick to give up on the man in the hospital she might be just as quick to give up on Luca but, unlike the nurse, I wouldn’t let her say no.
Chapter 2
Sienna
I was relieved when the argument with Alice was over. I looked back, watching as she disappeared through the sliding doors that led into the hospital. I shook my head and turned to continue toward my car when a strong hand clasped tight over my mouth. I tried to scream but only a quiet muffled cry escaped as someone pulled me off of the sidewalk and into the shadows. I tried to kick but my feet were lifted off of the ground, another pair of arms wrapping around my legs.
A dark SUV pulled up just like someone would expect from the movies, and I was shoved inside with the two large forms. I screamed, kicked, punched and clawed as the car started out of the parking lot.
It was no use. Both men were ridiculously strong. The smaller of the two pinned my shoulders down while the other restrained my legs. My heart raced and pounded against my chest as if it were trying to escape. But there was no escaping them. I was outnumbered three to one if I counted the driver.
I was keenly aware of the man's hands on my thighs, the heat of them seeping through my surgical scrubs. I hadn't bothered to change into my normal street clothes since I was going straight home from work anyway and all I really could think about was getting away from Alice and her pleas for my help.
I squirmed again, resisting their hold on me no matter how futile it was. There was something inside that urged me to continue fighting.
"Keep still," the man holding my legs growled as his fingers dug into my thighs.
While in the car, there wasn't much use in fighting because even if I managed to break free from their grasp they would stop me before I could ever get the door opened. I took a deep breath and willed myself to stop fighting until I had a better opportunity to escape.
"That's it, micetta. Relax. Put those claws away. There's no need for all that." His voice, in contrast to the way he'd manhandled me, was smooth and warm like velvet.
"W-what do you want?" I hated how my voice trembled and sounded so weak. I was not a weak person. In the operating room, I called the shots. People answered to me.
"Shh, we'll get to all that soon enough."
He sounded so calm and casual, as if my response to being kidnapped and shoved into a car was an overreaction. As if it was a common occurrence, although perhaps for him it was. Perhaps he was a trafficker and kidnapping women was something he did regularly just like punching a timecard. The thought of being trafficked caused a sick twisting in my gut.
Could that be what’s happening? Could they be taking me to some holding facility where other women were being held against their will, locked in cages and sold off like cattle?
I had seen documentaries where a girl had escaped from those horrors, but I was fairly certain that those stories of escape were the exception and not the rule. I didn't know why they had taken me, but what I did know was that I had to be strong. I had to be smart. I had to be the exception.
It wasn't long before the car slowed, taking a turn before coming to a stop. I held my breath, watching the men as they checked our surroundings.
"Alright, micetta. Time to go."
I tensed as he released my legs and grabbed both of my wrists, hauling me up and out of the vehicle.
"Where are we?" My racing heartbeat pounded in my ears as I glanced around the dark parking lot, finally spotting a sign on the front of the building for a veterinarian's office. “What are we doing here? What do you want from me?” My voice rose as I fought to break out of his grip.
"Uh-uh. You've been doing really good so far. Don't start acting stupid now and get yourself hurt. Be a good little micetta. And you'll be back home safe in your bed in no time." Even while admonishing me, his voice was calm and controlled, but it somehow made him seem even scarier.
