Chapter One Hundred and Seventeen

Chapter One Hundred and Seventeen
At the top of the rope, Gloria reached her hand up for Leo to take. He lifted her out of the hole as though she weighed nothing. Accardi stood and pivoted on the balls of his feet to scan his surroundings, leaving Frankie to haul himself over the edge himself. Frankie’s eyes immediately found Gloria and strode toward her. He made sure his robe was secure around her frame, and she raised a brow at his possessive movements.

Frankie smirked and leaned in closer to her. “Just because I’ll allow some people to see you, doesn’t mean I want these fuckers to.”

Gloria rolled her eyes.

“How long?” Frankie asked, taking Gloria’s hand and leading her toward the two blacked-out SUVs idling at the curb. 

“A few minutes,” Accardi answered.

“Your preciseness is comforting,” Frankie quipped.

“We won’t be here long enough for it to matter. Get in the fucking car, Frank,” Accardi ordered, his voice letting everyone know he wasn’t in the mood to fuck around.

Sirens wailed in the distance as Thompson was brought up, and Conor followed after. 

“Damn, that fucker is heavy,” Conor grunted, out of breath as he shoved Asher in the direction of the other SUV with Accardi and Leo waiting. 

“In here, Vixen,” Frankie said, guiding her toward the SUV in front, where the two men she didn’t recognize were getting into the front seats. 

She slid into the back, and Frankie followed in after. The SUV took off, tires squealing, before the door was even closed. The man in the passenger seat turned his upper body to send her a devastating smile. He was dressed to the nines in a tailored suit. His blond hair was impeccably combed and gelled, and his dark eyes sparked seduction as they traversed her body. 

“Can I help you?” she asked, not liking his inspection.

He shrugged. “Lo spero, Amore. –I hope so, Love–” The man’s Italian accent was thick, dripping with honey… or antifreeze, depending on how one looked at it. “Raphael, Dolcezza, –Raphael, Sweetness,–” he said, extending his hand. “È un piacere conoscerla. –It’s a pleasure to meet you.–”

Frankie sat forward and took his hand instead. “Attento, Raphael. Io non ho le stesse regole di Accardi quando si tratta di picchiarti a morte. Stalle fottutamente alla larga. –Watch it, Raphael. I don’t have the same rules Accardi has in beating you to death. Stay the fuck away from her.–”

Raphael hissed at the pressure Frankie inflicted on his hand and yanked it out of his grasp.

“Who are they?” Gloria asked. 

“The smooth fucker is Raphael. He’s good with computers.”

“‘Good!?’” Raphael looked back, clearly insulted.

“And that’s Palladino.”

Gloria raised a brow. “Am I supposed to know who that is?”

The driver scoffed and shook his head. His dark eyes rose up to look at her through the rearview mirror as though she were merely an insect he was debating on ending with a careless step. He was taller, broader, and much darker than the man to his right. He radiated power, the kind that came from generations of knowing you were better than anyone else simply because of the sperm that had created you.

“Eta zhenshchina dolzhna stat' glavoy sem'i Rubanovykh, no nichego ne znayet o Palladinos? –This woman is to be the boss of the Rubanov family, but doesn't know of the Palladinos?–” he spoke in fluent Russian. 

Gloria narrowed her eyes. “Proshu proshcheniya, ya yeshcho ne poluchil svoyu privetstvennuyu broshyuru. –Apologies, I haven’t gotten my welcome pamphlet yet.–”

Palladino rubbed his brow with the fingers of his right hand and continued in his clearly native Italian, “Voi americani sapete proprio come scegliere una donna che sa farsi valere. –You Americans sure know how to pick a woman with a mouth.–”

“You have no idea,” Frankie said, looking at Gloria and sending her a wink.

“What did he say?” she asked.

“Learn Italian, and you’ll know,” he told her. 

“Then you’d just speak Arabic,” she guessed.

He shrugged. “Palladino doesn’t speak Arabic, do you, Les?”

Palladino’s dark glare shot to the rearview mirror. “la tunadiny biasmi alawli. –Do not call me by my first name.–”

“Huh,” Frankie said, both eyes widening, impressed. “I stand corrected.” Frankie settled back in the seat and draped his arm across Gloria’s shoulders. “When did you two get in?”

“A few hours ago,” Raphael informed them. He continued to watch Gloria as though he were decoding her body language. “Conor needed help.”

Frankie scoffed. “Bullshit. I’m guessing Accardi needed some extra manpower so he called Palladino and then you scampered after like the lost little puppy you are.” Frankie, as if seeing the same evaluation he was conducting that Gloria noticed, reeled her in closer to his side to insinuate further ownership. 

“I heard what was happening all the way across the Atlantic,” Palladino offered. “You and Accardi are cut from the same cloth. No discretion.”

“Just because your life is boring doesn’t mean ours has to be.”

“My life is not boring,” Palladino growled. “It is structured, organized, controlled.”

“Boring,” Frankie agreed. 

“I brought enough firepower to level this city ten times over. Stai zitto, –Shut up,– or I’ll take it all back,” Palladino warned.

Frankie mimed that he was zipping his lips shut. 

“What did Conor need help with? They tracked Frankie through his secret tracker, which…” Gloria turned to Frankie. “You still haven’t told me where it’s hidden.”

Frankie smirked, and his eyes hooded. “I promised if the mission was successful, I’d tell you.”

“Asher is hog-tied in the back of Accardi’s SUV,” she said. 

“Are you sure you want to know? There’s so little mystery left between us,” Frankie teased.

Gloria stared up at him, unimpressed. Frankie took her hand and palmed it down his chest. She followed the path of their hands with a raised brow. He used her hand to cup his crotch, and her eyes shot up to his. 

“It’s in your dick?”

“It’s in his balls,” Raphael corrected helpfully.

“What?” she asked, ripping her hand away as if her pressing on it might hurt him. As if she hadn’t become well-enough acquainted with that piece of his anatomy to know it wouldn’t.

Frankie shrugged. “No one ever thinks to look there.”

“Because it’s unnecessary and can lead to complications,” Alessio quipped.

“Plus, why go there? Fucking Americans,” Raphael said. “Messing with pieces of their manhood in ways that should not be messed with.”

“You two are just jealous you didn’t think of it first. I had them put one in when I got my vasectomy. In and out, quick procedure, and I was lowjacked for life,” Frankie said with a bob of his head in pride. “Which does remind me, we need to get you a new one soon, Vixen.”

“You’re not getting anywhere near my pussy,” Gloria warned.

Frankie’s gaze turned hot, and he leaned across her, caging her against the seat so he could block her from view and whisper in her ear. “Soon as we get to this house and I know Asher is caged up nice and tight, there will be absolutely nothing stopping me from getting near your pussy. I don’t care if a third hole is blown in the ceiling above our heads. My balls are navy blue, and it has absolutely nothing to do with the transmitter pinging off in them.”

Gloria’s breathing was heavy as his hand tightened against her waist. She looked up to find Raphael continuing to watch them with great interest. She clicked her tongue and pushed at him.

“He’s watching, isn’t he?” Frankie asked, trailing his nose down her throat. 

“Mhmm.”

Frankie sighed and sat away. “He’s just jealous cause he can’t get anyone but Palladino to stick his dick inside,” Frankie quipped, flipping his middle finger at the Italian. 

Palladino and Raphael exchanged shocked expressions. “What are you…”

“Relax, you two, your secret is safe with me,” Frankie sighed. “Whatever gets you through the day.” He turned back to Gloria. “Hole in the ceiling or his eyes glued to a mirror sticking under the door,” he vowed, taking her hand and kissing the back of it before settling once again into his seat.

“We’re here,” Palladino remarked, pulling up to a large wrought-iron gate that housed the Rubinov compound on the edge of the city. 

Raphael leaned across him, inserted a chip into the entry coder and sat back. He pulled his phone out and sighed as he decoded the lock within a few seconds. The gates opened with a flourish, allowing them inside. As the car pulled forward, Gloria’s stomach twisted in knots. She hadn’t been there since she escaped in the night, her mother staring worriedly, wringing her hands while Nora drove her away before her father could return home. That was the last image she had of her mother: standing in the doorway, knowing once she walked back through it, she would most likely never leave alive.

The SUV pulled up to the front, and the men got out, groaning about their travels. Frankie stretched his back, clad still in just his boxer briefs. He smacked Raphael on the back and headed for the stairs. Gloria swallowed and slowly opened her door. Palladino was still by his door, his head turned down to his phone, but his dark eyes lifted to watch her. She gave a shaky smile as she walked around the SUV. She gripped the back taillight and lifted her head to look at the mansion that had been her prison for so many years. Her palms started to sweat. Her arms shook slightly. Another SUV pulled up then, the lights cutting across the structure like the intro to an ominous horror movie. In the window, to the right, where her mother once lay her head, she could almost see her, staring out at the void, praying her sacrifice was worth it, praying her daughter would never return to this vile place, this vile life.

Dear Readers,
Thank you for your patience these last few days! I have been using them to finish this book everyone is very eager to see completed. I wanted to make sure this ending was worth all the wait I have continuously put you through as well as bringing a satisfactory ending to Gloria and Frankie's chaotic and intensive story. I am happy to say we are nearly there! In an effort to bring you a conclusion as quickly as possible, I will be releasing chapters throughout the day and night as I finish the final editing stage (and as my needy toddler allows - this part is important haha). By tomorrow (May 16) Donati WILL be marked 'Completed'!! Thank you again for your patience and I cannot wait to hear what y'all think of how it all comes together!