Chapter Seventy Three

Chapter Seventy Three
Nicholas POV

I never expected things to go the way they did. Tanya easily spilled everything to my father the second he pulled out a knife and laid it on his desk. He wasn't going to use it on her in his office; he'd never do that sort of thing in our family home. My mother would throttle him. He'd have taken her to the barn or one of the warehouses. She didn't know any better, though; she'd clearly never been involved with people like us.

He began with, "if you don't tell me what I want to know, I will start cutting off fingers," and that was all it took. She started sobbing, complete with snot running down her face, as my father looked on with disgust. The half hour it took me to get Camilla back to the house and settled before I went to meet my father, was all it took for her to spill everything.

Mike, the soldier of Cain's that we had held hostage, is her brother. The same brother of Jennifer, the young woman that Thomas Cain has been keeping as his own personal sex toy. He used Jennifer to keep Mike in line and now that he doesn't have Mike, he somehow figured out that Tanya was their sister. He managed to discover that she worked in the Neuro ICU of the very same hospital I had Camilla transferred to.

Tanya had refused his requests to hurt Camilla, but she agreed to helping him find where we had taken her. In exchange for his not killing Jennifer. My question was, how did she know Jennifer was even still alive? She didn't.

How did she end up being one of the chosen nurses that Wayne vouched for to attend to Camilla in Italy? Turns out she offered, and Wayne felt she was a good nurse, of course he had no clue about the other things going on. She offered because it would give her access to the information, she needed to assist Thomas Cain and perhaps save her sister. Wayne was none the wiser and was horrified when my father called him. This put things in a different perspective though. Thomas Cain didn't know that she'd been found out. We didn't know where he was, just the same as he didn't know where we were. At least not exactly. All he knew was we were in Italy.

"What have you told him about our location?" I asked after my father gave me a quick debrief of the scenario.

"Only that we are in Italy. I didn't know any more than that," she confesses. "I haven't been alone or had cell service, so I haven't had contact with him since I told him that days ago."

"Where is he now?" I asked. "Did he tell you?"

She nods. "He said he's in Italy and he's waiting on me to tell him my location so he can come get his bride," she makes a face. "I didn't realize he planned to try and force Camilla to marry him."

"There's plenty you don't know and it's none of your business," I growl. "But you are going to help us draw him out. If it works out the way it should and IF your sister is still alive, then he will be dead, and you can get her back."

"What about Mike?" she asks through sniffles. "Where is my brother?"

"Your brother is fine, aside from a few broken fingers. Our men have him in a secure location," my father chimes in to inform her. "You should really worry about keeping yourself alive, because Nick is about to kill you himself for betraying our trust," my father leans back in his chair, fingers steepled in front of him.

"Get proof of life," I tell her.

"Wha....what?" she stumbles over her words.

"Proof of life. Tell him you want proof that Jennifer is alive, and then you will give him the location. It will give us some time to figure out how to set him up," I say. I handed her back the phone we had taken from her earlier. "Make the call and don't try anything funny. I have no problem killing you if it's necessary. And he has no issue cutting off your fingers if he's so inclined."

"Do I tell him where we are? Or something else?" she asked, her tears now dried up and eyes swollen.

I look over at my father, "Where shall we do this?" I ask.

"Hmm," he stares out the window thinking, and then holds up a finger before picking up the phone receiver. He dials a number while quietly watching Tanya. "Hello Carmen, puoi parlare in privato?" (Can you talk in private?)

He pauses. "Certo. Posso aspettare, ma solo un minuto."

"Why is he speaking Italian?" Tanya asks me in a whisper.

"Bene. E Ora. Vuoi entrare? Ho bisogno di un posto sicuro per farlo." I sit listening as my father confirms that Carmen Patron indeed wants in on this and she's giving him a location far from our family home to make that happen. The Patron's are wealthy in their own right and have property all over Italy, though most is industrial in nature, to include waterside warehouses with docks for transporting. They do in fact run an import and export business. They also have small villas all over that they once used as a way to travel freely to wherever they needed to be.

"Due giorni," my father replies and hangs up.

"In two days, we will travel to Naples. You can tell him that. You can tell him that you will find out where in Naples as soon as you can, but that you don't know just yet. But first, you want to have proof that your sister is alive," my father tells her. "That should be enough for now."

"Are we really going to Naples?" she asks.

"Not you. You are going back to New York, with company," my father says. "Now, no more questions, do what you're told, and you will live, perhaps your sister too. Don't and this will end very differently."

A tear streaks down Tanya's cheek, and she swipes it away. Then, without another word, she turns her phone back on, and when it powers up, she calls Thomas Cain. I am surprised at the steadiness in her voice when she asks for proof of life. He's angry and yelling into the phone so loudly we can hear it. My father simply raises a brow as he watches Tanya converse with the crazy man that is Thomas.

She suddenly hangs up the phone and stares at it. "Well?" I ask.

"He's sending me a photo and then I will call him back," she says. A moment later the phone dings and she opens the message from Thomas Cain. The photo is of a pretty blonde, at least she probably was pretty before he beat her. She has a black eye, a fat split lip, and probably a broken cheekbone if I had to guess. She's sitting on the floor, with her hands bound above her head. The bindings are tied to a chain that seems to be secured somewhere above her head out of the photo. She has a tattered t-shirt and underpants on, nothing else. She stares into the camera, her eyes vacant of emotion. "No," Tanya cries. "She looks horrible. What has he done to her?" She begins to cry again. I grabbed the phone from her hand.

"How do we know this is today? It could have been any time. Tell him you want to speak to her," I say, shoving the phone back into her hand. The woman in the photo looks barely alive and if this wasn't today, she's probably dead.

Tanya gathers herself and then calls him again. "I want to talk to her," spews from her mouth as soon as he picks up. "I don't believe you; I want to speak to her. I'm only helping you to protect her, and you're beating her," she argues. I can hear him laugh into the phone.

"Jennifer, is that you?" Tanya says. I assume there is someone else on the phone now. "How do I know it's you? Tell me something that only I would know." She's quiet for a moment and then starts crying again. "I'm going to get you out of there, please don't die on me."

"Enough," I say quietly. I motion for her to end the call, and she nods.

"Mr. Cain, you keep my sister alive if you want any more information. We are going to Naples in two days. I overheard them say they were taking Camilla to a safe house there. I will let you know the location as soon as I can, but only if my sister is alive." I pull the phone from her hand and hang it up, then power it off.

"That's enough. Now go pack your bags," I open the door and nod to the man waiting outside.

"What about my sister?" she asks as she stands and walks towards the door.

"If she's still alive, we will retrieve her when we kill him," I say. "If she's not, then I'm sorry. He's known for torturing and abusing women, but he won't be known for anything other than being dead. Very soon. You are going back to New York. This man here will accompany you. Marco will be waiting for you when you land. If you try to escape, you will die. Do you understand?" I ask her.

"Yes. I do." She turns and walks out, the guard right behind her.

"Don't let her out of your sight," I tell him. "You have your orders," I say as I shut the door.

I turn back to my father, "Camilla stays here. You should, too. If you're spotted, then things may get very uncomfortable in Naples. I'm going. I will meet Carmen's men there."

"Son," my father leans forward. "Carmen Patron will be there. You meet with her or Michael Patron, no seconds. Carmen knows this; she knows how valuable your life is. Not just to this family, but to the entire syndicate." I nod. "Let me ask you, Nicholas, why does Carmen Patron think you're going to marry her granddaughter?"

I may have kept a few things from my father. My feelings for Camilla were part of it. I didn't want him or my mother to get their hopes up if Camilla refused. "I suppose I mentioned that I would. I haven't asked Camilla how she feels about that, though, and I won't force anything, just as you once told me, Papa, no arranged or forced marriages, unless both parties agree. Forever is a long time to be with someone you can't stand."

"Yes, well I think Carmen Patron understands that better than most. And Enzo?" he says it like a question, "he will kill for her, so make sure you're on the right side of that too."

"I will be careful," I turn and walk out of my father's office. I need to tell Camilla that this will all be over soon, but also that she's staying here. I won't tell her about Carmen. Camilla would not be happy if she knew her grandmother was putting herself in danger. She has no idea what that woman is capable of. I think Thomas Cain would be pretty surprised by it as well. He should hope I'm the one to kill him and not Carmen. She will be far more ruthless than I.