Never Say Love (19 page)

Benito stood silently, breathing deeply.

“Benito, what’s wrong, son?” At a lack of answer, Franco’s deep voice rumbled again. “Benito! What the hell is wrong?” he demanded.

Through gritted teeth, Benito hissed, “Whoever was sending those threats have stepped it up a gear.”

After a moment’s silence, Franco answered, starting to sound frustrated by his son’s unwillingness to come forward with a clear answer, “What the hell do you mean?”

“We had a pig’s heart delivered to the office a few days ago, now they’ve taken Lucy. She disappeared this morning. I’ve looked all day for her. Lee and Jake have been out looking too.”

“And you didn’t think to let me know any of this. Benito! I need to know if things like this happen. Son, from what Gia says, this girl is likely to be my daughter-in-law. She’s family, she has to come
first
. We
have
to look after her.”

“Bloody Gia and her wobbly mouth.”
Benito snapped.

“Don’t you dare talk about my cousin’s wife like
that!” Franco hissed, “If they hadn’t told me, you wouldn’t have, would you? It’s about time you settled down. You’ve never had a steady girlfriend. One day, maybe, one of my children will give me grandchildren. Hell Benito, Adrianna’s a mess and you’re just a gigolo!”

Breathing deeply, his fists clenching again, Benito hissed back at his father, “Dad, she’s wonderful. They’ve cut her hair off, all of it. They’ve sent me her hair.” He threw his head back, breathing deeply, his insides churning. Determined to kill whoever had Lucy, to make them suffer, nobody crossed an Abelli and lived to tell the tale.

Silence, nothing but silence—just the sound of Franco sitting back in his chair, his breathing deep, almost snarling. “The bastards!”

“I’ve got my best men on it dad.”

“What do they want?” Franco snapped.

“I have to wait for them to call me. I don’t know.” Pacing, Benito took a deep drink of his cognac.

“Okay, sit tight. As soon as you hear anything, you let me know, straight away. Do you need any of the guys from here to come over?” Franco asked, thinking about his ex-special forces employees—the guys that would think nothing of maiming someone for life.

Taking a moment to think, Benito closed his eyes, “No, Lee and Jake are first rate. The others are really good too. If I need anyone else, I’ll let you know.”

A moments’ silence hung between Benito and his father, broken first by Franco, “Get her back son, just get her back, and then I want to meet her. You understand me? Bloody hell! Benito, you find a good woman and let her get kidnapped.”

The rage running through Benito was immeasurable, “I did not allow her to
get kidnapped
. None of this is my doing, and don’t you think I want her back?” He shouted as his attention was drawn away from the call, the phone beeping. Looking at the phone briefly, he cut his father short, “Got to go, they’re calling.”

Ending the call to his father, he accepted the incoming call from Lucy’s phone.

“What do you want?” Benito snapped.

There was silence, just the sound of the phone being passed around.

“Benito,” Lucy spoke, “they cut my hair.” She began to sob, “they cut it all off.”

His lips drawn to a tight line, his fists clenched, the phone gripped so hard he fought the temptation to launch into a tirade at Lucy... she’d done nothing wrong, he needed her to stay as calm as possible. Mustering every ounce of strength that he could to stay cool, he whispered, “Are you okay? Tesoro, are
you
okay?” All the time, he listened for background noises, sounds, anything that may give an indication as to where she was.

“They cut my hair,” she sobbed again. “Please come and get me. Benito, I love you.”

Fury crept though his very being as he heard Lucy sobbing, whimpering. What had they done to her? Apart from take her, they took her beautiful hair, the silky stands that he loved to run his fingers through.

Clutching onto his phone so hard that he thought it might break, he whispered. “I’m coming to get you Lucy. Hold on. Have they hurt
you
?”

Lucy, clearly distressed sobbed again, “My hair.”

“Lucy,” Benito said firmly, “Tesoro, listen to me. Have. They. Hurt. You?”

Sobbing, she answered, “No. I love you.”

Closing his eyes, unable to say the words, Benito took a sharp intake of breath, “You too!”

Hearing shuffling, whoever had Lucy was taking the phone from her, followed by footsteps, Lucy’s light foot treads, tapping on a concrete or hard floor. The sound echoed. They must have her in a factory, a warehouse or a vacant building. They had her in a large open, yet contained, space.

“Abelli,” a deeply accented voice boomed into Benito’s ear. An accent he was unable to recognise. It wasn’t Italian, not like his fathers, or his; but then his was so subtle. He’d excelled in English at school, probably because he had spent so much time in the UK during the holidays but the thug talking to him, his accent was thick, possibly Northern European?

“You hurt Lucy and you’ll pay.” Benito hissed, he’d done it before and he’d do it again. If anyone hurt her, he’d kill them with his bare hands. He would tear them limb from limb, they’d never piece them together again, because no one would ever find all the pieces!

“Will I, and what will I pay with Abelli,” the voice laughed.

“I mean it.” Benito snapped firmly.

The voice huffed, “We’ll keep her tonight. Maybe have some
fun
with her. Tomorrow morning at eight, we’ll make contact again; tell you what we want and how you can get your girl back—
if
you’re a good boy and if she’s a good girl!” He laughed before clearing the call, not giving Benito time to answer back.

The combination of anger, hatred and fear ran through his veins. Reaching for his glass he gripped it tightly, taking a large drink of his cognac before launching the glass across the room smashing into the wall, it shattered. What was left of the expensive spirit ran down the wall, the glass laying all over the carpeted floor. A crazed pattern mixed appeared with a splattering of the amber liquid seeping into the thick rug.

Thinking quickly and employing the skills his father had taught him, he considered how to behave in a situation like this, although never having had to do it with someone he cared for. His mind started to form a mental checklist. The tapping on the floor, open building, maybe a warehouse or a factory. The black BMW and that accent, the one he couldn’t place other than northern European!

“Find Friends,” he muttered to himself. Picking his phone up, he hoped to God that they hadn’t turned her phone off yet, or at least they hadn’t checked her phone and deleted the app!

Opening the app, he entered his password, hissing under his breath, “Come on, come on.” He muttered.

One by one, his nearest friends started to load onto the screen, Lee, 9 miles away, Jake, 7 miles way. Dad, well another bloody country! Lucy,
Location Not Available
. “Shit!”

Next call was to Jake and Lee. They needed to get here, now.

Lucy sat huddled in the corner. Unable to see where she was, the fabric was tied tightly around her eyes and her hands bound in front of her, just like her ankles.

Head down, she was cold on the hard floor, the blanket that they’d shoved on her was offering little protection from the cold as it seeped through from the concrete. Running through her mind was Benito. Would he come and get her? Did he really love her? He’d never told her; she’d told him many times, in passing, as part of her normal conversation. All she would ever get back was a “You too,” or an “Umm.” He’d never actually said the words.

These people, whoever they were, hadn’t really hurt her. She’d been roughed up and kicked in the stomach after staggering and falling over, and they had laughed as she’d crashed to the floor. Taunting her, the kick had been the motivation for her to get back up again.

She had been manhandled into that car and blindfolded as they’d got her in, her hands and ankles bound. She was convinced she had given one of them a black eye, maybe even a broken nose, as she’d lashed out with her feet, losing her shoes in the process. They’d taken her shoes off her, but allowed her to have them back as she’d complained about the cold. And she had complained, screamed and shouted for what felt like hours. No one had come, only the bastards that held her captive.

After she’d been there for a few hours, she’d heard them approach her. Laughing, she could hear the soft brush of metal against metal, what sounded like a pair of scissors snapping together and footsteps growing nearer. The smell of unwashed, unclean human bodies, what she assumed was a man, came closer. “There’s a pretty girl,” he said, his thick accent, definitely Northern European sounding.

“Such pretty hair you have.” The man had said. “Do you know in my country the girls sell their hair for a very little so that rich bitches like you can have hair extensions.” He laughed. She’d felt his presence drawing nearer within her personal space. There had been others around laughing somewhere else in the room.

Feeling so scared, her breathing had become rapid, and her stomach churned. She felt a hand rub against her shoulder blades as her breathing became even more rapid. Trying to stay strong, trying her level best not to let these bastards get to her, she thought of Benito, of her brother and Lisa, her mum and dad. Then he shoved her forward. The quick movement taking her by surprise, she’d whimpered and wet herself, unable to stay calm any longer. Her whimpering had progressed to sobbing, into wailing and pleading for her life.

Her captor had laughed ruthlessly; the sound of the scissors was much closer now. The bastard grabbed Lucy’s hair, pulling her by the high pony tail on her head, her throat extended. Convinced he was going to cut her throat, Psalm 23 had run through her mind,
I will fear no evil
. And then, she heard the whisper of the slice as her head was pushed forward again. Evil laughing, her head felt light. “No,” she’d shouted, her pleas and curses drowned out by their laughing.

Lee and Jake arrived at Benito’s apartment. He opened the door and turned away, walking back inside, the two well-built security professionals following.

“Any news?”
Lee asked

Benito nodded, “They’ve phoned. Said they’re going to call again at 8am with instructions. I need one of you here when they call so that we can try and trace where they are calling from, they’re using Lucy’s mobile.”

“Any idea where they were?” Jake looked around the apartment before dropping down onto one of the sofa’s.

“Sounded like some place hollow, with a concrete floor, like an empty building, maybe an old warehouse. I don’t know, but definitely in a big space.” Benito explained about the sounds he’d heard as Lee helped himself to a beer from the fridge, waving one of the dumpy bottles at Jake. “Please,” Jake nodded.

Rooting through the drawers, Lee searched for a bottle opener, one eye on Benito as he paced his living room. He had never seen his boss like this before. Unable to settle the normally calm and collected man who liked to be in control, he looked like he’d aged 10 years since this morning.

Handing a beer to Jake, Lee put the bottle to his lips, still watching Benito has he lit another Café Crème. “I didn’t know you smoked?”

“I do now.” Benito snapped.

The tense atmosphere in the room was becoming unbearable and growing by the second. Benito was on edge, ready to lash out at the nearest person or the closest thing. Looking at each other, Lee and Jake both knew that Benito was about ready to snap.

“How about I get some of the guys to drive around the industrial estates and check for the black beemer?”

Lee nodded, “I think that’s a good idea. We can’t just sit here and wait until the morning.”

Both men looked at their employer. There was no response; he just stood at the window, staring out at the night. “She’d spend hours here, just looking out there.” Turning to the men, he felt he could trust the most here in the UK, he shook his head. “You know, I always said I’d never have a girlfriend and certainly never marry for this very reason. You get too attached, and then you crumble when anything goes wrong like this. Fuck, my dad’s still crumbling and my mum’s been gone for nearly fifteen years!”

Lee watched as Benito walked to the kitchen, took another glass from the cupboard and filled it with cognac. His gaze, moving towards the wall and then at the glass on the carpet, noticing the first one that had met a tragic end!

“Right, I’ll go round up some troops; we may as well go and look.” Jake stood, taking control in his mind planning what should be done, his military training showing through.

Placing his half-drunk beer on the counter, he left the apartment leaving Lee to stay with a fired-up Benito. “Call me if you need me,” he muttered to Lee as he left; his answer, a simple nod.

Lee watched his boss carefully, weighing up whether he should talk to him. Biting the bullet, he took another drink of his beer. “Can you remember anything else,” he asked, “about the phone call?”

Benito leant on the counter, his head in his hands, closing his eyes and breathing deeply, the emotion of the day spilling out. His voice saddened, yet harsh with a ruthless undertone. “Shit Lee, they put her on the phone, she told me that they’d cut her hair. She said she loved me and that she wanted me to go and get her.”

Looking down and shaking his head, Lee sighed, “The fucking bastards.”

“Northern European accent,” Benito mumbled, “the guy who spoke to me had a Northern European accent.”

Lee looked up, his fists clenched, unable to tolerate any violence against women. “Okay, we do the industrial
estates, look for any sign of Lucy or that car. Right?”

“I can’t just sit here,” Benito made a move to the door, “I need to be out there looking for her. If we’re all out there, we stand a better chance of finding her. We
have
to be out looking.”

Picking up his key, he headed for the door. “Boss,” Lee stood, “you can’t drive. We’ll take mine. I’ve only had half a beer.”

Losing the battle over who should drive, Benito sat alongside Lee as he pulled out onto the road.

Lee called Jake, who had already left, to check with him which industrial areas and estate’s he’d driven around or had planned to go to. Once he’d established which areas remained unchecked, he headed off to search an old industrial park that hadn’t yet been trawled through.

Driving slowly past the old dark units, Benito looked out of one window then the other, as Lee slowly motored up and down the interweaving roads through the old shed-like buildings with gated yards and corrugated roofs loomed. There was nothing there to be seen.

Cruising to the next industrial area, they drove slowly again.
“Stop!” Benito shouted. “There’s a light on in that building.” He pointed towards an old building that looked deserted.

Driving nearer, Lee stopped the car a short distance from the unit. They climbed out of the car and quietly closed the doors. Both men creeping towards the derelict building, the wrought iron gates into the yard were open and parked within was a black BMW, a new one!

Not speaking, Lee indicated for Benito to step back. They both walked quietly back to their car. As they approached the Range Rover, Lee took his mobile from his pocket and called Jake giving him full details of their location, asking him to round the other highly trained and specially selected employees to get there as fast as possible. “Come in quietly, no headlights. Bring whatever equipment you have to batter the bastards with!” Lee hissed.

Benito stood by the side of Lee’s car, rocking from one foot to the other, his hands wedged firmly into the pockets of his trousers, unchanged since he set out for the office, which given the time, was now yesterday morning. “Where the
fuck are they?” he grumbled to Lee. “Call them, find out where they are!” His tone became demanding as he glared at his employee.

Not wanting to antagonise his boss any further, Lee did as he was asked. Tapping away at the screen on his mobile, the call connected to Jake. “Where are you
buddy? The boss is getting really anxious!”

Ending the call and returning the phone to his pocket, Lee looked towards Benito, “Two minutes, tops.” Waiting again for what felt like ages, Benito focussed on the entrance to the road they were standing on. The headlights from Jake’s Range Rover appeared; another car followed him in, and then another. The crew had arrived!

The vehicles, a mix of company Range Rovers and Land Cruisers, pulled up behind Lee’s car, the now small army of six well-trained men stood before their employer.

Addressing his team, Benito gave them his order, “I want her out, unharmed. I want to know why and who is behind this and then, I want them left
alive
and miserable, you understand me. Cripple them!” he hissed, his face lit by the moonlight, his masculine features twisted. Full of fury and hatred for those who had thought to hurt his Lucy,
his
girl. “I want every single one of them done over! Make sure they suffer for the rest of their wretched lives.”

Nodding their acknowledgement and looking at each other relishing the opportunity to inflict some harm. The six incredibly well built and well trained heavy men followed Lee toward the unit. Benito, following behind them all gritting his teeth, he would give anything to be in there, to hurt them himself, but he couldn’t afford to get caught. A brush with the law could potentially see his past uncovered. He would not allow himself to be linked to any crime, as the case into the disappearance of Adrianna’s boyfriend was still open in Italy.

As they approached the gate, Lee turned to Benito. “Wait here, we’ll bring her straight to you.” He handed his car keys to his boss, “There’s a blanket in the boot if you need it.” Unsmiling, Lee looked grim, “Okay?”

“Just get her out,” Benito muttered through gritted teeth, “get my girl out of there.”

Turning toward his five colleagues, Lee assumed control. He pointed at each man in turn and then told each which area he wanted them to go to. Each of them was armed with an array of make-shift weapons—baseball bats, a tyre lever, a cricket bat and a length of heavy looking chain.

Benito watched from the shadows as they quietly entered the yard, losing sight of them one by one.

Silence. Nothing more than the sound of distant trains clattering over rails, carried across the still night air. The peace was broken by shouting, yelling and the crack of something heavy hitting the inside of the unit. There was more shouting, then a scream broke out—Lucy.

Benito felt like ice was running through his veins as he was forced to stand outside, his past preventing him from entering that unit and seeing what was happening inside. Unable to resist the urge to stay away longer, he ran towards the unit doors as Jake appeared, Lucy in his arms.

“Boss,” Jake handed the dishevelled looking girl to Benito before turning around and heading back inside; the sounds of fighting continued.

“Tesoro,” Benito whispered, holding her tight in his arms, his lips brushing her cheek, closing his eyes as the moonlight caught her now short hair. “Lucy,” he whispered again.

“You came,” she croaked back through the tears.

“Did you think I wouldn’t?” he said in hushed tones as he carried her towards Lee’s Range Rover. Opening the rear door, he slid her into the back seat, closing the door, before walking to the back of the car and taking the blanket from the boot. Climbing in himself, he put the blanket around her shoulders before pulling her close toward his chest.

Benito sat, just holding her tight against him feeling her gentle sobs as she buried her face into his chest. Keeping her close, he closed his eyes. “I am so sorry you got dragged into this mess,” he rumbled, “so very sorry.”

“I, I just went to get some milk.” She whimpered through the sobs.

“Not now, later. We’ll talk about it later.” Holding his palm flat against her back, he kept her close. His hand working its way up her spine to the nape of her neck, his fingers brushing against the bare skin, no hair. “I bastardi fottuti,” he whispered under his breath as he ran his fingertips through her cropped hair.

“I love you,” Lucy whispered.

Turning her head, she rested her cheek against his chest, “Benito,” she prompted him for a reply, “I love you,” she whispered again.

“You too,” gritting his teeth he struggled, unable to say the words that he felt. He did love her, but couldn’t say it. Or, wouldn’t?

Staying in the back of the Range Rover for what seemed like ages, they stayed wrapped in each other’s arms waiting for the heavies to complete their job.

He kept his big arms wrapped around her holding her close to him, holding her tightly and protectively. He got his girl back, and she wasn’t going anywhere again. Turning the courtesy light on, he looked down at her hair, those beautiful waves now shoved in an envelope back at his apartment. The cropped mess at the back of her head was exposing her fine neck. He had really loved to run his fingers through her silky strands.

Turning her head, she looked up at him. Her face red and puffy, eyes tired with crying. She looked, and felt, exhausted. “Did they hurt you?” he spoke, his deep voice, so soft.

Lucy shook her head, “Not really.” Her voice sounded so hoarse.

“Promise me. Promise me tesoro,”

She shook her head again, “I’m okay,” she mumbled, “you came.”

Breathing deeply, Benito started to wish they’d hurry up in there. He wanted to take his girl home. He wanted to keep her close by and never out of his sight, ever again. Well, at least not for a while.

Closing her eyes, Lucy started to drift off to sleep. She dozed, exhausted from the trauma, wrapped in her lovers’ arms, and warmed by him with the thick tartan rug that draped around her shoulders. Her sleep was disturbed by the return of Lee, the car door opening and Lee climbing in. He was high with adrenaline, wired from the fight that he had been part of. Smiling broadly, he announced, “We got ‘em boss,” his voice boomed as he turned towards Benito and Lucy, cuddled together, across the back of his car.

“Ssh,” Benito whispered, bringing his forefinger to his lips, “she’s sleeping.”

Lee started up his car and, speaking in hushed tones, recounted what he’d established.

“Whoever they were, they weren’t very happy with you. Couldn’t get to the bottom of why but my best guess is because of business, from the little they said.” He laughed. “They won’t be doing much of that for a while.” Smiling in his rear view mirror he glanced at Benito who nodded his approval.

“How many?” Benito asked.

“Four. The guys enjoyed themselves. It was just like old times. Any more jobs liked that?”

Ignoring the comment, Benito looked down at his girl again. Her hand draped across his lap and her shoulder tucked under his arm. “Just get us home Lee,” Benito said firmly, “I want her home.”

Lee pulled his Range Rover into the car park and walked ahead of Benito, who still had Lucy in his arms; he opened the doors to the apartment complex and called for the lift. Lucy was still draped in the blanket and her head resting on Benito’s shoulder. Carrying her inside the apartment, Benito dismissed Lee straight away with instructions to de-brief, here, tomorrow at lunchtime.