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  I listened as they talked about drugs, prostitution, alliances, and gun trade. “We also need to address Rafael,” one of the men spoke up, one of the Balan clan members.

  Ion nodded, and I wanted to hear what this was about. I was not familiar with the name. “Yes, for those that do not know, Rafael is the leader of the Mexican Cartel, trading drugs, guns, but mostly, women. He is a bit of a nasty individual to deal with, so I had previously stopped buying women from him. But now, Rafael will not allow any of us to cross the border when we need to because he is upset with us.”

  “Who have you been getting your women from, then?” Anton asked, seemingly curious for his own purposes.

  “Russia. I have had to appease my customers. The women from Russia are very pleasing to my clients,” Ion explained, making me cringe a little. I hoped no one saw. I knew that it was an ugly world they lived and played in. I had grown up around all of it and knew what it was, but perhaps my own experience had made me feel a little sorry for these women. I doubted it would ever change since the sex trade was one of the biggest underground industries in the world. The entire mob relied on income from such dealings. It was just something I would have to get used to over time.

  “I suggest that we go ahead and begin having dealings with Rafael again, for the sake of keeping the peace. We will be able to transport the drugs again, but we will only buy what we absolutely need from him. The rest will still come from Russia as it is a preference for many. Rafael has a good stock of very young women. We will stick to that,” Ion told them with authority.

  “And one last thing,” Ion said, sitting up in his seat in a regal way. I could see the beginnings of the reason he was the one chosen to take over. He knew what the hell he was doing. “I need an around the clock team to track Mariana’s daughter. No more excuses. Jonas is to be found immediately and held from leaving with the girl until I arrive.”

  I was happy and surprised with his decision to put all his resources into one basket like that, but she needed to be found. Bianca would come back to me. She had to.

  When the meeting was over, we sat in the back of the car together on our way back to his place. “Are you satisfied?” he asked, looking at me in frustration that resembled that of a child.

  “Not quite,” I told him, unable to resist the challenge. Maybe Ion Petran needed to be knocked down a couple of rungs. “But thank you.”

  Chapter Ten

  Ion

  I didn’t know why he was there or how the weasel had gotten so far, but Jonas had made it into Balan territory before he was finally caught. I’d received a phone call early this morning regarding his whereabouts. He was staying in some run-down shack of a hotel, the kind where one wrong move meant you disappeared. Anton had men stationed there around the clock until I could get there, to make sure that Jonas could not get anywhere else with Bianca. I was going to bring Mariana’s daughter back.

  I had taken a fast flight down to Nashville before taking a car out to the small industrial town where the Balan clan said they found him. I looked out my tinted window and watched as the scenery around me turned from trees and busy streets to eighteen-wheelers and ran down factories and warehouses. I knew we were getting close, and my hand went instinctively to the gun I was carrying with me. I did not trust that Jonas would not do something crazy like fight me over Bianca. I knew what he was trying to do by hanging onto her. She was Vasile, and I had no way of knowing for sure if Bianca had survived or not. In fact, I assumed that she didn’t, it would be right to assume the worst – to think that Jonas Masterson, the disgusting filth that he had killed his own daughter.

  I was prepared to do whatever was necessary as we pulled up to the joint Jonas was holed up in. I again wondered what he was thinking, living like a piece of scum when he could have made bank many times due to his dealings with the mob. I also wondered how much it was going to take to get that little girl back. I’d like to think that he didn’t kill her, she was too valuable, but to keep her out of my hands, I wouldn’t put it past him to consider it once he realized I was there.

  My men and I burst from the car, and I led the way to the door to his room. I knocked a few times and hoped I would not have to draw any attention by busting the door down. Jonas must have been expecting somebody because one of his men came to the door, and one of my men swiftly aimed between the goon’s eyes, he dropped to the floor like dead weight and immediately I went inside. His other associates must have been staying in other rooms or were out because Jonas and Bianca were the only two individuals left in the room.

  Jonas immediately stood up, scrambling as I approached him and shut the door behind us. The little girl who could only be the one and only Bianca was cowering in the corner of the room, looking confused. What had she been exposed to over the last several days while she had no one to care for her but Jonas? Knowing what he had done to my Ana, I didn’t know that I wanted every detail. All I know as I considered her deep eyes and her blonde hair identical to her mother’s, was that I was pissed.

  “Hand the girl over, and I will let you leave here with your life,” I told him in a cold and warning tone. I was not messing around, and I could tell by the look in his eyes that he knew that. Maybe he knew who I was and was starting to realize there was a possibility Mariana had survived. That would scare the shit out of the guy.

  Bianca stood up and moved closer to me, into the light. She looked at me with curiosity, and I looked her up and down for signs of abuse. Sure enough, I could make out bruises around her wrists and go up her arms. This child was only four, and she was being treated this way by her own father. What a sick fuck this Masterson guy was. I knew at that moment, regardless of whether he cooperated or not, he was not going to survive our encounter. Mariana wanted to be the one to end his pathetic life, but how could I let her when I saw Bianca with marks over her body?

  “Woah, hang on there, Petran,” Jonas said with one of his signature smirks. I was tempted to shoot him right then and there, but I didn’t like the idea of his brains blowing out all over the girl. “None of the Vasile’s are any use to you anymore, especially with this child not being yours. And her mother is a little whore. There’s nothing you want with her. You can’t possibly seek to rule the mob with such a tainted bitch. I have a proposition for you, my daughter. When she becomes of age, she will be yours. I will guarantee that she remains a virgin – she will never be as tainted as Mariana is”

  His words appalled me. How dare he offer me his daughter after he inflicted so much abuse against them both. He is a sick fuck. How could he call her a whore when he spent years raping an innocent young girl and held her captive? He was the first and only one who had laid a hand on her. I was going to be the last, and it would never be in a harmful way. I would cut off my arm before I became that kind of monster. Mariana was mine – no, is mine. She has been since we were children, she is my family, her daughter is my family. He hurt both, and I will not stand for it. Jonas Masterson took her from me, took memories that we were supposed to have. Hell, that little girl would’ve been my own blood if he hadn’t taken her that day.

  I took a different approach, seeing that Jonas was not going to make things easy on me. I remembered Mariana telling me that she usually called Bianca, Puff, a nickname she had given to her daughter when she was just a baby. “Puff, that’s what your mother calls you, right?” I asked her, looking at Bianca now while still keeping Jonas within my sights. I didn’t trust him one bit. Bianca nodded, her head of blonde hair shaking with it. “I am a friend of your mother’s. She sent me here to get you and bring you to her. Could you come over to me, Puff?” I asked, not expecting it to be so easy. The last man she had trusted in any way had taken her captive, away from her mother, and hurt her.

  Bianca ran to my side instantly. There was no struggle. What had they done to her that made her run to a stranger so easily? I scooped her up in my arms agilely, placing her against one of my hips. I whispered in her ear for her to place her head against m
y chest and not to look at anything or anyone until she was in the car with me.

  Bianca listened, and I went for my weapon, lightning fast, making use of the silencer as I shot straight into Jonas’ legs. I don’t know what prompted me not to end his pathetic life. Maybe it was Mariana in the back of my mind; her need to be the one to do it. He collapsed to the floor, making a gut wrenching scream as he fell, blood spurting on the walls and the bed before I turned and got out of there, tucking the gun into the back of my pants. Bianca still wasn’t looking, just as I had asked of her when we got in the back of the car together. My men and I drove away, and I caught a glimpse of some of the Balan’s departing as well, though I assumed a couple of them would stay back to grab Jonas. I instructed Anton that given the circumstances I let Jonas live, he would move him to an undisclosed location until I could deal with him appropriately.

  I sat Bianca down beside me and held her close as the car jostled. I did not have a car seat or anything to keep her still and safe. I guess it was something I would have to invest in now. I looked down at her seeing there was still fear in her eyes. It wasn’t the first time she’d been taken into a vehicle by a man who drives off to who knows where. “You are safe now,” I told her trying to reassure her.

  Bianca looked up at me with her dark eyes which were such a contrast to that hair. It was both frightening and beautiful. “You really know Mommy?” she asked tentatively. I didn’t blame her for questioning. She had just wanted to get away from Jonas.

  “Yes, I do,” I told her.

  “And Mommy is safe?” she asked. I remembered Mariana mentioning that Bianca had seen her get shot. She would know Mariana had been badly hurt.

  “Yes, she is safe now, and we are going to get on a big plane and go and see her,” I explained.

  I yanked out my cell phone from my coat pocket, pulling up Mariana’s number. I’d given her a cell phone a few days after she moved in and selected the video option as it rang. I handed it over to Bianca “Now my little Puff, hold it like this so your mommy can see you” I put her small hands on the cell phone, one on the back and the other on the front. Bianca moved her small body onto my lap, I’d never had children or been around many, but this made me feel like she had given me trust. The cell phone rang and rang until Mariana answered, the look on her face when she saw who was on the other end was all I needed to know I made her happy.

  “Este bine? Este bine?! Bianca!” Mariana’s voice cracked as she asked her little girl if she was okay, Bianca nodded “Momma…”

  “Oh, honey. Don’t cry, no, no, no, it’s okay” Mariana tried to shush Bianca as the tears came down her cheeks, the poor little girl was trembling in my lap. I didn’t know what I could do, so I did the only thing that came to mind and wrapped my arms around the little girl. Whispering in Romanian that she was fine, she’d be safe with her mother and me, that we’d be home soon.

  “Momma….I was scared” Bianca hiccupped, staring at Mariana’s concerned face. She could still see me in the background with the way Bianca was holding the phone.

  “There’s nothing to fear now little one,” I tell her, she turns from her mother and looks at me, furrowing her brows. Mariana does the same thing when she doesn’t believe something. I want to laugh; I can already tell that Bianca will be giving us all a run for her money when she’s a teenager.

  “Listen to Ion, baby” Mariana was right in what she’d already told me about Bianca, her little girl is bright and full of spirit, just like her mother. Bianca lay her head against my chest, within a moment she’d almost dropped the phone and was fast asleep. I took Mariana off of video chat and pressed the phone up against my ear.

  “She’s shaken up but seems well, given the circumstances.”

  “Ion.

  “I did what you asked, draga. I did not kill him, for you I did that.” She was the only reason he didn’t die at my hand today. Mariana deserved her revenge, and she would have it. “We will handle him when Bianca is acquainted at our home.”

  “Ion..” Her voice was soft, like a whisper.

  “Yes, dear?”

  “Thank you. Thank you so much” I could hear her crying through the phone, I could imagine those soft tears flowing down her beautiful face. I never wanted her to cry in her life with me, not at all. If I had any say, she would never shed a tear ever again.

  “Stop crying, love,” I told her, I wasn’t as authoritative as I usually am. It was a command, but a small one. “There is no crying today. I have her; she is safe and well. I will bring her home to you. She is safe my dear Ana; she is safe.”

  “U-understood” Mariana trembled.

  “I expect a kiss when I get home,” I told her, smiling on my end of the receiver. I heard a soft chuckle on her end, and the line went dead.

  I feel like I’d finally made her happy.

  Mariana

  I had been pacing the fancy tile floors of Ion’s place for the past several hours, waiting for the door to open with Bianca in tow. I didn’t know too much. I knew they had gotten word from the Balan clan that Jonas was somewhere in Tennessee. Why he was there or how he got there undetected was a mystery to all of us, but I didn’t really care about him. He could disappear and rot in hell. I just wanted my daughter, and Ion had her. He had my little girl.

  I heard the click of the lock and ran to the door expectantly, but my heart stopped beating the moment I saw her, held up in Ion’s arms and clinging to him for dear life. I could also see she had been harmed. There were bruises up her arm and on her wrists just like the ones I had when I was with Jonas. He had hurt his own child, and it made me sick. But she was home. She was with me.

  “Mama!” she whispered, rubbing her eyes with her hand as Ion let her down. I crouched down to the floor to receive her running hug, tears streaming down my face already. My reason for living was given back to me, and all I could think about was how grateful I was that Ion had kept his promise to bring her back to me.

  “I missed you so much, Puff,” I told her, not wanting ever to let go of her. I looked up at Ion whose eyes met mine. He mouthed one thing to me, barely audible, but I knew what he was telling me. “Kiss.” I couldn’t help but smile at him, a small chuckle escaping past my lips. I knew he wasn’t serious, he had a horrible sense of humor, but it was there.

  “Thank you,” I mouthed back to him, picking Bianca up. I probably shouldn’t have, but Ion said nothing about me carrying my daughter, even with my injury. “Let’s go find you a room,” I told her with a smile that I didn’t know I would be able to muster ever again.

  Chapter Eleven

  Mariana

  It was now two weeks since I had come to stay with Ion, and I was beginning to feel a little more at home. Or at least as home as I could feel while I was still being watched. Ion had just returned from Europe the day before because he had met with all the clan leaders. I had stayed back to enjoy my time with Bianca, but I felt like I had more eyes on me then than when Ion was at home. But it didn’t matter so much. I had been cleared for light exercise earlier that morning, and I had my daughter happily by my side. She was beginning to heal and find herself more at home than I was. Ion had even hired someone to help decorate her new room just the way she liked it. I may not have been thrilled to be there, but I was happy for Bianca. Her life would be different now.

  As I bit into an orange, feeling peckish, I noticed a small stack of mail sitting on the bar and looked at it curiously. I wondered if I should sift through it.

  “Yes, you have started getting mail here,” Ion commented, making me jump. I didn’t realize he was there, but he had come into the kitchen from the other side, making himself a Bloody Mary. The man did like to drink.

  I stood up and went over to the stack, pulling out only one envelope which was for me. I could hardly read the handwriting of the return address, but I could tell by the postage it came from out of the country. I opened it with shaking hands, worried what I might find there. I certainly did not expect what I was reading
. It felt like I was in some strange dream.

  My dearest Mariana,

  I first wanted to give my deepest condolences for the loss of your family and for the horrors you must have endured over the last eight years. I assure you, had I known where you were and who had been holding you captive, his end would have come painfully and swiftly.

  We have never met, but I knew your father very well, and so did my father. We are all happy to hear that you have been rescued and are back with us. There is a lot of hope for the clans now that a Vasile is back with us. There has been much turmoil with you away.

  I want to express my greatest gratitude to Ion Petran and the rest of the Petran clan for bringing you back to us alive, and it is with much passion and thought that I wish to ask you a very important question.

  I would like to ask for your hand in marriage. If you accept, you will receive the ring in the photo I have provided inside of this envelope and come to live with me at my compound in Germany. It is a beautiful place that I believe both you and your daughter will love. I hope one day you could learn to love me as well.

  Sincerely,

  Phillipe Sala.

  Just as the letter said, there was a photo of a ring, a quite expensive one, inside the envelope. I felt my jaw drop to the floor. Phillipe was the current reigning head of the Sala clan in Germany. He was a little over a decade older than me and known for his diplomacy as well as his red hair. I had heard about him many times from my family, though as he said, I had never met him. So, why in the world was he proposing to me?

  Still dealing with the shock, I passed the letter on to Ion, watching as he read it. I was certain he would be furious, but he had very little reaction.