Chapter 11

Alec

His words give me hope as he speaks to me. “My father thinks we got a lead.”
I’m hopeful that we’ll bring her back alive safely. Nobody deserves to live their life the way she’s had to. All the years of abuse just like I did, the only difference is Courtney lived with it for years. Now she’s enduring abuse once again by the monster I failed to protect her from.
What I wouldn’t give to be holding her in my arms right now. Baby, I promise when I find you I’m never letting you go. I’ll make sure nobody ever touches you again. We’re not a couple but there’s something about her that draws me to her. She makes me feel things I never felt and to tell you the truth it scares the shit out of me.
I promise baby by the end of the night we’ll bring you home.
To me.
To us.
Your family.
Dragging my feet towards the office, I spot Giovanni and Luca talking with Tony. “What’s going on?”
Luca looks at me as he’s talking to Tony and freezes, “We’re sending Tony in undercover to see exactly how many men and how bad it really is. Tonight we bring her home to us.”
Hold on just a little bit longer Courtney.
Be strong.
Tony grabs his phone and gun strapping it inside his jacket and proceeds to leave. This is the hardest part. The waiting game. I just hope we can make it to her in time before Sergei breaks her beyond repair.
Pouring me a shot, I bring the glass to my lips as I remember how she felt just hours before we realized she had been taken.
It’s just me and Giovanni in the room when he sighs out loud bringing me back to reality. “Alec, you need to be prepared for whatever condition Courtney may be in when we bring her home. We don’t know what condition she’s in or what she’s been through. I need you to be ready for that.”
I don’t even want to think about that. I just want to bring this fucker down and make him bleed like he’s done to her. A stray tear runs down my face as I start to think.
What if we’re too late?
Will she be the same?
We’ve got Tony on the inside so we should be on time. Stop thinking like that Alec. Giovanni's laptop pings alerting him he’s received an email. He opens it up and his face pales as he looks up at me. Whatever is on that email is not good. It’s gotta be from Sergei. Slowly walking around to look at the computer screen, I look up to the screen and what I see breaks my heart.
No.
It shatters it for what I’m looking at right now.
The look on her face as he grips her breasts making her scream in pain. The video begins to play and his words make my blood boil as he continues touching her. “Look at these guys and look real good, Alec Vitale. These are mine.”
She’s chained to the ceiling with her arms above her head and she’s covered in bruises. He releases her breast and continues to feel her body lower till he gets to her pussy and grips it hard as he begins to speak again. “This is mine. I’m going to teach her what happens to people that run away from me!"
Her head stays casts down looking at the floor. He keeps on assaulting her as he thrusts his dick inside her. No. He’s breaking her completely. I look away from the video as she screams for him to stop. I can’t watch this.
“Turn it off. Please… I can’t watch this anymore.”
My head begins to throb and find myself collapsing to the floor on my knees.
My Courtney is not going to be the same. Sergei made sure of that when he was controlling, her using her like a puppet. I find myself broken too as well by just seeing her in pain. I hear the video being stopped and Gio kneels down to me and hugging me as we both cry for her.
His pain for the woman he sees as a daughter.
My pain being for the woman I love.
I haven’t felt this much pain since the day they rescued me and took me in as their own. I hate knowing she’s hurting and I’m stuck here not being able to do a fucking thing about it. Gio continues to hug me knowing I’m devastated and rocks me back and forth as I cry. For the woman, I lost.
Lucien walks in seeing me in the weakest point in my life. He hasn’t seen me like this for a long time. Clearing his throat, he speaks up. “Tony found her and it’s not good. We’ve got to get her out of there. Tonight.”
The plan is we're going to stand by the edge of the property while Tony sneaks her out. Her safety comes first then we’ll worry about Sergei later. I have to know she’s gonna be okay. I’m coming baby. We all are currently waiting at the edge of the property as we wait for Tony to bring her to us.
The faint silhouette of two figures in the shadows comes closer to us. My heart stops at the sight I see in front of me. Tony carrying an unconscious Courtney wrapped in a blanket.
Is she still alive?
“She’s still alive. Quickly, we got to get her out of here.”
He continues to carry her to the SUV and places her in the backseat careful not to hurt her. I take my seat in the back with her. She’s painted in bruises and blood coats her hair and face. I don’t even want to know what the rest of her looks like. The important thing is she’s away from that monster. She’s safe in my arms.
Taking my fingers, I brush her hair out of her face and thank god she’s still breathing. “I promise baby I’ll kill him making sure he never hurts you again.”
I don’t even realize we’re back at the estate when I feel a hand on my shoulder.
“Come on man, we've got to get her inside and looked at.”
I carefully pick her up and carry her inside to my room. Giovanni has the doctor already there. I recognize her. It’s Rose. She’s the one that always stitches us up when we get shot. My sweet Courtney, please be okay. Giovanni and Lucien have to drag me away from the room so she can work on her. I don’t want to leave her but I have to.
It's been hours since we brought her back and Rose has been inside my room. I've been pacing the house ever since then. I've yet to get any news on how she is. My mind is going crazy as I think of all the things I'm going to do to Sergei for even touching her. Rose walks in and starts to talk to Giovanni in secret telling him about her condition. She looks to me and gives me a sad smile before walking away. Giovanni takes a seat next to me and wraps his arm around my shoulder. "Alec, son, she's gonna be okay, but... she was pregnant."
Was pregnant?
She was pregnant with my child and lost it?
No.
No.
No.
Not only am I going to make Sergei suffer for touching her, but I'm also going to torture him for killing my child. What me and Courtney had going on was purely physical. We both knew that but that didn't mean I wouldn't take care of my child and her.
I'm frozen.
I can't move.
How will she react knowing she was pregnant?
Giovanni shakes me to snap me out of my shock, "Son I'm so sorry. Go to her. Be with her in her time of need."
I slowly walk up to my room afraid of what she might look like. Turning the knob, I choke back a sob to seeing her look so lifeless. Her eyes are closed and are hooked up to all kinds of wires. I hate this shit. I gently kiss her forehead and find myself taking a seat right next to her holding her hand. I feel her fingers start to twitch and I wait for her to open her eyes.
Her eyes open and they look so broken and emotionless. "Alec, am I dreaming or am I dead?"
I smile to her and rub my thumb over her knuckles. "No, baby I'm really here. You're home."
She tries to sit up but I'm quick to stop her in fear of her harming herself. Looking into her eyes, I begin to break the news of her miscarriage. "Baby you were pregnant with my child. I'm sorry but you lost the baby. I promise Sergei will pay severely."
Tears start to form in her eyes and I lay next to her as she mourns for the death of our son or daughter. The pain radiates off her and she just cries in my arms breaking my heart a little bit more. It feels like someone ripped out my heart little by little making me suffer. She eventually quits crying and falls asleep in my arms.
Caterina and Lucien are standing in the doorway smiling at me. "I knew you loved her Alec. I fucking knew it."
This time, I don't care that they are here.
All that matters is she's here.
Back in my arms.
Out of harm's way.
I hesitantly get up and kiss her head before standing in the doorway looking at my two friends. "Look after her Caterina. I have to discuss some things with Lucien."
Lucien and I walk out and my friend stops me, "We have Sergei's little brother in the basement. Are you ready to start your revenge brother?"
Hell. Yes.
I'm so ready for this.
It's not Sergei but it's a start.
We got his little brother.
Time to pay fuckers.
I look at the piece of shit chained to the wall and look at him in disgust. He curls his lips up into a smirk. He's definitely related to him. "You gonna let me fuck her as my brother did. So sweet and so tight." I don't hesitate to punch him in the jaw and breaking his wrist.
"Where is he?!"
He spits on my face making me drag my knife across his forearm. I so badly want to put a bullet in this fucker's brain but I can't kill him yet. I also can't let Courtney know he's down here either. There's no telling how she would react to that.
Putting on the brass knuckles, his face turns white as I raise my fist to hit him. Crunch! He spits out blood along with his tooth as I smirk at him, "I'm going to enjoy breaking your teeth one by one just like you broke Courtney and when I'm done with you I'm coming for your brother."
I take the brass knuckles off and pick up the knife placing it over his pinkie finger and slice into it until I hear the bone breaking. He screams in pain as it falls to the cold basement floor.
"You cut off my fucking finger!"
I take my gun and press the cold metal to his temple and he begins to thrash. Bringing the butt of the gun to the side of his head, I knock him out cold. "God he was annoying."
Lucien and I secure the basement and he orders two men to guard the door.
I walk into my room and take a shower to clean up. I definitely don't want her to see me like this. I put my fresh clothes on and Courtney begins to stir in her sleep. She begins to whimper and grip the sheets. Oh god, she's having a nightmare. I have never felt so helpless in my life. So I do the only thing I can think of. I lay next to her holding her close humming a tune that Giovanni sung to me when I was younger to soothe me. I just hope it works for her.