Chapter 36

Roman and Remi were in the waiting room while Poppy was in surgery at the doctor's office. It had been hours, and they were all getting worried over the amount of time it was taking. Wringing his hands together, Roman was barely able to contain his emotions. If Poppy died, it would be in his hands for kidnapping ­­her and not calling for help when she had been sick the entire time.

Glancing up at Tate, who was standing watch at the door, he gave a sad sigh. Tate was clearly not pleased with him, and being one of his father's former guards, he would be sure to relay the message back to Italy that Roman was failing in Chicago. Especially since someone had already tipped his father off about what had been going on while they were waiting to hear from the doctor. His father would be furious with him for being so careless, and he wasn't looking forward to having to talk to him. But at least he knew now not all his men were loyal. They rat him out to his dad at the drop of the hat.

Rubbing his back, his sister rested her head on his shoulder. "I thought these things only take an hour, or so. It's been hours. I'm getting tired."

"I don't know. The nurse said there were complications, and it may take a little longer. You know how Doc Stevens is. He's an old school doctor. He won't leave his patient's bedside until they are in the clear."

"He's probably making us wait out here as a punishment for putting a gun in his face."

"Remi, shut up. You're not helping."

Giving a giggle, his sister snuggled in close until she heard a chime at the door, letting them know someone was there. In walked Anton, alone and looking guilty as hell. For some reason, he was holding his head down and away from them. So Roman was sure he knew he was in trouble.

Quickly, the siblings walked to him, and before he could react, he felt Remi's hand smack across his face.

"You idiot! Do you know what you've done? Father called. One of his men tipped him off that we didn't do intel on this girl, and he thinks we were screwing everything up. It's your fault! Roman is the new Don D'Amico and our father is threatening to take back over because he thinks he retired too soon."

"What?" Anton looked back and forth between the siblings while rubbing his sore cheek. "Your father knows? Oh man, I'm in so much trouble."

"Yeah, you're lucky you're my brother's best friend because he already mentioned putting a bullet in your damn head. Get it together, Anton, or you're out of here."

Roman shook his head, too tired to argue. "Sis, calm down. It's not all his fault. I've been putting a lot of pressure on everyone over Beau's death. It's my fault for not looking into this Poppy situation closer. Anton, what did you find out?"

"Well, the farmer was away at a Future Farmers of America convention. Something about teaching kids about organic vegetables. Her brothers were there, though." Turning his head, Anton showed the black eye he was sporting that he had been hiding from view. "Well, Remi. You'll be glad to know you weren't the only one ready to hit me. Her brothers beat my ass once I told them what I did. Lucky for us, they've had had some run-ins with the law themselves over the years and don't trust cops. They just want their sister back."

"What sort of trouble?"

Anton tried not to smile, but it was inevitable. "Remember, she said her granny was a hippy? They're not just growing corn on that farm. Those hicks were growing weed and making homemade moonshine. They gave me a taste after they beat my ass. It was pretty good liquor."

Remi giggled. "So that's why she's not scared of us. She's been around this stuff before. So, little miss perfect is shine-running, hippy stoner. That's epic."

"We don't know that. She could not be involved in that stuff," Roman grumbled. "So, it's true. She's Poppy Fields."

"Yep. Her oldest brother is waiting outside. I asked him to wait until I spoke to you. He's the one that gave me this black eye."

"Bring him in. Poppy will be glad to see him when she's out of recovery."

With a cringe, Anton shook his head no. "You sure? He's sort of…"

About that time a huge bodybuilder about six-foot-four stepped in, snarling his lip as he went for Roman. "You D'Amico? You the asshole who's been holding my kid sister hostage? We've been worried sick about her. Dad doesn't know yet, but when he does, you'll have hell coming down on you, boy."

"Yes sir," Roman stuck out his hand to greet him. "I'm sorry for the mixup. I'll take care of everything for the trouble I caused."

"Damn right you will!"

Before Roman could even react, the man swung and punched him right in the face, making Remi laugh.

"Oh, momma likey."

Pointing at her with anger. The handsome farm boy didn't seem impressed. "Can-it, bitch. Where is my sister?"

"Relax, bug boy. She's still in with the doctor. Come, sit. Tell me all about that farm and those naughty things you're growing. Momma likes a bad boy," she said as she snaked her arm through the man's elbow. Giving his biceps a squeeze, she bit her lip with a hum. "Mmm. I love me some lumberjack. You and I are going to get along fine, big sexy."

"Remi! What the fuck? This asshole just hit me," Roman said as he held his eye and tried to wrangle his gun from the holster. "Tate, aren't you going to help me?"

"Now, who needs to relax? You deserved that punch for kidnapping this guy's sister and not checking to see who she really was. Put that gun away. You're not going to shoot anyone."

"How the fuck was I to know that she was a doppelgänger for Claudia? You thought she was lying too!" he pouted. "Son of a bitch, that hurts. Dude, you wanna job? You're fucking huge and punch like a boxer."

"You're lucky I didn't snap your neck," the man said, glaring at him. "If my sister dies, I'll fucking kill you."

Roman nodded, taking a seat across from him. "If your sister dies, I'll let you."