Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 40015 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 200(@200wpm)___ 160(@250wpm)___ 133(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40015 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 200(@200wpm)___ 160(@250wpm)___ 133(@300wpm)
“Dante!” Father bellowed. “Luca! Come out here, you cowards.”
I was vaguely aware of engines revving outside, tires squealing. The gunfire died down almost entirely.
The Russians were retreating. Giuseppe was on his own. No wonder he was half out of his mind with fear. But his terror was nothing compared to the all-consuming horror of seeing my father hold a gun to my sister’s head.
He’d sold me to the Bratva. He wouldn’t hesitate to kill Giana. Especially now that he was backed into a corner, no escape. His allies had just driven off and abandoned him to his fate.
Giuseppe wouldn’t survive this, but he might decide to take my beloved sister down with him.
“I’ll fix this for you, Nora,” Luca murmured, brushing a kiss over my cheek. “Stay here, and don’t make a sound. I’m going to save Giana. I’ll protect her as though I’m protecting you.”
My throat tightened. That meant he would die for her.
I didn’t want to lose the man I loved. And Dante…
Where was Dante?
He couldn’t be dead. I refused to contemplate it.
“Stay here, no matter what.” He issued the command in an undertone, but it was a firm order, nonetheless.
“I’m here, Giuseppe,” he called out, lingering in the shadows but stepping away from where I was hidden. “Let Giana go, and you can have me instead.”
He shot me a swift, warning glare, and my protest died in my throat, I had to trust him. He was wearing a bulletproof vest. My sister wasn’t.
“Come out here and face me like a man, Luca,” Father sneered. “You never were worthy of taking your father’s place. You’ve always been too weak to be the heir.”
“Let Giana walk three paces to your right, and I’ll come to you.”
“Not happening. I won’t release her until I see that you’re unarmed.”
Father jammed the gun into Giana’s ribs, and she cried out. I felt an echo of her pain radiating through my own body. Desperation clawed at my insides, and the need to go to her was a maddening itch beneath the surface of my skin.
I took a breath and forced myself to stillness. I trusted Luca. He wouldn’t simply allow Giuseppe to shoot him in order to save my sister.
Would he?
Oh, god.
The realization hit me as soon as he stepped out into the open, arms raised in a show of surrender.
I would sacrifice anything for you.
He’d made himself an open target. He might be wearing Kevlar, but a headshot would end him before I could scream his name.
Giuseppe’s gun swung away from my sister, toward Luca.
Dante plowed into my father with a bellow of primal rage, tackling him and Giana to the ground. The gunshot rang out, but Luca wasn’t hit.
“Run!” Dante roared at Giana, and she scrambled away from the grappling men.
I darted out to drag my sister to safety just as another shot thundered through the cavernous foyer. Luca was already there, covering her with his body. Dante shouted in wordless fury, wrestling the older man onto his back. A third shot, and my father’s brain splattered against the wall.
I reached them in a few racing heartbeats, dropping to my knees beside Giana. Luca rolled off her, and I ran my hands over her, checking for injuries.
“I’m okay,” she sobbed. “I’m okay.” But she hugged her knees to her chest, rocking back and forth as she stared at our father’s ruined skull.
I spared a glance at the bastard, just to reassure myself that he was dead.
Icy terror encased my heart, and I flung myself toward the men I loved.
“Dante!”
My fierce husband lay on his back, clutching at his stomach. Crimson stained his white shirt, and a gory pool was growing beneath his powerful body.
Luca applied pressure to the bullet wound, and Dante roared, the sound of his pain knifing through my soul.
“Stupid bastard,” Luca muttered. “I’m the one wearing Kevlar. You didn’t have to throw yourself in front of a bullet for me.”
“I did,” Dante forced the retort through gritted teeth. “She loves you.”
I grabbed his hand, squeezing with my full strength, as though that would be enough to keep him here with me.
His eyes pierced me, his gaze so intense that it knocked the air from my lungs.
“You can be together now,” he said, gentle tone roughened by agony. “He does deserve you, Nora. I was wrong.”
“You deserve me too,” I insisted, blinking away the tears before they could blind me. I couldn’t lose sight of him. I couldn’t lose him. “I need you.”
His dark lashes fluttered, and he forced his eyes open wide as he caressed my cheek with his bloody hand. “It’s…better this way.” He choked on a breath, chest convulsing. “You don’t have to worry about hurting me. Your choice is made.”
“You don’t get to make the choice for me, remember?” I reminded him. “Stay with me, Dante. I love you.”