Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 66962 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66962 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
I sat up straighter and listened. Was that someone outside? Shit. What if it was my captor or Luca Pisano?
I couldn’t believe he was actually flying to the States. What would happen if he confronted me? He would know I wasn’t my brother if he saw me up close, wouldn’t he? Surely he would recognize the man he’d fucked nearly every night for months.
I picked up the chair again and positioned myself where I could hit anyone that came through the door. The chances of that working were extremely low. I’d have to hit hard enough that they had no chance to fight back, but I was going to fight and keep fighting until I wasn’t able to anymore.
Footsteps approached.
I heard someone fiddling with the lock.
“Carlo, are you in there?”
It was Blade. I made as much noise as I could, praying he would guess that I was gagged.
“Get away from the door.”
I dropped the chair and did what he said. A shot rang out, then I heard the sound of metal scraping metal. Suddenly the door popped open. Blade rushed over to me and ripped the tape from my mouth.
“Are you okay?”
“I am now. Where’s Fox?”
“A little behind me, keeping watch. Turn around.”
Blade had a knife in his hand like he had that night at his cabin. This time, I wasn’t afraid he meant to hurt me.
“Lift your hands away from your body.” I did, and he sliced through the tape in one motion. My hands were free.
He crouched down, and I separated my feet as much as I possibly could. Even knowing how skilled he was, it was scary as hell to watch the knife come down between my ankles. If he slipped… But he didn’t. The tape came apart, and I was able to separate my legs again.
I pulled the remnants of the tape off me as he turned back toward the door.
I heard something. “Stay back.”
“Blade, Watch your back!” Fox yelled.
Fox was grappling with an assailant and another man had a gun aimed at Blade. Time seemed to stand still.
37
BLADE
I whipped around, knife in hand. Once I sighted the spot I needed to hit, I lifted my arm and threw the knife. It all happened in a fraction of a second. The knife buried itself in the man’s throat. His gun went off as he fell, but the shot went wild.
He would bleed out in seconds, so he was no longer a threat. I pulled my gun and aimed at the man fighting with Fox. As soon as I had a clear line of sight, I fired. He fell back, blood pouring from his chest.
Fox grinned at me. “Good shot.”
I looked from one dead man to the other. I’d done it. When it mattered, when Carlo’s and Fox’s lives were on the line, I’d used the skills I was afraid I’d lost. I done what I had to do, and I hadn’t panicked. I hadn’t frozen, and I didn’t regret killing those men. I walked over to the corpse with my knife sticking out from his neck. I pulled it from him, cleaned it on his clothes, and put it back in its sheath.
When I turned around, Carlo was in the doorway with a huge smile on his face. “You did it. I told you you could.”
“This is far from over,” Fox said, then he held his hand up, signaling for us to be quiet.
He was the only one of us wearing an earpiece. He must be getting communication from Lucien or one of the others.
“Their best calculation says we’ve taken most of the men out. It’s time to approach the plane. Are you guys ready?”
“Yes,” Carlo and I said in unison, and this time I knew I really meant it.
38
CARLO
I stood next to Blade, facing Massimo and Luca Pisano and their personal guards. They’d agree to negotiate after we’d killed off everyone else who was loyal to them.
“Go home, and we’ll consider this matter closed,” Lucien said.
“I told you what is required for us to end this vendetta. You must turn Carlo over.”
Lucien huffed. “I think we’ve made it clear we are the ones in control here.”
Luca, the man I’d supposedly blackmailed, looked all of us over several times. “He’s not here. They didn’t even bring him.”
Massimo, Luca’s brother, frowned and pointed at me. “He’s right there.”
I forced myself to stand still. I wasn’t going to flinch. They might shoot me, but I had to look like I didn’t care.
Blade laid a hand against my back. The warmth of his touch gave me the courage to hold my ground.
The other man scoffed. “That’s not him. I’d believe it’s his brother or cousin, but that is not the man who’s blackmailing me.”
“I am Carlo Marchesi.”
“He is,” Massimo said.
“This is absurd,” Lucien said. “This is Carlo. I would know my own cousin. I’m beginning to think this has all been fabricated in an attempt to move against my family.”