Page 3 of Revenge of Sin

If not for one reason, for another.

I look down at the dark-haired beauty, watching her shallow breathing.The realization that this obsession with Anna is worth going to war settles over me and can’t be ignored.

I knew full well who she was the moment I first saw the angel in my club, allowed her to be there, and took liberties that will no doubt be the cause of Roselli retribution for years to come, but she fucking loved it whether she’ll admit it now that she knows who I am or not.

Every fucking minute was worth it, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.And I fully intend to.

Nicolo turns to me.“Where to?”

“Back to the penthouse.”

My brother’s eyes go wide.“Are you fucking serious, Vincenzo?You can’t just keep Anna Cassone.You have to give her back to the Rosellis to protect.Massimo is going to be searching high and low for his sister-in-law.He’s going to come unhinged, and we all know what that looks like.”

The blood races with fury through my veins.“If Massimo had kept her safe, protected, she wouldn’t be running around in the middle of the night where someone could snatch her.If we hadn’t gotten to her, she could have been subjected to torture for the rest of her natural born life.”

Nicolo starts to say something, but I cut him off.“Home.”

2

Anna

Afamiliar looking black SUV pulls up outside the DeLuca casino.I’m going to make it out of here, away from Vincenzo and his plans to hand me over for a billion dollars.Still my heart’s beating so fast I can barely breathe.A man gets out and I walk toward him.“Who are you here to pick up?”I ask quietly, praying this is the ride Addie secured.

“Anna?”

Last name?”I ask, remembering Addie always telling me to ask the driver for the name of the pickup.

He looks down at his phone.“Sorry, I wasn’t given a last name.Just the first.”

Smart, Addie, smart.“Thank you.”I get into the car, trying to get my pulse to calm as the driver walks to the front, just as I see a group of DeLuca soldiers racing out the door.

Drive, drive, drive.

As if hearing my silent pleas, the driver pulls away from the curb, and the privacy screen slides into place, but the clicking of the locks on either side of me causes my insides to chill.Never, not once has Addie’s driver locked the doors.

I slide a finger over my cell.No service.

I swallow through my fear, trying to find the words to ask a question, but the minute we pass the exit to the beach house, my worst fears are confirmed.“You’re not my driving service, are you?”

The leer of the man’s eyes in the rearview mirror is the last thing I see before my body sways with my last conscious thoughts.

My eyelids feellike lead weights as I try to force them open, wincing at the pain as the sunlight from the large floor-to-ceiling window shines through.My throat is dry.I swallow gently but even that hurts, feeling cracked as though it’s been days since my last glass of water.

I lie still just absorbing the light, blinking through the pain, trying to adapt to the haziness of my world and discomfort of my limbs.

The fogginess gradually lifts, but is immediately replaced with fear, causing my blood to race with alarm.My mind suddenly swirls, going back to running away from Vincenzo and his soldiers, making it all the way out the casino doors and getting into the black SUV that was supposed to be Addie’s driving service.

Only to have the doors in back lock at the same time the privacy glass slid into place.The very same minute, and moments later realizing my driver wasn’t going the right way.

As many times as Delz, my security guard growing up, taught me what an attempt may look or feel like … I was never prepared for this.

The kidnapping in his scenarios didn’t happen like that, or like it does in the movies, I didn’t see a smoky haze or anything at all, but the burning of my eyes, my throat, and nasal passages as I got dizzier and dizzier told me everything I already knew.

Helpless, it’s the only way to describe the feeling of your body completely useless and at the mercy of another, until darkness overtook me and who knows what happened before I wound up here.

Vincenzo’s soldier or whoever he had grab me drugged me with something, like gas, or who knows, maybe it was when I grabbed the door to try to get out.All this advanced stuff we never had years ago.The technology and chemicals keep evolving and the bastards just get better and better at being bad.

The floor-to-ceiling windows provide a full view of the ocean and sky.Running didn’t make a bit of difference if I’m where I think I’m at.At least I didn’t end up in a warehouse like I thought I would.