Page 39 of Revenge of Sin

That locked jaw of his tells me that he either doesn’t want to tell me or doesn’t think I’m going to like the answer.I press him again.“Tell me.”

“That visit was about as unpleasant as having my nuts rung out in court.That woman could spar with the devil and come out as clean as a fucking angel.She gave me the run around with all that legal mumbo jumbo.I had to get a little rough.”

My eyebrow arches.“She defends the families.”

He sighs.“I know it, it’s not like I got real rough, just threatened her a little bit and maybe said a few things I shouldn’t have said.”

“Well, did you find out anything that we didn’t already know or just piss her off?”Nicolo is smooth with the ladies; it’s not like him to let someone get under his skin and knock him off his game.

Nicolo thrums a finger against the cell phone balancing on his leg.“Apparently, Denato told her that old man Cassone agreed to give Anna to Barcelo in the beginning, but Gallini had conditions.If she couldn’t bear children, the deal was off.If she could, then after the firstborn the entire estate would belong to the Gallinis.

My head spins with the sudden realization that Gallini nulled the agreement when the fucker made Anna sterile.Took the ability to bear children away from her at such a young age that it makes me want to hurl.But the meeting with Massimo just became a different conversation completely.I watch for car lights or any signs of activity, pulling the gun from the back of my waistband as Terry gets closer to the water’s edge.

The car hits a bump in the road.“Damn, sorry boss.”

I point in between the two of them in the front seat.“There, see that move?It was a flashlight.Get our soldiers down toward the water and surround them.”

Terry nods.“On it, boss.We’ll get her.”

But promises aren’t what I want.I’m not going to calm down until my princessa is in my fucking arms.Just the thought of them touching her in any way causes my chest to pound with unprecedented rage.“Faster,” I growl.

Terry already has the car lights off, far back in the road, and he shuts off the engine.“We’re too close now, boss.We need to move on foot.”

I get out with Nicolo and Terry on my heels.He knows the rules, the protocols about staying in the car but nobody’s barking orders at him today.We need every man available and both Nicolo and I fucking know it.

28

Anna

The loud voices become increasingly close.The brush is too crunchy, and even the smallest sound is going to make me easier to find.I do the only thing that I can do.Huddle into the canopy of a large bush and wait.

Gun pointed, I’m barely able to breathe as the monsters stomp through the brush, swiping at branches with something that sounds like large sticks or bats, and every time they do it my chest tightens even more.

If I ever get away from here, I swear I’m going to disappear so very far away that no one will ever be able to find me.

A crack against the sapling close by causes me to jump and rustle the leaves.An evil laugh spills into the darkness of the forest before a large hand grabs me by my hair.I get two shots off but I’m aiming in the dark and while I know at least one of them hit him, it doesn’t stop the bastard from dragging me from the bush and onto my feet.“There you are you little bitch.”

The man pulls tighter, right down to the roots, causing tears to spill down my cheeks.I do my best not to cry, not to shed a tear, to will them away, swiping at them the best I can before other men arrive and zip tie my arms behind me and push me toward more voices in the forest.“We’ve got her.Radio it in and let the boss know he can make that call and set up the deal.”

Light spills into the small clearing as the men gather with flashlights.“You better get that looked at.You’re lucky she missed your big-ass gut.”

“Fuck you.It’ll wait until I see the bitch handed over.That’s all the payback I need right there.”

The reality that they’re going to hand me over to Bastian Gallini in just a very short while is not lost on me.The threat has been held over my head for so long.I’m so exhausted emotionally and physically from running that it’s not hard to act like I now simply accept my fate.

At least for now…

They push me forward, surrounded by smelly men as we head up the small pathway toward the roadway.The rush of animals scurrying through the forest heighten my sense of where we are.In the middle of a dense wooded area where big animals of the non-human kind can come out and play.

A small shiver runs down my spine as I hear a crunching sound, before the resounding sound of gunfire erupts and lights up the darkness of the forest.“Anna, down!”

I hit the forest floor with a thud making my chest take the impact with no hands to help cushion my blow as soldier after soldier of the enemy join me on the dirt-packed ground.

But all of them are dead…

Some with eyes wide open, but all with bullets ripping them apart.I close my eyes tight.It’s not that I haven’t seen death and lots of it, but I’ve never been the single cause of so many lost lives.

Vincenzo is the one who kneels beside me, quickly severing the zip ties with his knife, his eyes dark and intense.