Across the garage, Belio was being dragged upright by two soldiers, blood streaming down the side of his battered face. I walked towards him, resisting the need to take my anger out on him.
He straightened himself despite his injuries. Shame shadowed his face as he lowered his head slightly.
“Boss.”
“You let him take her.”
“She gave herself up, traded places with her friend.” He swallowed and nodded towards the small body huddled between two cars, sobbing. Allegra. Of course my little rebel would save her friend. “I tried to get her to hide under that car but she—”
“Which car?”
“The Porsche.”
I stormed towards it, crouching down. Knowing my girl was smart, I scanned the floor beneath, searching for anything she might have left behind as a clue. I raised my hand and looked for the tracking device I had placed on all my most valuable possessions. I’d have one fitted under her skin once I found her.
“Clever girl,” I whispered, rising to my feet and pulling out my phone. I opened my tracking app, and there it was—a small red dot moving across the city.
“Cars. Now,” I shouted at my men as I stormed towards my fastest motorbike and grabbed a knife, gun, and helmet. “Head towards Ostia port!”
I glanced up to see Gio helping Max to his feet; Cami was now at his side too, heading towards a car.
“I’ll follow you,” Gio said. “Let me just get this bastard on his way to the doc.”
I nodded, punched down my visor, and revved the hell out of my bike, the wheels screeching against the concrete as I tore onto the road.
I knew my men would take a bit longer to get there, but I wouldn’t wait for them. Aria needed me, and Callum was mine to deal with. I wanted to watch his blood spill and the light fade from his eyes with my face being the last thing he ever saw.
Frame me, get me locked up, mess with my business and money, but never lay a finger onmy wife. For that, there would be no mercy for you.
Enough
“You don’t have to do this, Callum,” I wheezed. Callum’s rigid shoulder pressed into my stomach with every step.
“Unfortunately, I do.”
“Where are you taking me?” My voice faltered when I saw the cargo ship waiting at the end of the dock. “What do you want with me if you’re leaving Rome?”
He didn’t answer. Oh, God. If I left Italy on that boat, it would make it a thousand times harder for Sani to find me. The thought of never seeing him again… it was too painful to bear.
My pulse quickened, heat rushing through me as I bucked, thrashing like a fish out of water, almost causing Callum to lose his grip and drop me. He slid me down his body until I was back on my feet, one arm wrapped tight around my back while he clutched my jaw roughly, fingers digging into my flesh.
“I don’t want to hurt you, Aria. But I will if you give me no other choice.” He glared at me, his jaw taut as he gritted through clenched teeth. “Now, behave.”
Before I could respond, he’d thrown me over his shoulder and took a few more steps until the atmosphere shifted around us. The silence was deafening. Callum’s men had all come to a complete halt, their guns raised and poised ahead as Callum’s strides slowed beneath me before he came to a slow stop.
A strange stillness had taken hold of them all, and the air crackled with a heavy, electric charge, like the feeling just before a storm breaks. My heart lurched, and I tried to swing my upside-down head to the side to see around Callum’s back.
And there was the cause. My husband. My protector. The man I was hopelessly in love with.
He was leaning casually against the corner of a steel container as if he’d been standing there all along, waiting. Dressed in a black shirt with sleeves rolled up as usual and black trousers, with one hand in his pocket and the other hanging loosely at his side, holding a silver gun. Although he looked relaxed, almost bored, his eyes told a different story.
Even from a distance, I could sense them locked on me, scanning quickly for injuries, darkening at the cable ties around my wrists and the rope around my ankles. The overwhelming tension in my chest snapped with relief, and I could breathe again. He’d found me.
“Sani–” His name had scarcely left my lips when his eyes darted to my face, and everything else seemed to vanish; the men, Callum, the boat, the sea. The only thing that existed in that moment was the way his face softened, just for a fleeting second, as he reassured me without words. Then his deadly glare returned as he directed his gaze at Callum.
I couldn’t see Callum’s face, but I could feel how his body had tensed and how he’d tighten his hold around my thighs.
“You’re here alone,” Callum shouted. “How heroic.”
