I don’t know. I don’t know anything.
“Cici,” Angelo says without taking his eyes off Gabe, “you need to run and hide now until your husband comes back. You hear me?”
I don’t trust Angelo. I never have.
“Cecilia!” he barks, far more forcefully. “Go hide! RUN!”
I cannot run well even when I’m not almost seven months pregnant. I’m stuck and frozen, as useless as I was that day at the vineyard. The twins, perhaps disturbed by the spike in my heart rate, kick like crazy.
And this, a reminder of the twins, pulls me back from the brink of panic.
I’m Cecilia Tempesta and I will not be helpless. My babies need their mother. Julian needs his wife.
Storm’s Eye Ranch has already seen its share of tragedies. I refuse to be the next one.
But my legs don’t receive the message and I can’t get the traction I need to stand. All I end up doing is awkwardly sliding backwards, one inch at a time. At this rate, I’ll make it to the end of the hallway by tomorrow morning.
Gabriel has a loaded gun. Angelo holds a bloody rolling pin. Not exactly an even fight but they face off now as new enemies. Angelo throws me one final agonized glance and then he charges toward Gabe, who simply raises the gun.
“NO!” I scream and lunge toward Gabe’s legs.
Naturally, I don’t take him down. Not even close. All I end up doing is wrapping my arms around his calves. But the disruption is enough to send his shot off target. Instead of taking a bullet to the head or chest, Angelo’s right thigh is hit.
“FUCK!” he screams as blood pours through the hole in his jeans.
“Gabriel,” I beg from the floor. “Please stop.”
My twin brother looks down at me. He doesn’t lower the gun but he also doesn’t fire it again right away, giving Angelo time to stumble away and out of range. He disappears down a dark hallway.
Gabe looks down at me with a sigh and extends his free hand to help me up. “Come on, Cici.”
“You shot Angelo,” I gasp with my legs almost too rubbery to stand.
“I had to,” he replies. “You saw the way he came at me. He would have hurt you too.”
No, I don’t think that’s true. Nothing makes sense right now.
“You should sit down,” Gabe decides and leads me into Cass’s study while Cass himself continues to bleed on the floor.
“We need to get help!” I cry but my brother’s grip is strong and he doesn’t let go until he manages to gently push me into one of the leather armchairs.
I’m facing the huge fireplace. A few logs continue to lazily burn as the fire winds down. Teresa Tempesta gazes at me with her eternal smile.
I can hardly believe I sat in this same spot earlier today. That conversation with Julian’s father feels as remote as summertime.
Gabriel is pacing the room. “You have nothing to worry about,” he says. “They won’t hurt you.”
“Who? And how do you know?”
He stops pacing. “Grandfather sent his best men. They have orders not to touch you. I made sure of it.”
I don’t want this to be possible. But Angelo was right for once. He tried to warn me.
“What did you do, Gabe? Did you attack Cass Tempesta? How did you even get free?”
His expression turns stubborn. “I’m smarter than everyone thinks. They didn’t even bother to tie the knots properly. Working them loose was easy.”
I bet it was. Gabe and his magic tricks. He always loved escape artist Harry Houdini.
