Page 79 of Vow of Hate

“For doing what you did to Sienna, yes. And for going against me, yes.”

I hold up a finger. “I never went against you. How could I? I never agreed to be allies with you in the first place. You can’t go against someone you’re already enemies with.”

“Fucking semantics,” Matteo growls.

“Ah, Matteo. Nice to see you again. How are the ribs? All healed from where I kicked you last time we spoke?”

“You left me and my wife for dead,” he snaps. “You’re going to die.”

Gabriel puts his hand on Matteo’s arm. “Don’t shoot. I want to torture him. See what any kind of information he has. Get on the ground, Dante.”

“Don’t do this,” Sienna begs.

“Stay out of the way, Sienna. You can’t be trusted,” Gabriel says. “Get on the ground, Dante.”

I know in this moment I made a mistake. I let my guard down, exactly what I was worried about. But I can’t go down without a fight.

I grab my gun from my back pocket and point it at Gabriel but he fires a warning shot into the ceiling.

“I don’t want to kill you just yet. So lower your fucking gun,” he hisses.

My eyes flick to Sienna. If I just start randomly firing, she could end up hurt. Or worse. Before her, I wouldn’t have hesitated to get into a shootout. Shootouts are fun. But not when Sienna’s life is on the line.

With a huff, I throw my gun to the ground. Sienna’s eyes widen. Clearly, she hadn’t been expecting me to do that. It’s not only her that can be surprising.

Gabriel rushes to my side and hits me in the head with his gun, knocking me to the ground. Pain radiates through my skull. Fucking asshole.

“Stop!” Sienna screams. “Let’s talk this through. Don’t hurt him.”

“You sided with the enemy,” Gabriel snaps at her. “I can’t trust you. Get Sienna out of here.”

“No!” She screams as she’s dragged out of the house by Gabriel’s men.

“Sienna,” I groan. “Don’t hurt her.”

Gabriel scoffs. “Why the hell would I hurt her? You’ve already hurt her enough. You made a mistake, Dante. You got on my bad side and you shouldn’t have. All you had to do was make a deal with me. And you just couldn’t do that.” He nods at Matteo, who steps forward.

“This is for trying to kill me,” Matteo snarls before kicking me right in the face.

That’s when everything goes black.

Sienna

“Let me go!” I scream at the guard holding me. The moment we’re outside, to his credit, he listens to me. I stumble and then try to run back inside but he stops me.

Gabriel and Matteo come back out while Dante is being carried by Gabriel’s men.

“What are you going to do to him?” I ask.

“We’re going to torture him,” Gabriel says in his eerily calm voice. It’s in this moment I’m reminded of how ruthless a mafia man he is.

“But he didn’t kidnap me. I came here with him. Willingly. I was trying to get him to make peace with you. Make peace with him. Dante and I can marry. This can all be put aside.”

“Dante ruined his chances when he fucked me over. And he’s clearly brainwashed you.” He turns to one of his men. “Take her back to my home and make sure she doesn’t leave.”

I cry out as I’m forced into one of the cars in the driveway. This is all my fault. I led Gabriel and his men straight to Dante.

I wasn’t exactly sure how I felt for him before. Torn between love and hate but one thing I know is clear: I do not want him to be killed. But that’s exactly what Gabriel has planned.