Page 72 of Sicilian Savior

I grabbed his shoulders to keep him from running, watching the blood ooze from the wound, grateful I hadn’t nicked the jugular so he wouldn’t bleed out in seconds. No. He didn’t deserve a quick death. I wanted to glare down into his eyes and appreciate the look of true fear staring back at me—see the recognition in his eyes.

Rage bubbled up inside me, thinking about what this man planned to do with my woman and my kid. I leaned down close. “Do you see it? The light? I’ve asked this question to a number of people when watching them die, and I haven’t ever gotten an answer. Tell me, Joey. Do you see the light?”

His mouth opened and closed as he stared up at me. I grinned back at him.

“That was for trying to kill my woman.” His eyes widened as I lifted my knife back to his throat. “And this is for trying to kill my kid.”

I let the rage in my body channel through my arm as I pulled my knife slowly across his throat. The sounds of his death rattles sounded like the sweetest symphony, and I stared into his eyes with a smile until the lights went out.

No one touches my family.

My gaze lifted to the house holding them inside.

You’re next, Victor.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Lucia

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“Where the hell is he?” Victor shouted, his crazed eyes burning with rage as he stormed around the living room.

He picked up his phone again, dialing the number before tossing his phone on the couch with a roar. “Joey’s double-crossing me, isn’t he? He’s fucking me over. I never should have trusted him. I knew I shouldn’t have trusted him.”

I’d never seen Victor like this before. He’d always been cold and calculating. Emotionless in the face of struggles. But now, he looked like a madman ready to come undone at a moment’s notice.

“I’m sure everything is fine,” I soothed but didn’t believe my own words. Joey Ricci was as slippery and slimy as Victor. Though I knew he coveted me, I also knew he hungered for power the same way Victor did. If he had an opportunity to take out Victor and get on the good side of the Vitalis, he’d take it in an instant. I knew that with certainty, but what I didn’t know was what that meant for Luca and me.

“Just shut up! This is all your fault!” The gun in his hand swung and pointed at me.

I shifted my body on the couch to block his access to Luca.

“Mama, I’m scared.” Luca pressed up against my back.

“I know, baby. But everything is gonna be okay.”

Where are you Knox? Please find us in time.

“What am I gonna do now?” Victor ranted as he went back to pacing, pressing the handle of his gun to his forehead. “I’ll just call the Vitalis myself. Yeah. That’s what I’ll do. Maybe they’ll listen to me this time. I’ll offer them the deal myself. Fuck Joey.”

He rushed to the couch and picked up his phone, and while he scrolled along through it, I noticed his attention finally drifted away from us.

Wait for the right moment, and if you see it, seize it.

Those were Knox’s words, some of the many survival things he’d taught me since we’d been home. To build my confidence and hone my instincts, he’d started teaching me how to fight, how to survive in the wilderness, and most importantly, how to make the choices between fight or flight in the heat of the moment. As I glanced at Victor, I heard Knox’s voice inside my head and tried to decide if this was the time to break for it or if our best bet was still to wait it out and hope Knox got here in time.

In a matter of minutes, more men would be in this house. Dangerous men. And I had no idea what they would do to Luca and me. There would be no chance of slipping out once they arrived. In this one perfect moment, I could tell Luca to run for it and hold off Victor while Luca made his escape. I wouldn’t make it out with him, that I knew, but all that mattered was Luca. He had to survive. And even without me there to raise him, I knew Knox would find him and keep him safe for always.

“Fuck! My fucking battery is dying!” Victor howled as he frantically pushed buttons on his phone, his attention still fixated on the device and not on us.

This was it... that moment Knox had told me to wait for. I felt it in my gut.

I flicked my gaze to Luca and captured his worried stare. “Fort,” I mouthed to him.

His eyes widened for a moment, then he glanced at Victor before looking back at me.

“Fort,” I mouthed again.