Page 75 of Sicilian Savior

“Shhh,” I soothed, lifting my finger to my lips, hoping Victor hadn’t heard.

The door burst open, and Victor filled the doorway. His gun pointed directly at Luca’s head.

Knox spun and trained his gun on Victor. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Knox said.

“Put down your gun, or I’ll put a bullet between the boy’s eyes.”

Knox shook his head. “I’m a faster shot than you.”

“Maybe so,” Victor agreed, “but I bet you can’t guarantee it. Are you willing to risk the boy’s life on a whim?”

Knox snarled.

“Put down the gun,” Victor demanded.

“You first.” Knox held steady.

They stood in a standoff, both of their lethal gazes fixed on the other.

“What a predicament.” Victor grinned. “I bet you’re thinking you can take your shot and take me out. And maybe you can. Maybe you’re a better shot than I think. But can you guarantee I don’t pull this trigger on the way down? Hmm?”

I glanced to Knox and saw the moment he realized the truth in Victor’s vile words. There was no guarantee that if Knox took the shot, Luca wouldn’t still end up dead.

“Put down your weapon,” Victor commanded again.

Knox’s face hardened as he exhaled a breath. Finally, he lifted his hands and dropped the gun to the ground, taking one step closer to us when he did. He was so close now I could almost reach out and touch him, and I so desperately wanted to throw myself into the safety of his arms. Instead, I held steady, trusting that he had some other plan. He had to. He would never give up without having a plan B.

“Good boy,” Victor sneered.

“There. I’m disarmed. Now, what do you want, Victor?”

The tethered strands of his sanity frayed a little more as laughter erupted from his mouth. “What do I want? What do I want? I want my life back! I want to go back in time and kill this dumb bitch instead of putting a ring on her finger.”

“This isn’t her fault, Victor. You have it all turned around.”

His eyes widened. “Then tell me, Knox, what do I have wrong?”

“Lucia—”

“Maria! Her name is Maria!”

Knox exhaled a breath. “Maria didn’t have anything to do with Franco Vitali’s death. That was all me.”

He widened his eyes. “You? You killed Franco? You mean to tell me this is all your fault?”

Knox shrugged, a cocky smile lifting one corner of his lips. “Yep. All me.”

Victor narrowed his eyes. “Wait. I know your voice. That was you in Sicily, wasn’t it? You were in the room with me. You... you set me up, didn’t you?”

Knox didn’t answer his question. “So, if you want to get payback, you’re looking at him.”

Red flooded Victor’s face as he glared. “You caused this? You killed Franco? You’re the reason I lost everything! Who the hell are you anyway?”

“Who I am is none of your concern. All that matters is that Luc—Maria is innocent, and so is Luca. Let them go, and you can take me to the Vitalis. I’ll tell them everything. Clear your name. You can get your life back, Victor.”

“What?” I gasped.

Knox looked at me and shook his head. “It’s okay, Lucia. I’ll fix this. All that matters is keeping you and Luca safe.”