Page 77 of Sicilian Savior

A little closer.

More shouting. More demands. More sobs from Lucia that nearly killed me as the agony poured from her soul.

Hang on, Baby. I’ll be back to you soon.

“Call his people, or I’ll kill him!” Victor shouted.

Closer.

My body vibrated at the ready, every muscle ready to respond to my demands. And they would need to. I’d have to be fast.

Lucky for me, I was.

His footsteps landed just beside my head. Carefully, I peeked open an eye to see his gun no longer pointed at the people I loved.

Time to die, Victor.

With one strangled heartbeat, I made my move. I spun my body around on the floor, twisting his legs between mine and flinging him to the ground. I leaped on top of him before he could get out a single shout, my knife pressed to his throat.

“Knox!” Lucia cried.

As much as I wanted to jump up and hug her and comfort a crying Luca, I simply growled, “Get out of here. Get the boy to safety. Go three blocks east. You’ll see my bike. Wait for me there.”

She hesitated only for a second, then her maternal instincts obeyed the need to protect her child. She grabbed him by the hand and bolted out the door, stopping to look back at me once.

I turned my attention back to Victor, lifting my lips into a victorious smile. “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you, Victor.”

“Fuck you,” he spat out. His Adam’s apple scraped across my knife.

“Really looking forward to meeting you. In fact, I think it’s time we spend some quality time together, don’t you?”

There. The look. The terror in man’s eyes when he recognized his impending death. I grinned, loving the way my reflection looked in his terrified, glassy orbs. I’d dreamed of this moment, and I intended to take my time savoring every second of repaying him for all the pain he’d caused the two people I loved.

A fine line existed between being a savior and a monster. A thin line I had to teeter on to do my job. Thinking of all the ways that Victor had harmed my family let me step off the line and onto the side where my monster lived. Tonight, he wanted to come out to play.

So I let him.

I knew the gunshot would have drawn the police, so I took it slow, relishing every scream I coaxed from his mouth. A smirk tugged at my lips when his warm blood trickled down my hands. Like a conductor waving his baton, I wielded my knife and created my own symphony... a symphony of agony, his screams the instruments I controlled.

And finally, I smiled at him one last time as the life flitted out of his eyes. The threat to my family extinguished for good.

A siren broke the silence now that his screams had stopped, and I glanced at him one last time as I rose.

“Goodbye, Victor. Have a good time in hell,” I said, wishing I could spit on him but knowing not to leave my DNA. Not that they’d find a match anyway. Wes would be working his magic to erase any trace of us from their computers if they stumbled on anything, but still, better to make it easier for him.

“Cops are two minutes out,” Wes said into my ear, the first words he’d uttered since he’d last checked on me. He’d known to give me privacy with Victor, and I didn’t doubt even he had enjoyed the symphony of pain that monster had sung for us.

“Thanks, Wes,” I answered. “We’re all okay, by the way.”

“I figured,” Wes responded. “Sounds like Victor is anything but.”

“You figure right.” I smirked.

“Good riddance. Now you two can live the life you deserve. Both of you deserve happiness.”

“We do. And I’m gonna get my ass out there and get my family to safety. Thanks for your help, Pretty Boy. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Anytime, Beefcake. I’m here for you always.”