Page 5

Too many civilians.

Too much risk of hitting Sabrina.

Rafaello, my brother, appeared at my side, his own gun drawn. "Fuck, Sebastian…what did you do?"

"What did I do?" I turned on him. "Watch your fucking mouth."

"I'm watching the street where your woman just got ambushed fifty feet from our front door." His eyes met mine without flinching. "So I'll ask again. What did you do?"

I wanted to hit him. Wanted to break his jaw for saying out loud what I already knew.

Instead, I said, "It's the judge. He sent Vittorio."

Everyone in Rome knew Vittorio's reputation. He was the judge's personal butcher.

I'd overplayed my hand. Used Sabrina as a threat when I should have kept her hidden. The old man had called my bluff, and now⁠—

I gripped my weapon until my knuckles went white.

My rage built—at them, at the judge, at myself for giving them the opening—as I watched my enemies trying to take what was mine.

The judge had been sitting in my office, staring me in the face, talking about reuniting with his daughter, all while his men moved to snatch her.

To kill her.

The thought burned through me.

As I moved toward the scene, Sabrina burst from the opposite side of the car.

"Sabrina! No!"

Without hearing my command, or perhaps because of it, she sprinted away barefoot, disappearing down an alleyway.

"She's heading into Centro Storico," I shouted as I backed up and ran toward my Maserati, my brother on my heels.

Rome spread before us, its streets both ally and enemy.

With each breath a ragged snarl ripped from my throat while my fist pounded uselessly against the steering wheel.

She was out there, terrified and alone, because of me.

"They're heading toward Piazza Navona," Rafaello called out after listening to his security earpiece. "Our guys spotted her cutting through the tourist areas."

I stomped on the accelerator, weaving through traffic, ignoring the angry horns and startled pedestrians. "She's smart. Using the crowds for cover."

Smart enough to run from everyone—including me.

"Vittorio has at least three men after her," Rafaello said. "They've split up to box her in."

I took a sharp left, cutting through a pedestrian zone. "I'll kill him myself for this. Marzio sat in my office and played me."

"You think he ordered her death?"

"I don't know." But I did.

And Rafaello knew I did. I could feel the judgment radiating off him like heat.

"You used her," he said quietly.