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“When I get out of these cuffs, I’m gonna beat the ever-lovin’ shit out of you,” I say with relish.
He only chuckles. “Not sure how you’ll manage that, even if you Rossis think you walk on water.”
“Maybe with a little help.” Emma’s voice stops him in his tracks, but only for a second before he swivels around. He shoots blindly at the trees, but she’s too clever to stand out in the open. I see the slim shadow of her form behind the cave’s entrance, and Sergio’s thick body in front of hers.
I take my chance, swing my arms free, cock my gun and waste no time in shooting.
I hit my mark. With a scream of fury, Peterson falls to his knees, clutching at his arm as blood gushes onto the cave floor.
Emma screams. One of the guards has gotten free and attacked her. I lurch myself out of the cave. Sergio’s fallen to his knees, hit by a gunshot, but Emma’s not going down without a fight. She screams with rage and kicks the guard straight between the legs. He falls to his knees, giving me my chance.
“Get Peterson!” I yell at Timeo as I bring my fist back and swing it like an anvil straight into Emma’s attacker’s gut. He falls forward with a grunt. I knee his face, hearing the satisfying crunch of bone.
“Mario!” she screams. I turn just in time to duck another blow from the asshole before I pull the trigger. His body falls to the ground with a thud. He never even screamed.
“You alright?” I ask her roughly, dragging my arm around her back.
“Of course I am. Better question is, are you?”
I snort. “Of course I am.”
“Hey, Mar!” Timeo screams from inside the cave. “Dead or alive?”
“Alive bro.” For now.
Sergio gets to his feet. “Grazed the fuckin’ skin. I’m fine. Take your girl and get your ass out of here. Leave Peterson for us.”
“No fucking way,” Emma says. “That asshole abducted my—abducted Mario,” she amends, flushing. “He isn’t getting away with it. Let me at him!”
She pulls out of my grip and heads to the cave, where my cousins have Peterson restrained on his knees.
“You little bitch of a loser!” Emma screams. “I heard your pussy confession. You ought to be castrated for your weak, bullying, selfish ways!” She rears back and slaps him across the face. His face snaps to the side and he growls obscenities at her. I kick his back and send him forward onto the ground in front of her. Wow, she’s a natural.
“You watch your mouth around my woman. I told you’d I’d beat the shit out of you, but I’ll let her have the first crack.”
She grabs him by the hair to straighten him up and glare in his eyes. “You assholes think that you can just ruin my life because of a little vengeance? You pay off my boss so you can get your way,” Emma says, clearly tallying up Peterson’s transgressions, “then decide to ransack my personal space and living area because of your adult-sized temper tantrum? Hmm?”
She slaps the other side of his face to match the first, then spits on the ground in front of him.
“I thought all the rumors that you were a spoiled mama’s boy weren’t true,” she says, shaking her head. “And yet here we are, and you’ve proven that’s exactly what you are, haven’t you?”
She shakes her head. “Mario, your turn.”
I grab Peterson by the hair and drag him to his feet.
“I’m telling my mother,” he whines. “You’ll never—”
“Be attacked by a spoiled loser? Damn right I won’t,” I ask, as I deliver a solid uppercut to his chest. He falls back and whimpers, clearly someone who can dish it out a lot more than he can take it.
I want to make him bleed lead. He hurt my woman. I don’t care if she thinks there’s no future between us. I don’t care if she thinks that after all this is settled she’s going back to the way things were. I’ll fight my brothers for her. I won’t let them take advantage of her, or force her into doing anything against her will. But I will put my foot down. Emma is not going back to the way things were.
I know Emma through and through.
I know what she needs.
I know what she craves. I know what makes her tick, and she knows me, better than any other person I’ve ever known in my life. She sees me.
I slam my fist across his nose so hard blood spurts and bone and cartilage break. If Emma was in America, she wouldn’t be able to allow me to do this. But we’re in Italy now and she’s under my protection. As always, Romeo knew it was coming.
Sergio and Timeo gleefully restrain the guards Peterson had with him. In my family, we have a man who brings in muscle. With my cousin the Montavios, they’re all muscle. It’s an easy job, and I hear Sergio talking to one of them.
