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I look up at Chase, pleading, but I see only a grim satisfaction in his eyes as he bears down, the pressure crushing my windpipe, and—
BANG.
Chase suddenly loosens his grip on my throat. His body crumples away, revealing Nero standing behind him, holding a gun in his hand.
“Lily!” He goes down on his knees beside me in the dirt, dropping the gun and cradling my face in both hands. “Lily? Talk to me?”
I wheeze for air. “I… I…”
“It’s OK, baby,” Nero vows, “Everything’s going to be OK.”
But I shake my head, eyes going wide with fear as I see Chase roll over and rear up again, face a mask of fury. “Behind!” I manage to blurt, pointing. Nero’s gunshot only hit his shoulder; blood drips, but Chase doesn’t seem to notice as he reaches down into his boot and pulls out a switchblade. The metal gleams in the sunlight—and the look in his eyes chills me to the bone.
Desperation can make a man do wild and dangerous things.
But so can love.
Because Nero doesn’t waver. As Chase lunges, Nero bobs to his feet and ducks away, then charges at Chase with a roar. I manage to roll clear, as the two men fight, down and dirty in the mud. It’s a free-for-all, fists flying, the blade flashing. Nero slams his elbow into Chase’s ribs, but then Chase attacks with a brutal headbutt that sends Nero reeling back.
Chase brandishes the knife, ready to move in for the kill.
“No!” I scream, scrabbling in the dirt to try and reach Nero’s gun. But as Chase slashes madly, Nero ducks away. His expression is focused with fury as he moves with grace, that krav maga training in full evidence as he keeps out of the reach of the blade. Then, suddenly, Nero grabs Chase’s knife hand and twists, wrenching it in a way that makes Chase howl in pain and drop the knife. Then Nero attacks, driving at Chase with a series of brutal, blunt blows to the face and neck, his fists the only weapons he needs.
“I trusted you!” he roars, pummeling Chase back, and then down onto the ground. “I fucking trusted you!”
Chase’s face is bloody. He moans in pain.
“You forgot, I’m still a fucking Barretti,” Nero swears, punching Chase so hard, I hear the crunch of bone. Once, twice, three times… “And Barrettis don’t leave traitors alive.”
Nero is merciless. And finally, Chase sags, unconscious. Nero grips his collar and lifts his fist again, ready to finish him.
“Nero!” I cry, and he pauses, as if remembering I’m here. “Nero, please!”
He drops Chase’s unconscious body and is at my side in an instant. “Are you hurt?” he demands, fear etching his features. I nod. “Where?”
“Everywhere,” I manage, wincing as he cradles me in his arms.
“I’ve got you, baby,” he swears, holding me closer. “Nobody’s ever going to hurt you again.”
I breathe him in, feeling the warmth of his body, so safe and secure. “I was so close to losing you,” I gulp. “And now, with Chase…”
“Shhh,” Nero soothes me. “I promise, nothing will ever break us apart again. I’m never letting you go. Never.”
That’s when the dam finally breaks. I explode into messy sobs, crying into his shirt as the emotion and terror of the past forty-eight hours hits me all at once. I feel like I’ve been run down by a truck, my whole body hurts. But when Nero holds me so gently, the terror fades.
He’s here. He’s holding me. And I’ll never let him go again.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispers, stroking my hair. “I love you so much. I’m sorry I tried to push you away. That woman, it was nothing, I—”
“I know,” I interrupt him, wiping my eyes. “I love you too. “I couldn’t go to Paris. I came back for you.”
Nero manages a smile, cradling my cheek in his hand. “I should have known I couldn’t tell you what to do,” he says fondly. “Nobody can—”
I hear the faintest sound. A twig snapping. And then everything happens in slow-motion.
I look behind Nero, and see Chase on his feet again, bloody. Wild-eyed. Lunging at us with the knife in his hand.
I don’t have time to think. I don’t even have time to breathe. I snatch up Nero’s gun from the dirt beside me, lift it, and fire, straight at him.
BANG. BANG. BANG.
The sound of the gunshots is deafening, echoing around the woods as Chase slows to a stagger, his face going slack. Blood blooms from the middle of his chest, and then he falls to the ground.
Dead.
