AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ren leaves and I pull out my cell phone. Texting Krishna, I tell him not to take his eyes off Ciera for a second. She could be up to something with any member of her diabolical family, but if that were even remotely true, she wouldn’t have tipped off Ren to the DJ.
Unless that was part of her plan: make us focus on one person while we’re oblivious to the real threat.
When K slightly nods his head, I know he received my message, so I find the DJ while also keeping an eye on the rest of the property. From where I’m standing, I can see all corners except for behind the pool house and the upper patio with French doors that lead out from my dad’s bedroom.
With Giovanni on the upper patio with Brooklyn, I know that section of the property is secure. Although with the bomb my father dropped on Matteo, I’m surprised he’s leaving his daughter alone with the man he just learned is his birth father, not Pete De Salvo.
Even I was surprised when Sienna told me just before the ceremony started. Last I saw, my sister and Matteo were inside Dad’s office having a private conversation. I’m sure his mom was thrilled he asked Sienna to join them.
Ciera polishes off whatever she was eating and then hands her plate to one of the waitstaff before Dad guides her toward the bar, where two of his captains are standing ten feet from Krishna and Sasha.
When they stop in front of Dad’s men, blocking them from my view, Dad motions with his free hand, introducing Ciera, I’d imagine. Bennett hands Dad a glass of whiskey and then holds out a flute of champagne to Ciera. She eyes Dad’s drink then her own with a look of disappointment before taking a sip as she slips away from Dad’s side, walking to the fire pit where no one else is around.
She stands there, eyeing the fire for several long minutes before turning around, the front of her body facing me. Her pretty eyes are cast down, staring at the still water in the pool. She wears a mask much like my sister did years ago, making it impossible to read her thoughts. I wanted to believe her when she told us she didn’t know why Owen Donovan was looking for her yesterday. There was something she was holding back, but I didn’t press her on it.
Maybe I should have. Maybe I should have been forceful, like how I typically pull information out of people. She hasn’t seen that side of me, but I get the feeling she’s going to meet that monster sooner rather than later.
My neck prickles with awareness, making me realize how long I’ve focused on Ciera instead of watching the DJ and the rest of the party. Flicking my eyes from her to where the DJ is set up, I find him bent over as if rummaging through something next to his chair, his eyes snapping up and looking around every other second.
As my eyes squint, observing his nervous behavior, movement from behind him yanks my gaze over his shoulder as a man slips from under a dark cloth draped over a table with two speakers on top.
Is that . . .
I reach inside my jacket slowly as bone-chilling ice slides down my spine.
He stands to his full height, his copper hair confirming my thoughts. Lifting the weapon in his hand, my eyes follow its line of fire, seeing he isn’t aiming it at my father. Instead, the gun is pointed in his daughter’s path where she’s still standing alone.
Do I let him take her out?
Would that solve my conflicting feelings for her?
An ache morphs in my chest, blooming outward at the same time a thought manifests inside my head—anyone but her.
In those precious seconds while standing here like a fool, too caught up in my head to act on my instincts, my father saw him too. Dad sprints toward Ciera as he pulls a weapon from beneath his jacket.
A shot fires, my attention snapping to the DJ who’s pointing a firearm in my father’s direction. Dad’s shot hits him in the chest before he was able to fire. That shakes me out of whatever trance I was in.
Aiming, I fire as a second shot rings out from another gun. One bullet pierces the center of Cormac’s chest while another nails him between the eyes. But before he crumbles to the ground, his weapon fires.
Dropping the loaded weapon to my side, I jump down from the top of the stairs, landing on my feet, and then I sprint to where Dad and Ciera lay in front of the fire pit. Dad’s body is draped over hers, and before I skid down next to him, I see the tear in his jacket and the liquid spilling from the center of his back.
“No,” I gasp. Snatching him off her, I pull him into my arms as others crowd behind me.
An agonizing moan comes from Ciera’s lips, but I can’t focus on her.
“Dad?” Sienna screams from somewhere behind me in the distance.
Locking eyes with my father, he grabs onto the lapels of my jacket, pulling me down close to his face. “I wasn’t supposed to leave a fucking mess for you to clean up,” he tells me, his chest rising, and then it plummets as if he took his last breath. Blood coats the insides of his lips.
“Don’t you dare leave me, Dad. Don’t you fucking die.”
“Love her, Dom. Love Ciera like I loved Arianna.” He gasps for air as I yank him closer, holding him tighter. “Love Krishna if he’s the one you really want. Just allow yourself to love, Dom. That’s what I want.”
“Stay with me, Dad. Don’t do this. Fight, goddammit.” Looking up, I meet my sister’s eyes and then Ren’s. “Call an ambulance. Now,” I order them.
“Do not become hateful, son.” My clouded eyes lower to meet his again. “Promise me, Domenico. Swear to me on your mother’s soul that you will not become hateful or allow hate to fuel your purpose. This was not Ciera’s fault.”
Like hell it wasn’t her fault.And if my father dies . . .
