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“No. I’m going back out there and killing the bastard. You three are staying here.”
Pia shakes her head frantically, letting me know quite clearly that she disapproves of the plan.You could die.
“Maybe. But I can’t let you three die. Besides, you know I can handle myself.”
She leans up and kisses me. It’s hard and fast.Don’t die. Please.
I cup her cheek. “I promise. You know I always keep my promises.” I turn to my sisters. “Stay here. Do not leave. You hear me?”
Serafina nods. “I understand.” She runs a hand over Adelina’s hair, shushing her cries.
“Good. I’ll be right back. Put this dresser back in place after I leave.”
Pia nods, watching me go.
I give her one last lingering look before I’m out the door. I hear the sound of the dresser being pushed back in front of the door. At least my wife and sisters are listening to me on that front.
When I step foot in the hallway, I draw my gun, looking around. He’s not here. He could be hiding in any one of these rooms—and there are a lot of rooms in my house.
I take cautious steps as I move down the hallway, checking each room, ready to shoot at a moment’s notice. Where the fuck is the sneaky bastard? I walk downstairs, worried by the silence. He could be anywhere, lying in wait to kill me. Or worse, take Pia back to her father. It’s not until I reach the bottom step do I hear screams from upstairs and the sound of a scuffle.
I run back up and find my bedroom door wide open. I burst into the room, the dresser toppled over, to see the man holding Pia, his gun to her head. Serafina and Adelina are huddled on the bed, screaming.
“I wouldn’t shoot,” he says, digging his gun into Pia’s temple. She winces and seeing her in danger makes me more fucking pissed than I’ve ever been. “Her father wants her back. I’m doing my job. I’d suggest you get out of my way and let me do that.”
“Where were you hiding?” I demand. I checked every room and didn’t see him.
“In a bathroom laundry basket,” he taunts. “You didn’t even check there.”
Damnit. In my worry about saving my family, I wasn’t on my game. I’m rattled. No one has ever broken into my house before. No one even knows where I live. How the fuck did Tommaso find out?
“Drop the gun,” he orders. “Tommaso wants his daughter alive so he can kill her himself. But he did say that if she died in the line of fire, he’d settle for that, too. I’m not afraid to kill her. Drop the fucking gun.”
Pia catches my eye and shakes her head, pleading with me not to do it.
But I can’t risk her dying.
I drop my gun.
“Good.” Then he turns his gun on me and fires. A blazing pain shoots up my arm as I’m knocked onto my back. Out of the corner of my eye, I watch him manhandle Pia and drag her out of the room. Her arms are outstretched, but I can’t reach out to her.
Once they're gone, Serafina scrambles over to me. “Dario!”
I groan as I sit up. My arm is on fire. Thankfully, he only shot my shoulder. Nothing vital.
“How badly are you hurt?”
I motion her out of the way. “I need to stop him from taking Pia.” I grab my gun and shakily stand.
“You’re hurt,” Serafina says. “If you follow them, you’ll die.”
“If I don’t, Pia will surely die.” I turn away from her and walk out the door. Serafina yells for me but stays by her sister’s side.
I trudge down the stairs and find the man dragging Pia through the foyer. I shoot him in the back of the leg. Dammit. My aim is off. The fucking bastard shot me in my shooting arm.
He stumbles forward and let’s go of Pia, who immediately runs toward the kitchen. That’s my girl. Always a fighter. I lift my gun to shoot him again, but he takes off after Pia, and my bullet lands in the door instead of his fucking head.
I grumble as I run down the rest of the stairs and enter the kitchen. He’s grabbed Pia again and is struggling with her. I can’t fire at him without hitting Pia.
