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I quietly approached Juliana and Gabriel.
Gabriel spun around, raising his gun.
“Drop the weapon, Santino,” I commanded. I already had my gun trained on him.
Gabriel slowly lowered his weapon, his expression remaining blank.
“Well, what do we have here? It looks like a big, cozy family reunion for the Società,” I said, my words dripping with sarcasm.
I was furious with Juliana. But now I also wondered what Gabriel Santino was doing here. Had she planned this with him?
JULIANA
“You don’t have to go back with him, Juliana,” Gabriel said quickly. “More of our soldiers are inside the club and only moments away.”
He was trying to tell me to call for more help, regardless of what the warning would mean for him—and those consequences came swiftly as Marco shot him in the leg. The sound was muffled by the silencer on his gun.
I cried out and reached to help Gabriel, but Marco caught my arm in a painful grip and held me back.
Gabriel didn’t cry out for help after Marco shot him. He knew that if he did, that would mean certain death for him, me, or both of us.
I only had to scream out for help to come from the Società men inside the club, but I wouldn’t risk any more lives or any more bloodshed. Not when I loved Marco Marchiano. I didn’t understand how or when it had happened, but I did know that I couldn’t deny my love for him any longer.
“I’ve got no choice, Gabriel. I have to go back.” Before Gabriel could say or do anything else, Marco struck him with the butt of his revolver and knocked him out.
I screamed but Marco clamped his hand over my mouth and muffled my cry. With his other arm he held me firmly and dragged me away to his SUV, shoving me into the passenger seat. He took his hand away from my mouth. “Don’t make a sound, or I swear you’ll regret it.”
He swiftly moved around to the driver’s side and got in. He started the engine and within seconds we were speeding away from the club.
I looked around to see if anyone was following us, but it seemed clear. I felt sick to my stomach and hoped Gabriel was going to be alright. I couldn’t bear for anyone else to suffer because of me.
Marco didn’t say anything to me while he drove. I bit down on my lower lip, worrying about Jessica and Gabriel.
“Thank you for coming to get me,” I whispered eventually. “My father said he was going to kill me.”
“What the fuck, Juliana? How could you go back to your fucking family after everything they’ve put you through?”
“I didn’t think this would happen…I just wanted to see Jess.”
“And what exactly did you think would fucking happen? Your father and the Società are psychopaths. They already endangered you in that sham wedding—it could’ve easily been you that was shot instead of your sister. Your family thought nothing of starting a shootout in a church full of women and children. Do you really think that they truly care about you?”
“I know now that the Società started the shootout and they’re the ones who shot Jess. I came to L.A. because I needed to see my sister. I never believed that my own family would want to hurt me…or would want to kill me,” I said slowly, the horror still fresh in my mind.
“I’ve been trying to get you back,” he said with a slightly softer tone in his voice. “I put my life on the line to get you back. We hadn’t yet figured a way past the security at your father’s mansion, and you managed to escape before I could get to you, but I would have got you out one way or another. There was no way I was going to just leave you there at your father’s mercy.”
God, I’d been such an idiot. I should have tried again to persuade Marco to let me contact Jess. Instead, I betrayed his trust.
Maybe he didn’t care about me in the same way I had come to care about him, but he did want to protect me in his own way. He’d come to L.A. to get me back—he’d put himself in acute danger, in the midst of enemy territory, to save me when I’d been stupid enough to go back to L.A. But this time, when faced with the choice between the Società or Marco, I had chosen Marco. There had been no hesitation in my mind: I had chosen love.
Marco had been right about my family, and I should have listened to him from the start. I could see from his expression that he was trying hard to keep his temper under control, and I knew now that my actions had hurt not just me, but also him.
I sank back into my seat. After a while, not knowing what to say, I asked, “Is Mr. F okay?”
“You should be more fucking worried about yourself, instead of worrying about that damn dog.”
After a minute’s silence, he continued. “Danio and Debi are looking after him. They’ve been enjoying it no doubt, although Alessio is still whining like a bitch about why the dog is still in the house.”
“How’s Debi?” I plucked up the courage to ask.
