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“No, Nora,” he said, gentle but firm. “He’s made his choice. You’ll be safe here with me.”
“No!” I protested, furious. “That’s not a choice he gets to make.”
“He’ll come back to you if he can,” Luca said, trying to soothe me. “He’s a cunning, ruthless bastard. He’s hard to kill.”
“But he—”
“He’d kill me slowly if I allowed you to go after him.” Luca cut me off with the blunt truth. “And I won’t allow it. We’re staying right here.”
A distant scream pierced my chest, even though it was barely audible at this distance.
“Giana!” I tried to go to my sister, but Luca held me in that unbreakable grip.
“I won’t risk you,” he growled. “You’re not going anywhere.”
I twisted to face him, so that he could see the stark truth shining from my eyes. “I will never forgive you if anything happens to her. I love you, but she’s my sister. Without her, my world is meaningless. I can’t lose her.”
I’d spent my whole life protecting my fragile, sweet-natured sister. If I didn’t have her to defend, I didn’t know how I’d exist. The need to protect her gave me strength I never would’ve possessed otherwise. Without her, I’d shatter into a million pieces, and even Luca and Dante wouldn’t be able to put me back together again.
Dante. My heart ached for him. He’d lost his brother. For a terrible moment, I understood the full, devastating horror of his loss.
“You have to help me save her,” I begged Luca. “You know that was her scream.”
Luca’s jaw was tight, his eyes dark. “It’s gone quiet.”
What did he mean…?
I slapped him across the face with my full strength. He barely flinched.
“She’s not dead!” I shouted. “Let me go to her right now, or I’ll hate you forever.”
He spat a curse, then released me from the cage of his arms. He snagged my hand before I could dash away.
“We’re going together, and you will stay behind me,” he commanded. “No matter what happens, you don’t let go of my hand unless I tell you to,”
“Let’s go,” I urged, nodding my agreement.
Precious minutes had ticked by since I’d heard my sister scream. Anything could’ve happened to her in that time.
And it was so quiet in the house now…
“She’s not dead,” I repeated, seething. It couldn’t be true. I wouldn’t allow it to be true.
“Almost there,” Luca said rather than answering my vehement declaration.
He checked her bedroom, forcing me to remain behind him while he dared to round the corner, making himself a target.
“Empty. She’s not here.” He turned to me and gently grasped my jaw, forcing me to look up into his eyes. “I can’t let you—”
Gunfire popped just outside the house, far too close.
“It’s the snipers,” he explained, tone far too calm. “They’ll pick off our enemies as they approach. But I need to get you someplace safe.”
I looked around my sister’s room, frantic. The bedside lamp lay smashed on the hardwood floor.
Signs of a struggle.
“Someone took her!” I exclaimed. “They have my sister.”
Luca muttered another curse. “They’ll be planning to take her to your father. He’ll know that she’s a valuable hostage now. We went to all that trouble to extract her with Antonio’s help. He had time to escape because we prioritized her safety. He knows she’s a weak spot, and his people couldn’t get to you because Dante and I would’ve slaughtered anyone who came for you.”
“Then what are we waiting for?” I demanded. “We have to save her before he gets his hands on her. If he does, we’ll all be vulnerable.” I reasoned with him since my pleas for my sister’s life didn’t seem to be enough to sway him. “Like you said, he knows she’s a valuable hostage. You and Dante would put yourselves at risk to rescue her for me. And he knows that I would surrender myself for her in a heartbeat.”
Luca bared his teeth at me. “That’s not happening under any circumstances.”
I tipped my chin back and met his feral snarl with a growl of my own. “Then come with me to rescue her before Giuseppe gets to her.”
He didn’t say another word. He simply grabbed my hand and started running, pausing to check for shooters every time we needed to round a corner. Within breathless minutes that felt like hours, we made it to the foyer. Luca snagged my waist and pulled me into the shadows beneath the curved double staircase before I could bolt out into the open.
The gunfire was dying down outside, but a deafening bang shuddered through the cavernous space when my father burst through the front door.
He had Giana pinned, using her as a shield. His eyes were wide and wild, almost insane. And he was holding a gun to my sister’s head.
Luca’s hand slapped over my mouth just as I tried to cry out for her. He pulled me deeper into the shadows. I tried to kick my way free, but he pressed me tight to the wall, so I didn’t have any room to maneuver.
