AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Releasing a breath, I let my body take over, rising to my feet in one swift move with my hand wrapped securely around the grip of my gun. With precision, I press the end against Matteo’s temple, pain ricocheting through my chest at what I’m doing, praying this doesn’t go any further.
“What the fuck?” Enzo mumbles behind me, his hand retreating from my leg as my eyes settle on Vito. The shock is unmistakable on his face as he stares back at me.
“What if your vengeance starts with me? What if my name isn’t Ava but Wren?Wren Dietrichson. And what if it was me who killed him? Killed Totem? Killed my father?”
My chest heaves with every word falling from my mouth, the sound of my own voice not registering in my ears over the sound of my thundering pulse.
Matteo turns to face me, the end of my gun aimed right between his brown eyes as he peers up at me in disgust.
“Then you have until the count of five to run before I put your own bullet through your skull.”
8
MATTEO
The tension was already high before we stepped in here, that hasn’t changed, nor has the fury in Vito’s gaze and the tightness of Enzo’s jaw. One thing that has drastically changed is the protective stance I felt toward the woman who is now holding a loaded XD that is pressed to my forehead.
I knew something was shifting the second Mrs. Steele turned her gaze to Ava’s for the briefest of moments, a knowing glint in her eyes. It took all of two seconds for everything to unravel before me, but it’s not the barrel against my skin that pisses me off. No. It’s the fact that I didn’t react quick enough, caught completely off-guard by the platinum-blonde vixen staring at me with vacant eyes.
The words that swept from her mouth so casually floor me, but I refuse to let it show as I lay down my demand. “Then you have until the count of five to run before I put your own bullet through your skull.”
I mean every word. I won’t be derailed by a willing body that writhed between the three of us. Never have, never will.
She’s not Ava, the hot-as-sin woman who fell apart between us last night. She’s Wren Dietrichson, the bitch who killed Totem and ruined all our plans in the process.
Slowly blinking, I make sure her gaze is set on mine as I purse my lips. “Five,” I begin, feeling the tension around the table heighten, but it doesn’t go unnoticed that the five people sitting across the table don’t immediately jump to her defense.
I hold that thought, focusing on the actual task at hand.
Her pulse is throbbing in her neck, her chest heaving with every breath she takes, like she knows very well it could be her last, and it makes my cock stir in my pants.
“Four.” The word comes out clipped as I internally berate myself for still having a reaction to this woman who has caused so much trouble for us. My nostrils flare ever so slightly, and I know she spots it the second a glimmer of hope flashes in her eyes. How does this crazy-ass woman get hope from my anger? It doesn’t make any sense. “Three.” This time, the number falls from my lips far less aggressively as I rein myself in.
The hope that was there seconds ago diminishes as she frowns at me. I can sense the itch in her to look at Enzo or Vito, but she knows the second she takes her eyes off me, I’ll put an end to all of this.
That thought stirs my gut in a way I’ve never felt before, like my instincts are wavering on the next course of action, and that only adds to the building fury inside of me.
The next number is on the tip of my tongue when she finally speaks. “I don’t want to run.” Her words are raspy and raw, her eyes wide with shock, like she’s surprised even herself with the truth that tumbles from her mouth.
“What?”
The question comes in unison from both Vito and Enzo, threatening to tear my gaze from the killer standing over me, but I manage to keep everything focused on her. She doesn’t lower the weapon or take her eyes off me as she responds to their outburst.
“I said, I don’t want to run.” This time, she’s firmer, more sure of her words, but a hint of vulnerability is there too. She has an ability to catch me off-guard entirely. It’s almost refreshing, but the circumstances haven’t changed.
“Stellina,” I murmur, clenching my hands on the arms of the chair as I remain seated. “You’re not going to want to stay if what you’re saying is true.”
Anger courses through my veins even hotter as I sense the hope inside of me that this is all a lie, a ridiculous joke that has gotten out of hand. Why don’t I want her to be the villain in my story? Why do I want to keep her at my side? Even if it’s only for the next two days.
My plans are blown, my hopes of restraining and exploring her completely dwindling.
But I have to remember the most important fact. She’s Totem’s daughter.
Fuckingdaughter.
Why would his own blood kill him? That is the highest of all sins within the De Luca code.
Blood is blood. No matter what.
