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I am tired.
And I know this is the moment that I have to make a decision, or I’ll be taken out by Martínez. He’s not going to keep using me as a shield forever, and the negotiating is out the window now.
Agony flashes in Dante’s eyes as if he knows I’m about to make a choice that will alter our lives forever, but I don’t have time to think about how mad he’s going to be.
Martínez whacks the pistol against my head, causing me to wobble but right myself as quickly as I can. Before he can knock me out, or worse, I rear back and hit him as hard as I can, reverse head-butt style, just like when he was forcing himself on me.
The second the back of my head connects with his face, I throw myself to the ground as his gun goes off. A loud, shrill ringing in my ears disorients me for seconds before I’m scooting away from Martínez, wishing to God I wasn’t tied up.
Dante and Martínez are a blur as they struggle in front of me, and somehow, Dante gets him to drop the assault rifle from one hand. He still has a firm hold on the pistol in his other hand, and just as he goes to shoot Dante, Dante gets out a couple shots to Martínez’s lower half, downing him until he’s eye level with me.
His eyes are wide as the pistol falls to the ground, and gone is his cocky smile. He’s not dead, but he’s surprised—stunned—and that’s the second best thing.
It gives Dante time to grab his pistol so Martínez is officially weaponless.
One of The Blood Syndicate men, judging by the fact that I’ve never seen him before and he’s not in a suit, runs toward Martínez, but Dante shoots him in the chest and kicks his gun toward me.
I grab onto the pistol with my hands behind my back, positioning myself just so.
Leo rushes toward me, looking behind him and shooting wildly as he bends down to cut my ankles and wrists free of the binding.
“We need to get you out of here,” Leo says as Dante fires a few more shots at approaching enemies.
I quickly grab for my pants, which are pushed down around my ankles, and run, no longer giving a single fuck about modesty. My wrists ache as I tug them on, but it’s nothing in comparison to what I’ve felt since stepping foot into this storage unit.
“Get her to a car, and take her to my father’s house. More security there,” Dante says. “Cover me.”
He turns toward me as Leo stands in front of both of us, and Dante pauses from the commotion of our surroundings and plants a ferocious kiss on my lips.
“I don’t have time for an apology worth listening to right now, but I swear to fucking God, angel, I’m coming home to you, and I will get on my knees and beg you for forgiveness for the rest of my life.”
“Dante, we need to move!” Leo says, and I hear the closeness of the gunfire.
Dante adjusts the pistol I’ve got in my hands and readies it before nodding to me. “Stay the fuck behind me, Giana. If you’re ever going to do anything I say, please listen this one time.”
The three of us move as my heart thunders in my chest. There are bodies everywhere, blood seeping from various holes, and it looks like the unit has been flooded—but with blood instead of water.
I step through the sticky liquid and over bodies as Leo and Dante continue to shoot, forging a path for us to walk through.
I want to ask where Remi is, and I want to tell him I saw Enzo with his sister and wife, but I know they couldn’t hear me over the noise, so I just do as I’m asked and follow Dante.
A man lying on the ground reaches for my leg as we step over him, and I look down to see a gold chain and jeans. I shoot him, and I’m immediately surprised by the kickback of the gun, not expecting it to be so powerful. My wrist aches from the jolt.
We reach a vehicle, and I see Remi inside.
Just as Dante tries to usher me in and Leo runs to the driver’s side to get in, a shot rings out from behind me. A warm sensation blazes over my skin as I’m forcefully knocked forward. My shoulder is suddenly on fire, and it feels like someone turned a water faucet on just beneath my skin. The burn intensifies as liquid runs down my arm, and I finally realize…I’ve been shot.
Shooting pains ricochet from my shoulder and up and down my arm. Gone is the feeling of a water faucet, and now all I feel is a deep, unparalleled pain like I’ve never experienced—and it’s only growing by the minute.
“Fuck!” Dante screams, a guttural moan ripping from his lips.
He fires round after round as Remi pulls me into the car, screaming.
He uses the door for cover as he looks at me, his eyes bouncing from my wound and back to my wide-eyed stare. I gasp, and I don’t know if it’s from the bullet hitting something vital or if it’s the terror racing through my mind. I know I need to tell him about Enzo in case I don’t get another chance.
“Enzo,” I say. “I saw him with your wife…your sister. A year ago. He kidnapped them and brought them to my father.”
He stops, and for a minute, it’s as if there isn’t a war going on around us.
