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I run over to Theo and Antonio, and without hesitation, I throw myself on top of Antonio. “Stop!”
But Antonio doesn’t stop. He’s in the zone and without warning, he throws me off him. I slam into the floor, all the air leaving my body.
“Cecilia!” Theo shouts, shoving Antonio away and running over to me. Antonio is breathing hard, and when he recognizes it’s me on the floor, all the fight leaves him.
“Cecilia?” he whispers, slowly coming over to me.
“Don’t,” Theo growls, scooping me up into his arms. Despite how badly injured he is, he still manages to be so strong for me.
“I’m okay,” I whisper, sitting up. “Just winded.”
“What the fuck were you thinking?” Antonio demands. “You could have been hurt!”
“Just stop,” I plead. “Both of you are going to kill each other if you don’t stop. Please. Antonio, your men know how powerful you are. They can see it. Show mercy. Let Theo and me be, please.”
“Cecilia,” Antonio says, “this fight is between Theo and me.”
“No.” I stand up. “This fight is between you and me. If you want to kill Theo, you’ll have to kill me, too.”
Antonio scoffs. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“I’m not.” I position myself in front of Theo. “You kill him? You have to kill me first.”
Theo grips my shoulders. “Cecilia, don’t.”
I turn to Theo. “I’m doing this. Neither of you will stop me. It’s something I should have done sooner. Stand up for what I want. So, Antonio, what’s it going to be? Kill Theo and me? Or let us go?”
Antonio looks between his men and me.
“It’s okay, boss,” Killian says from the ground. “You don’t need to keep proving yourself. You’ve done that already.”
A murmur of agreement sounds off from his men.
Antonio stands up taller. “Okay,” he finally says. “Enough fighting.”
I cry as I slump against Theo. “You mean it? No more fighting? Theo can live?”
“Theo can live,” he says. “But we’re coming to an arrangement. Theo will no longer be our family’s bodyguard. He’ll work for me as one of my men. Pay off his dues for killing Salvatore.”
Theo holds out his hand. “That’s fine by me. But Cecilia and I get to be together.”
Antonio sighs. “Deal.” He shakes on it.
I hug Theo and press gentle kisses against his hurt face until he winces. “Sorry,” I say.
The love in Theo’s eyes tells me everything will be okay. “I love you,” he whispers so only I can hear.
“I love you, too.” Everything will be all right.
… until it isn’t.
“What about Salvatore’s men?” Theo asks.
Antonio rubs a hand down his face. “We’ll deal with them. I’ll find a way to appease them and stop making them come after you.” His phone rings just then, and he answers it. “Hello?”
Whatever is said on the other end make Antonio stiffen.
He listens to whoever it is for a moment before saying, “You don’t have to do this.” He pulls the phone from his ear. “Dammit!”
