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“Your mother was aprize,Sienna. She was worth it all.” His lip curled. “Until he died, and she shut down, of course. It didn’t matter what I did to bring her back to her old self. I tried it all. Expensive gifts. Fucking. Tough love. Gentle love. Nothing could bring her back to the woman she’d been.”
I shook my head rapidly, looking at Dante again. He didn’t say a word. I knew he had plenty to say, and I imagined he’d easily beable to incapacitate Valentino. But with a gun to his head, he had to wait.
He had to wait for me to learn the information I’d been searching for my entire life.
“You became the prize, Sienna. You grew to be a beautiful young lady, and when I saw the potential, your mother was no longer of any use to me. She was gone, but I had someone better. Someone more able to shape and mold into the woman I needed.”
Nausea roiled through me, and I found myself speechless.
“And Dante took this last chance from me. But the cycle repeats itself. You’re pregnant, and you’ll give birth to another opportunity. Aripeopportunity. Imagine what you could have become with a few more years of shaping…”
I couldn’t let this happen. I couldn’t let him kill Dante and Bria. I certainly wouldn’t let him take my baby from my womb to create another slave to abuse.
“You’re a fucking monster,” I hissed, shaking my head. “You did all of this because you thought you owned me. You did all of this to manipulate me and make yourself more powerful in the process.”
“You were to be my bride, Sienna. No need for the dramatics. I was going to make you rich and powerful beyond your imaginings—”
“I’ve heard enough of this horse shit,” Dante cut in, shaking his head as if there wasn’t a metal barrel pressed there. “Are we going to get this over with?”
“You have no room to talk,” Valentino spat at Dante’s back.
He couldn’t see the death that Dante promised with the menacing look in his eyes, but I could. Valentino thought he had the upper hand, but he had no idea how quickly that could change.
“I have information.”
“And you are capable of talking without being at your full strength.”
I couldn’t stop the rattling scream that came from my lips as Valentino angled the gun downward and fired through Dante’s thigh. Dante’s leg gave out as he collapsed to the floor, fingers spread wide. But he didn’t shout in agony or make any noise beyond a feral groan in the back of his throat.
“I brought your niece here for leverage, too, you know,” Valentino said. “I sent a team for my Sienna, but this young girl is enough of a prize. I think she’ll be a perfect addition to the team. She can spend a few minutes in the chair downstairs, and you’ll tell me all I need to know.”
Dante’s head whipped up, but I straightened.
“You’re not going to touch her,” I said, pushing her further behind me.
“You’re in no position to fight me,” he laughed, tapping the gun on his leg.
“You trained me well, Valentino.”
“You misunderstand,” he said, his jaw ticking. I reached behind me subtly, opening my previously empty palm to Bria. I’d armed her with a small pocket knife, and I hoped she understood what I needed as I crooked my fingers.
She didn’t disappoint me as she placed it in my palm, handle side down.
“I don’t misunderstand,” I countered.
“The Guerra boy has information, and I need it. But if I have to kill him and every single one of his soldiers, I can do that instead. It’s your choice.”
He glanced down at Dante.
I hadn’t noticed him move, but Valentino seemed to have his attention keenly fixed on his enemy, even with his back turned. He fired another shot, and I gasped as a gun flew from Dante’s hand alongside splatters of his blood.
He’d been prepared to end this, but Valentino was smart. He was one step ahead.
“Move.”
“No,” I shot back.
He pointed the barrel of the gun to Dante’s head, and I held my breath. “Last chance.”
