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Sienna stood in the center of the room, hands raised and blood leaking from her nostril. She clenched her teeth as she looked at me and then back to Valentino. I didn’t give myself even a moment to consider as I tossed it behind me and forced myself to my feet.
The gunfire outside the house filled the walls, along with the sound of men screaming.
Valentino looked past me, an eye twitching.
I didn’t give him a chance to react as I dove forward and slammed a fist into his cheek. For a man older than me, he moved quickly enough to avoid the brunt of the hit and sent another one into my face. My leg barely kept me upright as I dodged and sidestepped my way between them.
I knew he had to have tricks up his sleeve if he thought he could get away with this. Weakening me and Sienna was the only way he could dream of getting this far. It was the only option. He’d leveled the playing field, and he knew it.
“I won’t let you hurt her again,” I told him.
Sienna stood at my back, breathing quickly from whatever she’d endured in the moment it took me to hide Bria. The exploding gunfire outside the house didn’t seem to be coming closer—not yet. It was too well-guarded for them to get inside quickly, so I’d have to handle this myself.
I couldn’t wait.
“I spent years planning on keeping Sienna,” he said, shaking his head. “Keeping your niece in her place would be just as fitting, I think.”
“You won’t touch her,” Sienna growled, coming around to my side.
His teeth clenched together, his jaw ticking. “You know what?” he said, taking a step to the side. I matched the step, blocking his access to Sienna as he reached behind him and pulled out a long, serrated blade. Immediately, I reached for one of my own, holding it between us. “I think killing you both and starting fresh is the only option. It was the only option for Mabel after I killed Angelo. I’m not going to waste my time.”
Sienna’s breath caught. “What do you mean, Mabel?” she asked.
He huffed. “You think she dropped dead from a heart attack three years after losing your dad?” He shook his head, his eyes never leaving mine. I saw the cunning there, and I knew he was being entirely honest. He didn’t have a single regret. “You’ve never been careful about whom you put your trust in, have you?”
Sienna went to move forward, but Valentino’s knife caught the light, and I pushed out an arm and kept her back.
He only laughed. “Now you’re going to hide behind your newest fuck.”
I lunged.
I could handle the disrespect to me and my name, but not those I loved. I couldn’t remember the last time I acted in anger, but with Valentino standing here, acting as a threat toward my woman, I wouldn’t have gone back.
I clutched the grip of my smaller knife and sliced it toward his abdomen as he lunged for my throat. I easily maneuvered out of his grip, barely catching the front of his shirt with my blade. The weight on my injured leg had me clenching my teeth, yet I managed to stand firm before him.
“Pathetic,” he scoffed, turning up his nose.
“You knew that we’d kill you for this at our full strength. If you can’t handle your position when your enemies are at their strongest, you don’t deserve what you have,” I snarled. “All you deserve is the grave I’m going to put you in.”
I lunged again, pushing past the pain as I swiped my blade across his chest, finally catching enough flesh that he hissed.
Valentino’s eyes darkened in a way that prepared me for his next move. At my full strength, I could have sidestepped and deflected the blow. Instead, I limped out of the way of his large knife and into the fist that awaited me on the other side. I didn’t have even a moment to recuperate as he pounded another blow into my cheek.
Then another.
I raised my arms, and when one of the blows hit my bloody hand, darkness took over my vision just long enough for the sinking feeling of a blade in my shoulder to steal my breath away. He pulled the knife from my shoulder and lifted it again before a force collided with him, knocking him from my paralyzed body.
I could only groan as I grabbed my now-injured shoulder. I grounded myself in the nearing gunfire. It was just as prolific, and I knew we’d have this place overtaken in a matter of moments.
Sienna’s groan of agony drew my attention, and I shot myself upright, palm pressed into my shoulder as she squared up with him. I glanced to the ground and found a gun—one she must have stolen during our confrontation. Valentino and Sienna each eyed it, stepping around the weapon and waiting for the other to lunge.
Sienna had nothing else.
No knife. She had no weapon beyond her fists, and one of those hung limply at her side.
The gun was her only option, and both of them knew it.
Valentino lunged, and Sienna anticipated it. She shot forward at the same time, grabbing his other hand and twisting it sharply enough that he dropped the knife he’d been holding. It happened too fast—too meticulously. She knew her next move before she could implement it, and her speed made me realize that I stood no chance of reaching them in time. I struggled to get to my feet, grinding my teeth at the pain in my shoulder as Sienna swiped the knife from where it was dropped on the floor and plunged it upward.
