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“No concrete evidence, no. The fire will have got rid of any trace we left behind, but Alessio is no fool. We saved Elle. He will put two and two together,” I groaned, rubbing my hand down my face. There was no return from this. His sister was dead. He would come for my head.
“We should explain that it was in self-defence. She was going to shoot you and Elle pulled the trigger to protect you,” Enzo explained.
“No. They can never know it was Elle. They have to believe I did it,” I replied, shaking my head. I had already failed to protect her once before. I wouldn’t fail her again. Seeing how broken she was since she had been home was killing me inside. Mamma was with her in her bedroom right now, trying to coax her to speak or at least eat something.
“But they might be more lenient on Elle,” Max argued, but I continued to shake my head.
“No, they won’t. It has been made quite clear that Alessio was playing her. He set her up to be given to Galiz. And he was planning to kill me in that meeting. Even if Alessio didn’t want revenge for this, Lorenzo will never stop. If someone killed Olivia, I wouldn’t stop until that person was completely destroyed. He can’t ever know it was Elle.”
Max dropped his head in his hands in defeat. He knew what I was saying was true. The only way to protect her was to take the fall myself.
“Then what do we do now? We have already lost too much to fight back. We won’t win,” Enzo looked between Max and I. I was out of fucking ideas myself.
Suddenly, the house alarm sounded and my security alert buzzed on my watch. I stood up and walked to the window, looking down over my estate to the large iron-gates at the end of the driveway.
“Holy fuck,” Max gritted through his teeth when he saw what I was staring at. At least twenty or so blacked out cars were parked outside the gates. The figures of men stood beside them. My own men were pointing their guns over the walls and through the gates ready to attack. I turned and pressed the live feed on my laptop that connected to the gate’s security cameras. One man stepped forward alone from the entourage, the rain pummelling against his large, muscular shoulders and soaking his shirt, ignoring the guns pointing at him as if he was made of steel. I narrowed my gaze on his intimidating face filled with the need for blood. My blood.
Alessio Barbieri.
“GIOVANNI!” he roared, his chest heaving up and down frantically as he stood frozen at the gates. No one moved. My men held fire, waiting for my direction. His own men stood behind him, watching and waiting.
“GIOVANNI!”
I leaned back in my chair as I stared at his face on the camera. He was challenging me. I could so easily order my men to shoot him dead right where he stands. He knows that. But he also knows that I would never have anyone’s respect ever again. He is seeking me out individually. He wants me. And if I refuse his challenge, what kind of Boss am I?
“What the hell is going on?” Liv rushed into the room with Cami as she looked between us all.
“Alessio Barbieri is at the gates,” Max answered from behind my chair, staring over my shoulder at the live feed too.
“What?” Liv’s eyes widened in fear as I looked up at her. Lifting myself out of my chair, I made my way over to my wife. Her face paled as Alessio’s relentless, rage-filled voice continued to echo through the laptop, beckoning me.
“He’s challenging me. One to one. Boss to Boss,” I spoke calmly as I swept a strand of her brown hair behind her ear. She stared up at me in alarm, her green and gold eyes swirling with denial.
“No. You can’t. Gio, you can’t go out there. Please,” she pleaded as my heart tugged in my chest.
I grabbed her face in my hands, staring deep into her eyes. “I have to. It is the only way. Only one of us can live through this. And it will be me,” I said with conviction as her lips trembled. I lowered my head, taking her in a soft kiss as I forced down my emotions.
I let go of her and turned to Max, walking up to him and grabbing his shoulders in a tight grip. He stared into my eyes with knowing and confidence.
“If I don’t win this,” I whispered so only he could hear me, “You will become Boss until my child or Sani is old enough. You will sign allegiance to Barbieri to keep this family safe.”
He nodded once. “But it won’t be necessary,” he smiled. “You’ll finish this, now.”
I slapped his face playfully and turned back to the room. I pulled Liv into my arms once more, whispering how much I loved her in her ear and bending down to kiss her stomach before I charged out of the room, leaving her crying in Cami’s arms behind me.
As soon as I left the house, I broke into a jog towards the gates. The rain pounded against my black shirt, causing it to stick to my skin as my adrenaline grew with every step. Once the gate came into view, I slowed to confident strides. I glanced behind me to see all of my men, Max and Enzo included, following me down the driveway.
As soon as Alessio saw me, he stopped shouting. His blue eyes were shining brightly through the rain as they fixed on my face. My fists clenched at my side as I became filled with so much loathing for him. For what he had done to Elle. For what he had done to my business. For breaking the peace treaty. For being the reason my wife was crying inside, not knowing if she would ever see me again. This was all because of him. I hated him. And I could see in his eyes just how much he hated me too.
I stopped a few metres in front of the locked iron gates. They were the only thing keeping us from killing each other. We stared at each other for a few moments, both festering in our own rage. Thunder boomed in the sky above us as the rain started to fall harder.
“YOU KILLED MY MEN AND YOU MURDERED MY SISTER!” he shouted through the onslaught of the storm.
I nodded calmly and his fists opened and closed at his side menacingly.
“And you kidnapped mine and tried to sell her to the sex predator, Galiz!”
His frown deepened as he glared at me. “You have no idea what you are talking about! I should kill you for what you have done. You kill women? I should take your life for hers. But I am willing to let you live, if you give me Elenora.”
