Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 89772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Giovanni’s words from my office once again attacked the forefront of my mind as I shouted, “Man up! I’m standing right here! Right fucking here!”
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
“Man the fuck up and show yourself to me!”
It felt like forever had passed before my men appeared, picking up where I left off. I didn’t waste another second, I sprinted back toward Sienna. I hated that I had to leave her unprotected, but I was one man going to battle against at least twenty, if not more.
“Cover me!” I ordered, taking off full speed ahead.
Two assassins fired back at us, hitting one of my men several times in the chest. Jolting his body backward upon impact, he tumbled to the ground, instantly dead. My other guard tried covering me as best as he could, but an endless stream of bullets kept flying in our direction.
All at once, I felt a burning sting graze the side of my neck and then again at the side of my stomach. Blood splattered everywhere, I didn’t know if it was theirs or mine.
“What the fuck?” Gino exclaimed, walking into the church with both his guns in his hands.
I followed the movement of his stare, narrowing my eyes, searching the cathedral, trying to locate what he saw.
Never expecting…
What stared back at me.
Chapter 37
—Cruz—
Consequences.
I dealt with them on a daily basis.
Positive.
Negative.
They were one and the same. I couldn’t tell them apart anymore.
My life.
My world.
The one I wanted, and the one I had. Both defined who I was as a man. Violence became the answer to everything and for everyone.
What started with Sienna…
Ended with her as well.
My heart dropped.
My chest seized.
All the blood drained from my face when my past and my present collided, coming face-to-face with another one of my worst nightmares.
Oh, God. Please, no.
Sienna was standing by the altar.
A knife to her throat.
A gun to her head.
Held hostage by a man I didn’t know or recognize, standing tall and proud behind her. The motherfucker smiled ear-to-ear, watching me while I watched her.
The fear in my wife’s gaze would forever haunt me, whether I am awake or asleep.
“Order your men to stand the fuck down or I’ll slit her throat right here, right now,” he demanded, pushing the blade into the vein pulsating on her neck. “Now!”
She whimpered as blood trickled down her chest.
Words couldn’t describe the immediate, intense guilt I felt take ahold of whatever was left of my soul. There was no way I’d get the shot I needed to kill him without hurting her, and I wasn’t willing to take that risk. There was no choice to be made. Not when my whole world was standing in front of me at the mercy of a madman. I did the only thing that made sense, the only thing that felt right over all the wrong in my life.
I surrendered.
With my hands in the air, I slowly laid my guns down on the ground. Ordering my men to do the same.
“She smells like honey,” he rasped, sliding his nose along her tear-soaked face. “I wonder if she tastes like it too.”
My hands fisted.
My jaw clenched.
I wanted to slice him open from one end to the other.
I could read Sienna’s emotions like they were my own. She checked out. Her body was there with us, however, her mind was entirely somewhere else.
Her vacant eyes.
Her void expression.
Her stiff composure.
She was seeking refuge within herself.
“Leave my wife out of this,” I gritted, battling to keep myself in control from the scene unraveling itself before me.
My father’s advice from months ago resonated through my ears.
“You make damn sure you control your tone and emotions. It only clouds your judgment. You’re making it far too easy for me to use it against you.”
It was blatantly evident this man knew what Sienna meant to me, or he wouldn’t be holding her captive in my presence. Despite wanting to rip him to shreds, I was able to govern the stability I needed. Allowing him to think he had the power over me in this situation.
He wasn’t going to kill Sienna, at least not right this second. He would have done so already.
This was a cat and mouse game he wanted me to play, obviously having no idea who he was fucking with.
Not then.
Or now.
“But she’s so fucking pretty.” He sadistically grinned, bringing my attention over to him.
“I’ve been waiting to finally hold her in my arms, since the day I took your sister. Your wife is much stronger than her though. Adriana cried as soon as I touched her.”
I saw red.
Scorching.
Hot.
Red.
Recalling Giovanni’s reply when I asked him who he worked for, I bit, “You Vitale?”
“The one and only.”
“Where is she?”
“She’s where I left her.”
“Where the fuck is that?”
“From the smell of my cock, she’s still in my fucking bed. Your sister loves waking up with my dick inside her cunt. What can I do? She begs like a bitch in heat.” His sickening psychotic laugh echoed all around us.