My heart hammered against my ribs. I’d nearly lost my damn mind when I went to check on Alisa and found her room empty. For a while, I thought nothing of it. Maybe she’d run down for some water. Or maybe she couldn’t sleep.
But then, she was nowhere to be found. When I asked the guards and we went through the footage, I saw what she’d done.
My men asked if they should start the search. But I had a hunch that after the meeting with my brothers, there was only one place she’d have gone. Her father’s.
Thank god I didn’t waste any time and followed my gut. Had I been a minute too late, we could have been in an entirely different situation.
When I found her eavesdropping and then heard the gunshot, I thanked whatever guardian angel had nudged me to come after her.
Just then, we heard footsteps exit the living room.
Fuck.
I pulled Alisa deeper into the alcove, pressing us both against the wall. Her body trembled against mine, and I could feel her tears dripping onto my hand, still clasped around her mouth.
The footsteps grew louder. Closer.
I reached for my gun, tucked in the back of my jeans, with my free hand and pulled it out to use, if needed.
A floorboard creaked just around the corner. I held my breath. Alisa’s fingers dug into my arm.
The footsteps paused, and I counted the seconds in my head.
Then I heard the man moving in the opposite direction, further and further away, until the front door creaked and slammed shut.
I waited just a while longer, making sure that whoever it was didn’t return, and only when I was certain that it was safe did I let go of Alisa.
“We need to get out of here,” I whispered. “Now.”
She turned to face me, her eyes wild with fear and shock. “We need to get to my father.”
“Alisa,” I said, gently. “Your father… he’s… “ I didn’t know how to bring myself to say it. We heard the gunshot. Dangerous men like that didn’t shoot for anything but the kill.
“We can’t just leave him,” she said, her voice breaking. “I know who he is. I know what he’s done. He sold me, Dante. But unlike him, I won’t fail in my responsibility as a daughter, even if he failed in his to me.”
Before I could stop her, she darted out of our hiding place and into the living room.
“Shit,” I muttered, following her. “Alisa, wait—”
I stopped short when I saw Marc Montes sprawled on the floor with blood spreading all across his shirt.
Alisa fell to her knees beside him, pressing her hands against the wound on his chest. “Papa,” she cried. “Oh, Papa!”
“A… L… I… “ he tried to speak, but he was barely alive. His eyes fluttered open just a moment before closing again.
“Dante?” Alisa turned to me with panic in her eyes. “Dante, we have to get him to the hospital now, please… “
The last thing I wanted to do in the world was to help the man who had tried to sellmy wife.But when Alisa looked at me like that, with such hope and desperation, like I was the answer to her troubles, I couldn’t bear to let her down.
No matter what, that man was still her father.
So I moved. For Alisa.
I knelt beside her and felt his pulse. “My car’s out back,” I told her. “Let’s get him to a doctor.”
“Will he make it?” she asked, sounding so small and fearful that I wanted to lie just to make this easier on her.
“I don’t know… “ I met her eyes. “But we need to go now, Alisa.”
