He was standing right in front of her now, and she didn’t even think about the fact that she shouldn’t have pushed him so far until he slapped her across the face. Her head whipped to the side, and she gasped.
“You know, I didn’t want to believe Leo at first when he came to me, saying that he suspected you were a traitor.” he shook his head in disgust. “But it’s clear that I was wrong.”
“Didn’t your spy confirm it?” she asked bitterly. Ollie was supposed to be Connor’s friend.
Traitorous asshole.
Okay, so she was a traitor too, but at least she had a good reason. She couldn’t imagine what Ollie’s excuse was.
“Eventually,” her father said, patting Ollie on the back. “He’s the one that waved your brother’s life a few ago, you know. Warned us about a raid on the house where he was staying. Because he’s loyal to me.”
Her cheek was throbbing, but it was tempting to lash out at him again. She’d held so much of her thoughts and feelings back from this man for so long, and she was eager to finally let it all out. But she wasn’t an idiot. She had a pretty good idea that he was prepared to kill her for what she’d done, but she might have a chance to get out of this if she didn’t antagonize him. Maybe he’d let his guard down.
“I guess you wouldn’t understand loyalty,” he continued. “It’s disappointing to see how you’ve turned out.”
“I’mdisappointing?” she gaped at him, “You’re a fucking monster for what you’ve done, what you tried to do to those women. You don’t deserve loyalty.”
So much for not antagonizing him. She just couldn’t help herself, and as he reacted to her words, she knew that she’d probably pushed him too far. Lunging forward, he shoved her into the wall, his hands wrapping around her throat.
Hysteria flooded her system as she tried to draw a breath and couldn’t. His grip just got tighter as she tried to struggle, her hands clawing at his, hoping with everything she had to pry his fingers off of her so that she could breathe. She couldn’t think or plan how to react. Her mind was a panicked mess.
No, no, no.
She couldn’t die like this, not when she was so close to finally being free of her father once and for all. She never even got to tell Connor how much he meant to her.
But her head was starting to feel light and her eyelids were heavy, She was going to pass out any moment.
“I’m going to make an example out of you, little girl,” her father hissed, and she hated that his face would be the last thing she ever saw. Her arms felt weak, and she let them fall to her sides as all strength left her.
Just before she passed out, the deafening sound of a gunshot rang out, and the strong hands around her neck loosened before slipping away entirely. Her legs were weak too, so without those hands holding her in place, her knees buckled. She hit the floor as her aching throat struggled to pull in fresh air. Her head swam, and she blinked a couple of times as the sight in front of her registered. It was her father’s body on the floor just a foot away, blood spreading out across his back. He was lying face down, and she was glad. She didn’t want to look into his glassy, sightless eyes.
Looking up, she saw Connor standing in front of her with the gun still in his hand. His attention was trained on Ollie, but he looked confused, like he was trying to figure out a complicated puzzle or something.
“Traitor,” she managed to croak despite the pain in her throat, pointing right at Ollie.
Connor didn’t question her or even hesitate. He just raised his gun, but Ollie was already on the move. Connor fired off a couple of shots, but they missed as Ollie made a mad dash for the door.
He made it. Connor took one step to go after him before stopping and turning around to face Alessia again. Coming close, he stepped over the body of her father and lifted her into his arms. She looped her arms around his neck as he carried her into the bedroom. As soon as he placed her on the bed, he made a phone call to Owen. He told him what happened from the moment that he came home to see her being choked to death by her father, to when Ollie ran away and Connor chose to stay with me to keep me safe.
He tucked his phone away and knelt in front of her. His eyes were full of so much concern that her heart ached for him as he looked her over from head to toe, making sure that she wasn’t hurt anywhere besides her neck, where she was sure bruises were forming.
His hands hovered over her body without actually touching, and his breathing was ragged. He was completely freaked out. She took one of his hands in hers.
“Hey, I’m okay,” she said, knowing that it would sound more convincing if she could get her voice to more than a harsh whisper, but that wasn’t happening anytime soon.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “That I had to kill your father right in front of you.”
She shook her head, unable to fight off a small smile. “You saved me.”
I had no choice in the matter,” he replied. “I love you.”
Alessia’s heart soared, and she couldn’t believe that she was going to get a chance to say what she had been so worried about never telling him just minutes ago. She took his face in her hands, staring into those pale green eyes. “I love you too.”
She kissed him, hoping that it was the first of many.
EPILOGUE
CONNOR
