Giana had been captured too? My people hadn’t found her when we’d gone in to save Nora.
“My father,” she admitted on a strained whisper. Her eyes shone when they focused on me again. “He betrayed you. He wants you dead because you killed Alberto. He gave me to the Russians to lure you into a trap, so that they would do his dirty work for him. And I thought… I didn’t think you would come.”
Every time she said it, my heart twisted. Did she really think so little of me? Did she not understand that I would do anything for her?
“Your father gave you to the Bratva?” Luca snarled, but his hold on her remained gentle.
She swallowed another sob and nodded. “He sent Giana to get me away from Dante.”
I gnashed my teeth but said nothing. She truly had been desperate to escape from me, despite the fact that I’d taken a bullet for her.
How had I fucked up my marriage so badly? When I’d always sworn to myself that I would be a better man than my father, a better husband?
I’d thought Nora would come to understand me in time, but the budding fear at the back of my mind warned me that I might’ve damaged our relationship beyond repair.
“But when I got home,” she continued, “he gave me to the Bratva. He always claimed to love my mother, and he was devastated by her death. The Russians brutalized her before they killed her, all to send a message to my father. And he let them to the same thing to me.” Her eyes tightened, and she blinked away more tears. When her gaze fixed on mine, it was hard with determination. “I have to save Giana from him. How long has it been since they… Since Giuseppe betrayed me?”
“Five days.” Luca answered before I could speak. My throat was too tight to force out the words.
What they’d done to my wife was unspeakable, but her father’s betrayal was unfathomable. The old bastard would scream before he died. I would make the agony last for days, until his black heart finally gave out.
Her gaze tore from my face to look into Luca’s eyes. She stared up at him with desperation, seeking his comfort and protection rather than mine.
Jealousy punched me. For a few minutes, she’d accepted my tender touch. She’d looked to me for answers.
Now her full attention was on him, and it was as though I didn’t exist.
I gritted my teeth and suppressed the visceral urge to wrench her away from him, my worst enemy. Taking a breath, I reminded myself that I couldn’t do anything that might hurt her, and taking her from him would cause her distress.
It was a testament to her strength that she was even capable of speaking rather than sobbing in the aftermath of what she’d suffered. Her concern for her sister seemed to override her trauma.
“You have to save Giana,” she begged Luca.
“Yes,” I bit out. “And we’ll need our combined forces to do it. Rally your men. If you truly care about Nora, you’ll do whatever is necessary to save her sister and punish the monsters who hurt her.”
I skewered Luca with my sharpest glower, willing him to comply. His answer could break her. If he refused, I might not be able to stop myself from attacking him, no matter how it might upset Nora.
Chapter 6
Luca
I gritted my teeth, hating the bastard with every fiber of my being. The last thing I wanted was to work with him, especially when he was still holding my friends as his hostages.
But there was only one answer I could give. I looked down into my wife’s wide, shining eyes and brushed the tears from her cheeks.
“I’ll do whatever it takes to save your sister,” I vowed. “And I will make sure that your father can never hurt you again.”
Then I turned my own fierce glower on Dante. “But I will never pledge my loyalty to you. This is another temporary truce. For Nora.”
She placed her soft hand on my stubble-roughened cheek, calling my attention back to her.
“Thank you.” Her voice hitched with emotion.
I could see her unspoken feelings in her intense gaze. She was grateful to me for swallowing my pride for her sister’s sake. For her sake.
When it came to protecting my wife, my pride didn’t matter. Nothing mattered but her.
And I’d failed her in so many ways. I’d allowed Dante to steal her away from me. I’d allowed Giuseppe to use Giana to lure her into a trap. And I hadn’t succeeded in my attempt to kill Dante during the firefight when we went in to rescue her from the Russians.
