“I deserve it all!” Paul shouted.
“You deserve nothing!” my man yelled back.
There was the sound of something solid hitting the floor or a wall. A roar of rage turned my blood to ice. “If you won’t play for me, you won’t play for anyone!”
“No!” Greg cried out. “Please, no!”
I shoved past Hunter and into the room, no longer giving a fuck about stealth or teamwork. What I saw only fueled my fury. Paul Langer had the man I loved strapped to a chair with a leather harness and seated in front of a keyboard. The bastard had one hand clamped down on Greg’s wrist, pressing it into the keys. In his other, he held a knife that looked like it was aimed at Greg’s hand.
Paul’s eyes widened when he saw me enter, but I didn’t give him a chance to react. I didn’t think. I didn’t speak. I stood straight and still, aimed my gun, and fired. His body flew backward, the spray from the exit wound in his skull thankfully not touching Greg.
Even before the man’s body hit the floor, I had my gun holstered and was kneeling by Greg’s side with my arms around him. “I’ve got you.”
He froze, staring at me wide-eyed before turning his face into my neck and heaving a great gasping sob, clinging to me as much as the restrictive harness would allow.
“Well, that didn’t exactly go to plan,” Hunter commented.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Dante countered.
I turned my head to look up at the two men. “Could one of you figure out how to unlatch this harness?”
“I’ve got it,” Dante said. He knelt behind the chair to see what he was working with.
I noticed my cousin’s bodyguard was missing. “Where’s Alessandro?”
Hunter shrugged. “As soon as you dropped the stalker, Alessandro took out his phone and called someone. He said he’d be right back.”
Without looking away from the puzzle in front of him, Dante asked, “Hunter, can I get some light here?”
“Sure.” Hunter turned on his phone’s flashlight and aimed it at the back of the chair.
Greg lifted his head. His eyes were swollen and red-rimmed. “Please get me out of this.”
I pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead. “Dante’s working on it. He’s good with locks.”
He tucked his head back into my neck. “Okay.”
“Got it!” Dante crowed in triumph. “It’s just a bunch of clips strung together.” His fingers moved quickly, removing the clips one by one until the harness was free of the back of the chair.
I made quick work of the buckles on the back straps, finally pulling the leather device off Greg and throwing it on top of Paul’s body.
Greg wrapped his arms around me. “You came. You saved me.”
“Yeah, baby, I’ll always come for you.” My gaze fell on Paul’s cooling corpse lying in a puddle of blood and the cold, hard truth hit me. I had killed a man. I would have to turn myself in. I was probably going to go to prison. The irony made me want to weep.
“Anthony,” Alessandro said from behind me, “I need to speak to you.”
The tone of his voice told me it was important. I looked at Greg. “Will you be okay for a few minutes?”
He nodded and kissed my cheek. “I’ll be fine. Dante and Hunter will keep me safe.”
I followed Alessandro out into the hallway. He led me into the second bedroom and closed the door. Holding out his phone, he said, “Mr. Vitale wants to speak to you.”
I took his phone, wondering what my cousin could possibly want at this particular moment. “Sal?”
“Anthony, I want you to listen carefully. In about ten minutes, a work van is going to pull up to the front entrance of the apartment building. Four men will get out carrying tools and building supplies. You will let them into the building. Then you, Greg, and your team will leave the way you came in. Paolo willbe waiting for you at the place he dropped you off. Have I made myself clear?”
My throat constricted and my eyes filled with tears. “Salvatore, are you sure?”
