“You think he’ll kill me because you’re in danger? Wrong. All he’s wanted since his mother died is for me to suffer,” he says through gritted teeth. “Andthatwas hisgreatest mistake.”
He stalks at me, but it’s the evil glint in his eyes that throws me off the most.
Kill him. Just fucking kill him, and it’ll all be over.
But what about Matteo’s revenge?
Suddenly, the window shatters into a million pieces, and I fall to the floor and cover my face with my hands to stop the glass from hitting me. The gun flings out of my fingers and rolls onto the floor.
Fuck.
“Stella!”
His voice activates my neurons, and my head tilts up to meet his gaze, my eyes glazing over with tears. “Matteo!”
MATTEO
With my handswrapped in solid cloth, I jump through the window from the balcony I climbed up on to try to get to her in time. I glance at Stella who’s lying on the floor in complete shock, her body covered in bruises, stoking the flames burning up my heart.
He hurt her.
“DON’T YOU FUCKING TOUCH MY WIFE!” I yell, raising my ire at Lucio, who’s standing mere inches away from her, ready to strike again.
That’s it. He’s going to die.
I pull out two of my knives and rush at him, roaring out loud as I throw out my first strike. He dodges and steps sideways, while laughing like a maniac. “You think you can kill me?”
He pulls out his own knife and stabs me in the shoulder,so I return the favor and stab him in the thigh, crippling him even more.
“I already stole your fucking fingers, I can cut off any piece of your body and leave you hanging by a thread!” I retort, before striking again, thrusting my knife straight into his pelvis.
He howls in pain and steps back, while Stella slowly crawls off the floor and steadies herself, as if she’s still woozy from some type of drug.
Did he slip her something?
That fucking bastard is going to pay for what he did to her.
Stella grabs the gun off the floor and points it at the back of Lucio’s head. “Don’t. Move.”
“You don’t have the courage to do it,” Lucio grits, frozen in place.
“Do not speak about my wife,” I warn him. “You have no idea what she is capable of.”
“Oh, is that so?” He laughs.
Behind us, my men are fighting Lucio’s men with everything they have, blasting through doors, tearing his house open to drag them out of their hiding places and kill them on sight. This is not going to end well for him, and he knows it. He’s just dragging things out for as long as possible.
My brother rushes back up the stairs, blood caking his cheek and lips. “I took care of that guy who tried to haul me off. Shanked him right in the gut.”
“Good,” I tell him. “Guard my back.”
“They stole my guns. I’ve only got knives.”
I don’t even have any. I gave all of mine to my men so I could ambush Lucio and take care of him myself, man to man, knives and fists only.
However, Lucio grimaces at the sight of him. “You again …”
“Looks like you two have already met,” I say.
