Multiple Agostini guards are shot down, dead on impact, while others shoot back. Guests scatter all around, emptying into the hallways behind us as well as the doors at the front of the altar. People are fleeing everywhere, and in the haze, I try to bolt away from Lucio, but he grips my arm and forces me to stay by his side.
“Don’t you run off on me, bitch. Not now.”
I only have eyes for my mother, who is frozen to her seat in complete and utter terror. I want to go to her and hold her in what could be our final moment, but he won’t let me.
“Mom,” I scream. “Lower your head!”
BANG! BANG! BANG!
More gunshots fill the room. Guards are fighting with the men who stormed inside, and I have no idea who they are or what they’re doing here, until I spot a familiar faceappearing through the smoke in the back. His handsome features, neatly trimmed scruff, and scorching gaze settling on me make me do a double take, and I nearly faint right then and there.
Matteo found us.
Matteo
I knew that girl would help me crash her own wedding.
I walk up the aisle through the remaining crowd while the rest of my men subdue Lucio’s guards. It was easy to find my way here, using both the information I’ve been given by one of my moles and the tracker I handed her. And we came right on time, it seems.
“Matteo, you absolute fuck—” Lucio begins, but a gun to the back of his head immediately shuts him up.
“I see you’re throwing yourself a nice little wedding you don’t deserve.”
“You bastard, you dare to crashmywedding?” he replies, but it only makes me smile broader as I approach the altar.
The girl eyes me in shock, as if she doesn’t even believe I’m here to begin with. Her face is plastered in makeup that doesn’t suit her, applied by someone who has no idea how pretty she is without it. Just to make this one fucker happy.
“You thought you could kill my motheranddouble-cross me?” I hiss.
“No, no, wait. This is a misunderstanding,” Lucio says.
I throw over one of the giant candles standing in my way. “I’m understanding perfectly well,” I reply, pointing at him. “Youenlisted one of those dogs from the Costa family to come and break up our negotiations because you were afraid I was going to chop you up into bits.”
“That’s a lie,” he says. “I would never work with those disgusting bastards.”
“Right.” I walk up right next to the girl, so he’s forced to face me instead, while I slowly raise my gun.
“You have to believe me,” he says. “The Costas stole my money, the money I was going to give—”
“Oh, you meanmymoney,” I interject.
“Yes, yes, exactly.”
I point the gun at his balls. “You think I ever cared about that fucking money? You tried to have me killed.”
“No, I swear to God, I didn’t have anything to do with whatever the Costa family was up to. I was just as surprised as you were by their attack. They saw an opportunity, and they took it. They’re trying to start a fight between our families, don’t you see?” Lucio replies.
I take off the safety for my gun, and he begins to sweat. “Youalready did that. Do you understand me? You started that fight when you murdered my mother,” I growl.
“Please, not in front of my fiancée. I swear to God I will pay you back, whatever you want.”
I run my tongue along my top teeth. I admit, it’s nice to hear him beg for a change, but I’m afraid that won’t beenough. It would give me so much pleasure to shoot off his dick right then and there, and watch him bleed out all over the floor, squirming like a fucking worm. But then he’d bleed out, and there’d be nothing left for me to torture. No, I want him to suffer, which is why I came to crash his wedding day. He ruined everything, so I’m ruining everything for him in return.
I grab the girl’s arm, and everyone that’s still in the room gasps in shock as I point the gun at her instead. Lucio’s eyes widen.
“You want to marry her?”
“Yes, yes, of course,” Lucio says. “But not with you pointing that gun at us.”
