He roars in pain when I shove my thumb into his eye, and he jolts up, so I kick him in the balls to get him to back off. Once his fingers unlatch from my throat, I suck in the dry air, my lungs expanding rapidly to oxygenate my body.
I cough and turn around on the bed to take a few more deep breaths while my heart tries to cope with the panic constricting my lungs again, but suddenly he’s on top of me again, squashing my body with his weight.
“You fucking bitch!” He rips at my hair to make my head tilt up until my gaze meets his one open eye. “Look at me! You won’t ever get out of my grasp. Your marriage with Matteo will be annulled, and I will remarry you and impregnate your body and make you carry my child. After I’ve shown the baby to your father and he’s finally given me the money I’m owed, I will drown that kid.”
I shudder at his cruel words.
“And then Iwillkill you, and Iwilltake my fucking time.”
“You monster!” I yell.
Suddenly, a loud bang reverberates through the entire house, making the furniture shake, and Lucio stops moving entirely.
Another bang follows, and a ruckus explodes downstairs.
Someone has made their way into his house.
“WHERE IS MY WIFE?”
His voice booms through the hallways, and I shriek as loud as I can, “Matteo, up here!”
Lucio punches me again, and I sink into the mattress. “Keep quiet, and stay here!” he hisses, and he crawls off me to signal his guards outside. However, the moment he opens his door, someone bursts inside, topples the guard over, and slams him to the floor.
I look up to see what’s going on, but I don’t recognize the man even though that scruffy face and those brown eyes look very familiar for some reason. The man shoots the guard point-blank, but another one of Lucio’s guards catches him off guard and throws his arm around his neck, choking him out.
Lucio snatches the gun off the dead guard’s body and aims it at the man who raises his hands.
“Wow, you got me,” he jests.
“How many of you are here?” Lucio growls.
“Too many for you to fight,” the man retorts with a stupid shit-eating grin. “Guess what we’re here for?” His eyes suddenly connect with mine. “Or who?”
Lucio snatches the gun from the guy’s hand. “Take him downstairs,” Lucio barks at his guard.
“Get your fucking hands off me,” the man growls.
I can’t allow him to kill that man. He came here for me, so he must be one of Matteo’s men.
I crawl off the bed, stumbling on my feet because the drugs Lucio injected still haven’t worn off properly. My body is buzzing, and my nerves are on fire, but I’m relentless in my pursuit of justice as I approach the fighting men.
Behind them, more men storm up the staircase, and several shots go off, reverberating through the halls ofLucio’s house. The De Silvas have come. Screams filter through while Lucio’s men stand off against Matteo’s. It’s an onslaught of epic proportions. The sight makes me violently ill, but I keep it together so I can make my way to the scene of the crime.
Lucio’s guard hauls the man through the hallway, but is met by several of Matteo’s men blocking his path, and another fight for power ensues.
From the corner of my eye, I spot a small gun lying on the cabinet beside the door, and I lurch over to it to grab it, but Lucio suddenly marches back into the bedroom and shuts the door behind him, locking it to seal us both inside.
“You think that’s going to help you now?”
I clutch the gun tightly, my legs quaking as I step back to try to remain in control of my feeble body, still reeling from the medicine. Everything spins, but I will fucking fight him off with everything I have.
“Matteo is here. You know he’s going to win.”
Lucio laughs. “Bullshit. My men have got him cornered.”
“Lies,” I spit back.
Behind the door, several thumps make me look up, and the voice of the same man who tried to come in to help me can be heard. However, Lucio’s got his gaze fixated on me, and I raise the gun as he approaches.
