“Shut the fuck up,” he roars. “I may have let them pay good money to look,” he sneers. “But they never got to touch her. I own her.”
“Oh, how honorable,” I say. “Not only that, imagine what she’s going to think when she finds out you’re the reason her parents are fucking dead. That you’re so shit at being a gangster that you didn’t know you had moles loose in your camp.”
At the admission, Chiara’s eyes pop open, lined with tears. “What do you mean?” she croaks up at him.
It gets his attention, and he flicks his eyes away from me.
It’s now or never.
I raise my gun and point it at him. “Eye for an eye, motherfucker,” I growl darkly.
Bang,bang!
Two bullets straight to the heart.
Alessandro goes down heavily, thankfully falling backwards and not on top of Chiara, who is now wracked with sobs, the physical pain no match for the emotional trauma. But it wasn’t me who had the honor of pulling the trigger.
“That’s what I should have done six fucking years ago,” comes AJ’s voice, low and sinister at my back. “You don’t deserve to have a man’s blood on your hands, Raf. Even a piece of shit one who deserved everything he got. You’re better than that.”
I dive to the ground and collect my wife into my arms, uncaring of the pool of blood that’s forming around us, seeping into my clothes.
“Shhh, angel. I’m here. You’re safe,” I whisper, my vision going blurry as her anguished cries echo around us. Her small body is limp, but I can feel the weight of her emotional guilt with each painful sob.
“Raf, you came for me,” is all she manages between gasps and chattering teeth. She trembles with shock and I hold her closer, careful not to squeeze too hard, unsure of the extent of her injuries.
“I would have turned this city upside down to find you,” I whisper, putting my lips to her bloody forehead, the taste of her pain on my tongue, wishing I could lick it all away.
“Raf, get her out of here and into the chopper,” says AJ. “It’s clear out there and we’ll take care of the rest.”
“But what about her injuries? She needs to go to the hospital.”
“Dr. Middleton is waiting in the chopper,” chimes in Marco. I look up to see his face and knuckles are bloodied as well.“He’ll check her immediately, then make house calls to monitor her recovery. Keep this all under the radar. If we need more advanced care, he’ll work something out.”
“Here, cover her,” says Avery, limping over and putting his jacket over her. I should have done that and feel like shit for not thinking of it first, but my priority was having her in my arms.
Seb’s by my side now, also looking worse for wear, part of his shirt ripped off and wrapped around his bicep, stained with blood.
I nod towards it. “What happened?”
“Lost a fight with a knife,” he responds, looking a bit gray.
“Have you lost a lot of blood?” I ask hurriedly.
“I’ll be okay. Just feeling a bit lightheaded. Marco, let’s help him up. There’s no way this lovesick fool is going to let go of his wife,” he says with a small, exhausted smile.
God. I can’t believe the danger each of these men put themselves in for me. No, forus.She no longer has to worry about feeling alone, because she—we— have a whole army of people willing to put their lives on the line for us. Hard toimagine how we’ll ever be able to repay them, other than to promise the same in return.
“Let’s get you home, angel,” I murmur into the top of Chiara’s head. I desperately want to tell her that I love her until it’s all she hears, but not like this. I want to see the twinkle in her eye and her gorgeous smile when I confess that she owns all the real estate in my heart. Until her, I was simply existing, but now my existence has meaning.
Chiara is my storm, my silence, my soulmate.
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Home Sweet Home
Raf
I carryChiara to the helicopter idling on the expansive dock and place her on the bed that’s set up and ready for her. I remove the jacket and cover her with the blankets instead. Her eyes flutter open, confusion and fear marring them.
