Page 48 of Jealous Vows

I, Romeo Yovanni, love Sienna Luciano, the niece of the man I swore vengeance against.

She stole her way into my jaded heart and ruined me in ways I never could have ruined her.

I need her.

I’ll protect her no matter what it takes, even if it means losing my life.Nothing is more important thanmia bambolina.

She’s mine.All mine.Only mine.

Forever.

Chapter 15

Sienna Luciano

I stand in silent disbelief as Romeo laughs,spits out a wad of blood, and mockingly tilts back his chin.With his hands bound behind his back and standing in a circle of ten men, he doesn’t stand a chance of winning.

Futile fury rises in me.Like an idiot, I trusted him and played along like a docile little plaything as the idiots herded us into a van, conducted a piss-poor search—which Romeo ended early by headbutting and shooting the guy who reached for me with the man’s own gun—and drove us to a desolate factory at the edge of an industrial park.He struck a deal with José: if everyone keeps their hands off me and they let me keep the pistol with one bullet, he’d play whatever game they liked.This is what they chose.

I can’t stop them, but I also can’t run either.I refuse to abandon Romeo.

His phone digs into my lower back from where I frantically shoved it into my waistband, but I don’t dare move for fear of tipping any of our captors off.I don’t know if the call is still connected, but I pray to whatever deity will answer that it is.

Just in case my uncle is still on the other line, I call out the soldiers I know by name and throw the worst insults at their mothers and unborn sons, insisting none of them could possibly have found a woman dumb and ugly enough to fuck them.When two break off as though to attack me, José lifts both of his guns toward them.

I roll my eyes and sneer, adding details of our surroundings as colorful accents to my insults.When I ask if any of them are strong enough to pick any of the things off the shelves to use as weapons—and start listing the shit on the shelves—José finally clues in.He steps toward me.

I lift the pistol from my lap and aim dead center on his chest.

“Don’t forget to take off the safety, eh,puta?”José sneers.

I scoff.

“There is no safety, so maybe step your cheesy ass back a little, eh?”

His face purples in fury.

The side door opens with a bang.Everyone except Romeo and I swing weapons toward the newcomers.

“Fi-na-lly.Mio Dio.About goddamn time.”

My soul shrivels at the sound of my father’s voice.

“It did take a while, didn’t it?”

My mouth dries as my stepmother walks into view.She beams at José even as she pulls her pistol and shoots him several times.I stare in shock with my ears ringing as he stops writhing on the ground.The crimson pool underneath him slowly creeps toward my foot.

My stepmother’s hips sway with sickening surety as she walks toward me.

“Don’t worry, Sienna.We were done with him, just like we were done with your mom.She took alotlonger to die though, didn’t she?Poison is like that sometimes, I guess.”

All the oxygen flees the room.Romeo’s curse rings through the air.

I can’t avoid the truth anymore.My father’s mistress poisoned my mother—in our own home—so she could become his new wife.The evil woman continues her montage.

“José was a lot more useful than she was too, even though he was more expensive to convince.”

I shake my head as she steps into my space.