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Normal.

The two things this world would never be. I did wonder if at some point he’d regret his decision.

There was something special about this moment. That’s why when there was loud pounding on the front door, we both jumped.

“Shit,” I whispered, immediately getting up. At the same time, my phone rang. I was halfway to the door before I could snag it from my pocket. I also felt for the weapon Alejandro had insisted I keep with me. It was safely positioned in the waistband of my jeans. As sick as it seemed, having it close was comforting.

Maybe I truly was my father’s daughter after all.

“Alejandro. Hold on. I think one of your men is at the door.” I held the phone out after almost tripping on my own feet. Nerves were finally getting to me.

“Don’t open it!” Alejandro yelled just as I unlocked it, but his words were muffled.

“What did you say?” I asked him, confirming two soldiers were standing right outside the door by looking out the side glass panes.

“Don’t. Open. The. Door!”

Before his words locked into my mind, the door was pushed open.

“We need to get you ladies out of here.” Gio was frantic.

My instincts screamed we were facing danger. “Maria. Run!”

“You bitch.”

“No.” I jumped backward, losing the grip on my phone. When it clattered to the floor, a moment of intense electricity crackled through me. I reached for the weapon, but it was ripped from my hand, the bastard backhanding me with the cold, hard steel.

Just as Gio lifted his foot and stomped down on the fallen cell phone, crushing it into hundreds of pieces, I knew my world had collapsed. Agony shot through my head, spots forming in front of my eyes as I went down with a hard thud, falling just beside the shattered phone.

My lifeline was gone.

Now Alejandro would never find me.

* * *

Alejandro

Two bodies had been tossed aside like trash, both men with their eyes still open. They’d never known what had hit them, the bullets entering their brains from behind.

“I will kill the motherfucking bastard,” I growled as I swung the weapon from left to right. Pain tore through my shoulder from the gunshot.

“Jesus. Christ. Who the fuck is doing this? Russians?” Drago panted.

“No. Something much worse.” Panting, the rage was making it difficult to focus. We’d almost died in the ambush, caught off guard on a barren street. Thank fucking God Drago had military training. After killing the driver and two passengers obliterating the street with a spray of bullets, everything had been made perfectly clear.

I’d placed my trust in the wrong man.

Gio.

The door was wide open.

As soon as I walked in, the first thing I noticed was Carmella’s phone was in pieces on the floor. I ran my finger through the streaks on the floor, holding my hand into the light.

Blood.

The bastard had attacked her.

“Check the fucking house,” I yelled, forced to take deep, agonizing breaths.