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I see the twitch in Girard’s jaw. Alessio hit a nerve with that comment, making Girard’s stupid half-smile vanish. But, of course, Alessio isn’t done running his mouth.

“You wanna be a prison yard bitch like your dear old dad? Because apparently, I now have the connections tomakethat shit happen,” Alessio sneers.

Girard raises his gun, aiming it straight at Alessio.

“Leave him out of this,” I say, locking eyes with Girard, taking a step forward. “You want me? Well, here I am.”

And then everything fucking explodesin pure fucking mayhem.It happens so fast, I don’t know where to look first. To my left, I see Alessio lunge at Girard just as Girard points his gun toward me.If time ever slowed down and played my life in slow motion, this would be it.

I watch his finger pull the trigger. There’s a spark—

Then a giant, beefy gorilla barrels into me, knocking me to the ground. My head smacks against the pavement, and all the air in my body is ripped from my lungs. Everything is chaos, but all I can hear is heavy breathing and gunfire.

Pain shoots through my stomach, like my organs are in a full-blown MMA match. I grunt, but the animal on top of me doesn’t budge.

My head lulls to the side just in time to see Alessio jump on Girard like he’s in the fucking WWE. He lands a right, a left, then another… and another.

I feel something wet leaking onto me and really hope the guy lying on top of me isn’t pissing himself out of fear. I mean, it’s a pretty horrific scene, but come on.I see Alessandro and damn, for an older man, he’s jumping in the middle of this like he’s bulletproof.

“Where is she? Fucking shit, where did she go?” I can hear the panic in Clover’s voice.

“Olivia!” Clover yells.

I try to respond, but I can’tbreathe.My stomach feels like it’s been ripped apart, and the words won’t come out.

I glance back at Alessio, who’s still going off on Girard, swinging left and right, over and over, makingsure there’s nothing left of him. From where I’m lying, Girard doesn’t look like he’s moving at all.

A groan slips from my mouth. It’s weak, but at least something.

“Livy,” Clover’s voice is closer now. A second later, he rolls the bear in a suit off me, giving me room to breathe.

“Are you okay?” he asks.

I blink up at him, trying to sit up. “Who is this?” My whole body is screaming in protest as I push onto my elbows. “I’ll be fine,” I lie, wincing as I get to my knees while Clover rolls the guy on his back, to see his face.

“Alonzo?”

His mouth is streaked with blood, and his once white shirt is soaked in red. His hand is still bandaged from when Alessio shot half of it off.

He took the bullet meant for me. I scoot closer, my stomach twisting as I lift his head onto my lap.

“Alonzo,” I whisper, looking down at him.

He forces out a shallow breath, and his eyes are barely open. “I watched his back for as long as I could,”he rasps. “Now it’s your turn.”

Then his head tilts to the side, and the air leaves his lungs for the last time. I’ve never watched someone die before. I don’t think this is something I’ll ever forget.

The man whohatedme just gave his life for mine. And I have no cluewhy.

The gunfire starts to slow, then comes to a stop. The madness shifts when men scatter in all different directions, and that’s when I recognize the ones who aren’t running away—Alessio’s men and, of course, Kota.

I guess that’s the backup he called for.

I’m still on the ground when Kota and Alessio reach Clover and me.

“Liv, you’re bleeding,” Alessio says.

“It’s not mine,” I tell him, looking up at him, only to realize both of his fists are dripping with chunky blood. From the looks of it, he damn near punched Girard’s face right off him.