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Chapter Eleven

Julia

M y eyes can barely believe that Matteo is here before he raises his gun and shouts, “Everybody down!”

It’s then that I see Dante behind him, walking up the aisle with a confidence that only a man like him can have.

“Dante,” Viktor growls, pushing me farther behind him. Connor is still frozen in fear.

“Hiya, Viktor.”

Behind Dante is Aiden and Finn Murphy, the brothers who were once hitmen but now work for Dante and Erik. Of course they’d be here. They want to take down Viktor just as much as Dante does.

All four of them have machine guns.

“You’re here to kill me, I assume,” Viktor says, not showing any fear in the face of a horrifying fate. There’s no way we’re making it out of this alive. Is Matteo going to kill me? Was everything we had together fake? Did he just want information out of me to get to this moment?

But if they had wanted to kill everybody, then everybody would be dead. Why haven’t they started shooting people yet?

“What gave you that idea?” Dante smirks. “Actually, we’re here to kill Connor to weaken you but since you’re front and center, might as well kill you too.”

“Wait.” Viktor holds up his hand. “My sister is right behind me. She’s innocent and so is my wife. We agreed when we started this war to leave the women out of it. Let them go and you can kill me.”

Dante meets Matteo’s eyes and a silent conversation passes through them. “Sure,” Dante says.

“No,” I gasp, gripping Viktor’s arm. “Please don’t kill him. Please.” My eyes find Matteo and I plead with him not to kill my brother. Guilt flashes behind Matteo’s eyes. How can I ever forgive him for killing my brother?

“You should leave,” Dante tells me. “You and your sister-in-law.”

I see Inessa still hiding under the pew and I know that we have a chance to live. But there’s no way Viktor is going to make it out of here and that’s not something I can stand for.

I step in front of Viktor.

“Julia,” he hisses.

“If you’re going to kill my brother, then kill me too.”

“No. Julia, go.”

I ignore Viktor and stare Matteo down. “Either kill me or let me and Viktor and Inessa go. Let everyone in this room go.”

“And Connor too?” Dante asks. “You want Connor to live?”

I frown. Why would Dante ask me that? I look between him and Matteo. Wait… Did Matteo tell Dante about us? Is Matteo the exact reason Dante is here right now, with a machine gun, ready to kill my brother?

Matteo was the only one who knew the exact location and time.

“Of course she wants me to live,” Connor says. “She’s my wife.”

“I never said my vows,” I snap. “I am not your wife.” But can I condemn a man to die just because I don’t want to marry him? It was one thing if Matteo killed Connor in the heat of a fight. It’s another thing to make a bargain for Viktor’s life in exchange for Connor’s.

“You are my wife.”

“I am not.”

“Enough,” Dante says. “I don’t give a fuck about who’s a wife and who isn’t. Viktor makes a good point. We agreed to leave the women out of it. Erik and I promised we wouldn’t hurt you and Inessa. But you need to get out of my way, Julia, before I gun you down.”

“No.” It’s Matteo who speaks. “You promised, Dante. Don’t hurt her.”

I frown. So Matteo made a deal of sorts with Dante to come here and kill Connor. But that deal included I survive. Maybe he is still looking out for me.

“Viktor is right there,” Dante says. “This is our chance to kill him.”

“You promised me. Not Julia.”

They each stare each other down until Dante finally sighs. The boss bowing to his second. It’s a strange sight.

“Fine. I did promise. Get Julia out of here. And then I’m killing both Viktor and Connor.”

Viktor grabs my arms when Matteo takes a step closer to us. “You are not taking my sister anywhere.”

“You want her to die with you?” Dante scoffs. “You’re even more stubborn than I thought.”

“I am not giving my sister up just to be tortured and abused by the likes of you.”

“Doesn’t she get a choice?” Matteo asks. “Does she want to die here today?”

“I don’t want to die,” I say. “But the moment I move, you’re going to shoot my brother and I can’t stand that.”

“I won’t shoot him,” Matteo says to me in his soft voice. “I promise.”

“But Dante will. Those hitmen will.” I nod to Aiden and Finn. “You might not, Matteo, but they will kill my brother the second they get.”

Matteo extends his hand. “I will get you out of here. This is our chance, Julia. This is our chance to be together.”

Viktor stiffens behind me. “What the fuck is he talking about?”

“Julia,” Matteo pleads.

“I can’t let any of you kill my brother. Viktor, start walking.”

“What?”

“Start walking. I’ll remain right in front of you.” I nod to Inessa under the pew. “Inessa, come here. We’re getting out of here.”

Slowly, she leaves the pew and approaches my side. No one shoots her. We clasp our arms together, acting as a shield in front of Viktor. If these men stick to their promise, they will not shoot me or Inessa. But they could easily break that promise.

“Walk,” I tell Viktor.

“I don’t run from a fight.”

“Viktor, now is not the time to be stubborn. I’m trying to save your life.”

“What about my life?” Connor asks. No one stands in front of him to protect him.

Matteo turns his gun onto Connor. “That’s because she wants you dead. And so do I.”

“Don’t shoot,” I tell Matteo. “Not yet.”

Connor’s eyes blaze with fury as he looks between me and Matteo. “Did you two have this planned? Was this your way of getting out of marrying me?”

“Julia?” Viktor asks.

“Just keep walking.” Slowly, we walk backwards to the side door of the church. We just have to make it outside. No one moves because once someone starts shooting, then everyone is dead.

Dante looks furious at losing his chance to kill Viktor.

We reach the back door. “Now!” I shout.

Right before I run outside, I see Connor dive behind the large altar right as Matteo shoots at him.

Viktor, Inessa, and I make it outside.

“What the fuck was that about?” Viktor asks me.

“No time. They’ll kill you if we don’t go now.”

He nods, knowing that we don’t have time to argue. We run away from the church but footsteps follow us. When I look behind me, I see that it’s Matteo.

The urge to run to him is strong but I’m not fully sure I can trust him. Blood is seeping down his arm. Was he shot? Was it Connor?

“Stop right there,” Viktor says, pulling out his own gun.

Matteo only looks at me. “This is our chance, Julia. Come with me.”

“Is Connor dead?” I ask.

He hesitates before shaking his head. “Not yet. But I shot him in the arm. He ran through the back of the church. Dante is hunting him down. He’ll kill him. But I had to follow you. I needed you to know that this wasn’t what I wanted.”

“What did you want?”

“I only wanted to attack Connor. I never wanted to attack your wedding. It was all Dante’s idea. I couldn’t stop him. I made sure he wouldn’t kill you.”

“How dare you talk to my sister like this,” Viktor growls, holding me close to him. “Like you know her. You don’t know her.”

My brain is telling me to go with Viktor. He will be heartbroken if I leave and he’ll want to kill Matteo even more.

But my heart is telling me to go with Matteo. I want the chance to be with him and this might be the only chance I get.

“Julia,” Matteo says. “We can go now.”

I hear gunshots coming from inside the church. “Are they killing everyone?”

“No. Not the women. I made sure of it.”

“Julia,” Viktor snaps, grabbing my arm. “Let’s go. Now.” He starts to tug me away and all I can see is my chance with Matteo growing smaller and smaller.

That’s when Connor comes running around the side of the church, bleeding. He skids to a stop when he sees us. Dante is running after Connor and doesn’t hesitate to start shooting at him.

Shooting at us.

Connor dives to the side while Viktor wraps his arms around Inessa.

That’s when Matteo reaches me. “I can get you to safety. Come on.”

I want to believe him more than anything but this will only cause my brother to go on a vengeance. Unless Dante kills Viktor right now.

But Matteo isn’t giving me the choice. He throws me over his shoulder and runs in the opposite direction of all the shooting.

“Julia!” Viktor cries out.

“Matteo, let me go.” I pound on his back.

“I can’t. I’m sorry. I’m doing this for you. For us.” He keeps running and my family keeps getting smaller and smaller.

Viktor turns to Dante and starts shooting at him, landing a solid hit to his shoulder and sending him stumbling back. Connor flips onto his back and joins Viktor in shooting at Dante.

Dante turns and runs back into the church.

Viktor immediately runs in my direction but Matteo gets me into a car and before I can get out, starts driving away until Viktor completely disappears from my view.

It’s quiet between us for a long time as we each catch our breath.

The confusion and rage and happiness all rolls around inside of me.

I turn to Matteo and slap his arm. “What was all of that?”

“Why are you hitting me?”

“Because I’m angry! My brother could have died and you were the one who told Dante about my wedding. I told you that in confidence.”

“What was I supposed to do? Stand back and let you marry that asshole? It was a good idea to go in there and kill Connor. We knew exactly where he’d be.”

“But it also put my entire family in danger! It put me in danger.”

“I know.” He grips the steering wheel tight.

“And it’s not something I wanted to happen.

I told Dante that we should just kill Connor but he wanted the chance to kill Viktor too.

I couldn’t stop him. Trust me, I tried. I had to tell Dante about us.

About how I feel for you. It’s the only reason you’re not dead right now.

He was ready to kill you if you got in the way. ”

“But you didn’t want me dead?”