Page 148 of Cara

I’ve failedeveryone.

I failed to protect the people I love.

When his intense gaze has scoured her face long enough to reignite my fury, my grip tightens on her arm, pulling her back to my side, out of his reach. “Why are you doing this?”

“Power,” he says, like it’s the easiest answer in the world. “At least that’s what it was at first. Vito approached me, pretty damn convincing about what he could offer to take down the bastard who ruined his life, who slaughtered his own father. I’ve gotta give you credit for that. That’s some sick shit.” His gaze shifts from me to her. “It was when he spoke about his daughter that things started to change. He shared what she’d done to him, what she’d been through. I couldn’t get enough. I wanted her before I even saw what she looked like, before he gave me her picture. I wanted to know everything. And when I finally met her…”

Dominic blows out a steeling breath and straightens with resolve. “Listen, I don’t have the heart to kill a child, even ifshe does belong to the man who has what I want. But I do have men with far less scruples, who wouldn’t bat a fucking eyelash if I ordered it.” His voice sharpens with an unhinged edge. “I honestly don’t even give a shit about the girl. You already know what I came here for.”

“No.” As I exhale the word, I haul Sophie behind me, gripping her wrist to keep her there.

Not this.

This is sick. Cruel. Inhumane.

And I see no way out. Not a single fucking way.

Sophie extends her hand, too desperate to remain silent. “I’ll go?—”

“Not while I’m alive,” I snarl, my voice sinking to unprecedented depths. “You’ll go with him over mydead body.”

“Vito wants you dead, but believe it or not, I respect you, Marcello. I get it. This is a fucked situation all around, and I’m not heartless. Man to man, I’m willing to go against him on this. I’ll give you mercy. You can choose. I’ll give you an hour to decide.”

“Decide what?”

“Whether you leave the country today with your daughter or your wife.”

An intense wave of nausea washes over me.

The goddamnbastard.

“That isn’t mercy.”

“It’s better than the alternative.”

The gun quivers in my grasp, aimed at his head. “I could end your life here and now. I could find Isabella and board a plane withmywife. That’s one possibility. The only one I’ll accept.”

“Do it. She’ll be dead if I don't call my men from the road in..." He glances at the grandfather clock. "Three minutes.”

“This is because of me,” Sophie pleads behind me. “Please, Xavier.”

My eyes are fixed on Dominic, refusing to let her go.

Also refusing to accept that my daughter has no one else left but me.

Satisfied with the conflict he sees in my eyes, he gestures toward the clock and turns for the door. “My club. Second floor. One hour. The choice is yours, Marcello.”

Sophie

Xavier fell to his knees before Dominic Strata had even cleared the last step of the porch. His head buried in his hands, stripped right down to the bone. The gun scattered across the pristine floor, clattering into the bag he was desperately trying to shove into my hands to ensure I made it out of here alive.

He couldn’t have known that the choice was taken from us long ago. Just like I couldn’t have known that deciding to defend myself would lead me back to this starting point.

Powerless.

As Strata’s vehicles flee from the scene unharmed, I back into the staircase pillar, reaching for something to keep me on my feet. One of us has to stay upright. Find a way out of this.

One hour.