Page 71 of Cruelest Contract (Storm’s Eye Ranch)

CECILIA

“ I didn’t fucking do that!” Angelo yells and swings outraged eyes over to Gabe. “I was just looking for an exit out of this loony bin without getting shot by the fucking Tempestas. What the hell happened?”

“How the fuck should I know?” Gabe yells back.

Pushing back the waves of nausea over the sight of blood, I drop the gun and rush over to Cass, falling to my knees and immediately pressing two fingers to his neck. An agonizing handful of seconds passes before I find his pulse. Erratic, but it’s there. And he’s still breathing.

“He’s alive,” I say, but when I look at the damage to the back of his head, my stomach rolls. My medical knowledge is flimsy but I know the wound is extremely serious.

There’s a streak of blood on the rolling pin, still on the floor by Angelo’s foot.

“Shit, Gabriel,” Angelo says with new defeat. “You didn’t use your brain. After this, there’s no fucking way they’ll believe we didn’t blow up their damn ranch.”

Gabe slowly bends into a crouch and picks up the gun I dropped. “Is that right?” he says, frowning at the pistol in his hand.

“Hey!” Angelo claps his hands. “Snap out of it. Between the Tempesta maniacs and whoever the hell else has shown up, we’re dead if we stay.”

“No.” Gabe shakes his head and stands up. “They are.”

I place my hand on Cass’s forehead. His skin is clammy, his breathing labored. When I take my hand away, there’s blood on my fingers. “We need to do something,” I whisper and appeal to my brothers. “Please help him.”

A torrent of crackling noises penetrate from outside. Rapid gunfire is unmistakable once you’ve heard it up close. My head swims and terror constricts my throat.

Julian.

“It’ll all be over soon,” Gabe says and it’s unclear who he’s speaking to.

“Gabriel.” Angelo’s tone is sharp. “What have you done?”

“What you were supposed to do,” Gabriel replies.

“FUCK!” Angelo shouts. He tears at his hair and eyes Gabe with disbelief. “Tell me you weren’t fucking stupid enough to listen to that crazy old man.”

Gabe heaves a sigh that indicates he’s already tired of this conversation. “You know damn well you were given this chance first. You didn’t have the balls to take it.”

“I’m not fucking suicidal. And I know better than to believe the ramblings of some senile bastard with one foot in the grave. Now you call this shit off!”

Something deadly serious is happening between my brothers and I don’t understand it.

“It’s too late,” Gabriel shrugs.

“What about our sister?” Angelo yells. “She’s pregnant for fuck’s sake! Did you think of her at all before sending a pack of psychos to shoot up her house and blow shit up?”

“Of course I thought about Cici,” Gabe replies as if the question is incredibly stupid. “I’m doing this for her.”

“Doing what?” I whisper.

Gabe keeps his focus on Angelo. But Angelo’s eyes swing to me and a new emotion flares in his eyes. It’s one I’ve never seen from him before. Not ever.

It’s fear. Exposed, unfiltered fear.

Angelo’s throat bobs. The hand at his side twitches and reaches for the gun that’s usually at his side. Today it’s not there.

The Tempestas searched them and took every weapon away from Angelo and Gabe when they arrived. Angelo complained bitterly about this.

He grabs the only weapon at his disposal; the marble rolling pin he recently used to bludgeon Cass Tempesta.

But then again, is Angelo even responsible for the attack on Cass?

I don’t know. I don’t know anything.

“Cici,” Angelo says without taking his eyes off Gabe, “you need to run and hide now until your husband comes back. You hear me?”

I don’t trust Angelo. I never have.

“Cecilia!” he barks, far more forcefully. “Go hide! RUN!”

I cannot run well even when I’m not almost seven months pregnant. I’m stuck and frozen, as useless as I was that day at the vineyard. The twins, perhaps disturbed by the spike in my heart rate, kick like crazy.

And this, a reminder of the twins, pulls me back from the brink of panic.

I’m Cecilia Tempesta and I will not be helpless. My babies need their mother. Julian needs his wife.

Storm’s Eye Ranch has already seen its share of tragedies. I refuse to be the next one.

But my legs don’t receive the message and I can’t get the traction I need to stand. All I end up doing is awkwardly sliding backwards, one inch at a time. At this rate, I’ll make it to the end of the hallway by tomorrow morning.

Gabriel has a loaded gun. Angelo holds a bloody rolling pin. Not exactly an even fight but they face off now as new enemies. Angelo throws me one final agonized glance and then he charges toward Gabe, who simply raises the gun.

“NO!” I scream and lunge toward Gabe’s legs.

Naturally, I don’t take him down. Not even close. All I end up doing is wrapping my arms around his calves. But the disruption is enough to send his shot off target. Instead of taking a bullet to the head or chest, Angelo’s right thigh is hit.

“FUCK!” he screams as blood pours through the hole in his jeans.

“Gabriel,” I beg from the floor. “Please stop.”

My twin brother looks down at me. He doesn’t lower the gun but he also doesn’t fire it again right away, giving Angelo time to stumble away and out of range. He disappears down a dark hallway.

Gabe looks down at me with a sigh and extends his free hand to help me up. “Come on, Cici.”

“You shot Angelo,” I gasp with my legs almost too rubbery to stand.

“I had to,” he replies. “You saw the way he came at me. He would have hurt you too.”

No, I don’t think that’s true. Nothing makes sense right now.

“You should sit down,” Gabe decides and leads me into Cass’s study while Cass himself continues to bleed on the floor.

“We need to get help!” I cry but my brother’s grip is strong and he doesn’t let go until he manages to gently push me into one of the leather armchairs.

I’m facing the huge fireplace. A few logs continue to lazily burn as the fire winds down. Teresa Tempesta gazes at me with her eternal smile.

I can hardly believe I sat in this same spot earlier today. That conversation with Julian’s father feels as remote as summertime.

Gabriel is pacing the room. “You have nothing to worry about,” he says. “They won’t hurt you.”

“Who? And how do you know?”

He stops pacing. “Grandfather sent his best men. They have orders not to touch you. I made sure of it.”

I don’t want this to be possible. But Angelo was right for once. He tried to warn me.

“What did you do, Gabe? Did you attack Cass Tempesta? How did you even get free?”

His expression turns stubborn. “I’m smarter than everyone thinks. They didn’t even bother to tie the knots properly. Working them loose was easy.”

I bet it was. Gabe and his magic tricks. He always loved escape artist Harry Houdini.

“Look what I learned how to do, Cici!”

If I wasn’t already sitting, I’d surely collapse.

“And the surveillance system,” I say, feeling more foolish by the second. “You were always so good with computers. You sabotaged it.”

His nod is full of pride. “See? I knew you would have figured that out. You’re the only one who has ever believed in me.”

My mind has been caught in a whirlwind. All the things I thought I knew are shifting with meteoric speed.

“The almighty Cassio Tempesta didn’t think I was worth shit,” Gabe says with new venom. “When he saw me, he just told me to get back to the kitchen and then went hunting for Angelo. He turned his back. His mistake.”

Too much. I’m drowning in shock and horror, not to mention dread. Julian is still out there, still fighting for his life and for our family.

My hands are balled into tight fists and my chest hurts. I need to remind myself to breathe. In and out.

Think. Think Think.

Gabriel is lost in his own dangerous delusion. I need to get away from him.

“What do you think happens now?” I ask my brother with far more calm than I feel.

He pauses and gives me a funny look, as if the answer should already be obvious. “We’ll go home. The Tempestas have taken everything from us. We’re just taking it back.”

It’s a struggle to climb to my feet but I need my brother’s full attention. “That isn’t true, Gabe.”

“You’ll forget all about this fucking place,” he promises with a disgusted gesture. His gaze lands briefly on Teresa’s painting and he quickly looks away.

“I want my husband,” I reply in shrill desperation. “Gabriel, I love him!”

He scowls, shaking his head. “Don’t say that.”

“But I do! I love him so much. Please call this off. I’m begging you. You were tricked by our grandfather. I’ll help you explain things to the Tempestas.”

He opens his arms and gives me a pleading look. “They all made you marry him.”

“No, I wanted to marry Julian. I’m pregnant with our twins. Please listen to me!”

His eyes narrow into a fierce glare. “We’re going home, Cici. The babies will be raised as Grimaldis. The Tempestas will all be gone and we’ll live at the vineyard. We’ll be a family.”

“That’s crazy,” I whisper.

“We’re going home,” he repeats, growing angry.

I take a step toward the open door. And then another one. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“YES YOU FUCKING ARE!” he shouts and blocks my way.

For the very first time I’m seeing my twin brother for the dangerous man that he really is.

Gabriel has a temper. A vicious one. His mask has slipped, showing the same thoughtless rage that drove him to gun down a man over a card game, setting in motion the chain of events that led us all right here.

“Do you have any fucking idea what I’ve done for you?” he yells right in my face and seizes my arm.

The greatest danger isn’t outside. It’s right here in front of me. I stare into my brother’s eyes and I don’t know him at all.

“Gabriel,” I say, trying to sound reasonable even though I’m terrified beyond belief. “You’re hurting me. I cannot leave with you. Please let go.”

Instead, his fingers tighten on my arm until I can’t take the pain and cry out. His expression shifts into a hideous smirk of satisfaction. Worst of all, he still has the gun in his other hand.