Page 85 of Darkest Desire

Chapter Fifteen

Sasha

The first thing I do when I wake up is smell smoke. Frowning, I sit up in bed. Not understanding where it’s coming from. Nico is asleep beside me. I can’t help but think of our time together yesterday. How I finally let him claim me. He said there was no going back and he’s right.

I can’t imagine Nico dead any longer. I still want to save my family but maybe, in time, I can convince Nico to help them. He’ll probably never like Natalya just because she’s married to Mikhail but he didn’t kill her when he had the chance. That’s a good sign. As long as they stay away from each other, my sister will be safe.

As for Irina and Ana, Nico could easily go inside Denis’s house and get them back. But that would require backstabbing my uncle and breaking his alliance which I’m not sure Nico will do. He tends to only hurt people when they try to hurt him and so far, Denis hasn’t done anything to hurt Nico.

It’s all a conundrum.

As I sit in bed, I realize that the burning smell is getting stronger. I slip on a silk nightgown and head downstairs. Is the smell coming from outside or in?

I check the kitchen first and don’t see anything. There’s no fire burning. So where is the smell coming from?

It’s then that I hear gunshots outside. They almost sound like firecrackers but I know it’s gunshots. As someone who was trained to use a gun – my mom taught me – I know the sound.

Rushing to the front window, I peel back the curtain to see what’s happening. Nico’s guards out front are getting gunned down. And the front of the house is on fire.

I can just barely see it from the window. It hasn’t spread inside yet but it will soon.

With a gasp, I step away from the window. Who is out there killing Nico’s men? Is it someone come to hurt me? Has Giovanni found me?

The memory of him trying to rape me still haunts my mind, even days later. He tried to make me feel unsafe in my own body. I’m glad I was able to give Nico my body but that doesn’t mean I feel fully safe with anyone else.

Which says a lot: that I feel safe with Nico.

What is this world turning to? How did I end up feeling safe with Nico Bernardi?

Another gunshot shakes me out of my trance and I rush upstairs and into the bedroom where I nudge Nico awake. He jerks up, grabbing the gun off his nightstand. Mafia men always like to be prepared.

“What is it?” he asks.

“Someone is outside shooting your guards. And the house is on fire.”

He sniffs the air and his eyes widen. “Shit.” He grabs his pants off the floor and quickly puts them on before running downstairs. I stay close behind. There’s only one thing I’m certain of and it’s that Nico will keep me safe.

By the time we reach the bottom step, the whole front of the house is on fire. It’s finally come through the wall.

Nico pulls me back. “We have to leave out the backdoor.”

“But what if the shooter is out there?”

“Then I’ll kill him.” He states it so simply that I have no choice but to believe him.

He grabs my hand and hauls me towards the back of the house. But we come to a stop when we see that the back wall is also covered in flames. Whoever is out there is trying to trap us inside.

“We go out a window,” he says, leading me to a window off the living room that isn’t covered in flame. He raises his gun and shoots the window out. The glass shatters. He clears the glass away with his own hands, not even caring when he starts bleeding. This is all to save me.

“Here.” Nico lifts me up and places me outside. I look around the backyard to see what’s happening but all I find are dead guards. I don’t see the shooter.

Nico joins me, taking my hand again. “This way.” He pulls me along towards the back gate.

But before we can reach it, we hear something.

“Stop,” a man growls.

Slowly, Nico turns around, placing himself in front of me. Even now, he’s still protecting me.