Page 63 of Forbidden Sins

Once again, Brick quickly overrides the lock, and we move down the stairwell in quick, careful silence. We ease open the door to the maintenance access, footsteps muffled as Brick goes for the final lock and eases the door open, all of us holding our collective breaths.

The maintenance door opens to a utility closet.

Brick takes point, then two men, then me, three more, Antony, and the rest. We filter out into the hallway, with Brick motioning to me the direction I should go to look for Estella as he and Antony split off with their contingents.

I can hear lowered voices, men speaking in adjoining rooms, and I stick close to the wall, moving carefully toward the stairs that lead to the upper floor.

We catch sight of a guard at the top of the stairs.

I take him out with a silenced shot, one of the other men moving in quickly to catch the body before it can hit the floor.

I move toward the door that was marked as a likely bedroom, the one further down the hall, since to the left is the master suite.

We’re betting that he has Estella in a separate room right now.

Hopefully that bet pays off.

I keep the gun in one hand as I pick the lock with the other, the three men with me keeping a lookout in the shadows. It clicks, and I swing the door open just as I hear gunfire from downstairs.

“Move!” one of the men hisses. He and his two shadows are shifting toward the stairs. I hear the rattle of gunfire again, and I bolt into the room, sweeping it and finding Estella in an instant.

She’s on the bed, halfway up, her eyes wide with fear. My heart stops at the sight of her. Her beautiful face is marred with bruises, one eye swollen nearly shut. She’s holding one hand close to her chest, and when I see the fingers?—

At least three of them are at a strange, unnatural angle. Broken.

He broke her fucking fingers.

Fury wells up in me as I stride toward her, a visceral need to see Vito dead burning through me like a wildfire.

“Sebastian?” she gasps my name. “Sebastian—you’re alive…”

“I’m here.” I glance back, hearing more gunfire from downstairs. “Come with me. Your father is here too. You need to stay behind me, alright, little dove?”

She nods, trembling. I want to reach for her, to kiss her, to hold her, and never let her go. I want to scoop her up in my arms and run from this place to find somewhere that no one can ever hunt us down again. But I know better.

There’s no escaping this place, just the two of us. She has to go back to her father, and I?—

I know what comes next for me.

“Listen to me.” I step forward, one hand reaching up to smooth her hair away from her tear-stained face. “You have to listen, okay?”

She nods shakily. “You came for me?—”

“Of course I did.” I press my hand against her cheek. “I love you, little dove. Whatever happens, that will never change.”

“What do you mean, whatever happens?—”

“We’re going to get you out of here. Back home. But you have to listen and do as I say, alright?” I hold her gaze with mine. “Promise?”

She nods, biting her lip. “Sebastian?—”

“We have to go.” I help her up from the bed, one arm supporting her as we hurry toward the door. She seems to be walking without trouble, and I motion for her to get behind me. “Stay back,” I remind her, and then we push forward, out into the hall.

We move down the stairs as I hear the sound of gunshots, shouts from the direction of what I think is the living room. Two men stay with Estella while the other and I push forward, weapons ready.

We’re surprised by two of Vito’s guards coming around the corner. We take them down fast, silenced shots dropping them before they know what hit them. I hear Estella’s gasp, and I want to go to her. But we have to keep moving.

I hear Antony’s raised voice as we reach the living room. I see bodies littering the floor—and then I see Vito, standing in the center of the room, one hand at his side holding a gun while Antony aims one at his face.

Vito’s head snaps up as we enter, and his face hardens when he sees Estella. Faster than a striking snake, his hand shoots up, his gun aimed at her.

“Now’s the time to come to your senses, Gallo,” he sneers. “Or I shoot her.”

Antony’s head whips around, and his face drains of blood when he sees his daughter.

“Cara mia,” he whispers, the first time I’ve ever heard him speak tenderly toward her.

The fact that it took him seeing her broken for it to happen infuriates me—but I can see the truth in the expression on his face.

He does care for her. Loves her, even, in his own misguided way.

I have to hope that will be enough to keep her safe, when I can’t any longer. That Antony will have learned a lesson from this.

"Put down your weapon, Bianchi," Antony commands. "And give back my daughter. Now ."

“I can shoot faster than you can.” Vito’s mouth spreads in a vicious smile. “I might die, but so will?—”

A gunshot cracks through the air. Blood begins to spread over Vito’s shirt, in the space just over his heart. Antony’s head whips toward me, and the gun I’m holding outstretched, my bullet lodged in Vito’s chest.

His body drops to the floor. Dead for good, this time.

“I told you—” Antony snaps, but I cut him off.

“I knew I could shoot faster than him. Wasn’t sure if you could.” I hold his gaze evenly. “Estella’s safety is all that matters. Always.”

“This changes nothing.” Antony’s voice is hard. “Men? Grab him.”

“Sebastian!” Estella cries out my name, rushing to put herself between me and her father, her broken hand still cradled to her chest. “ Papa , no .”

“He kidnapped you.” Antony’s voice is hard. “He can’t be trusted. He claims?—”

“I left with him.” Estella’s chin tips up, her eyes defiant. “I wanted to go. Vito tried to force

me in my room. Again, in the garden, when Sebastian took me away. He would have hurt me, if I was his. He would have hurt me before I was really his. I refuse to marry a man like that. I refuse to go back to that life.”

Antony looks at her appraisingly. “Is that why you ran?”

“I ran because I refuse to be sold like cattle,” Estella spits. “I refuse to be controlled for the rest of my life, to spend it as someone’s possession.”

“It’s not about possession.” Antony regards his daughter calmly. “It’s about duty. About family?—”

“Family?” Estella’s expression twists. “Luis would hate you for what you’ve done. For what you’ve put me through?—”

Antony goes very still, his face white as bone. “Careful, daughter,” he warns.

“Or what?” Estella glares at him. “You can’t hurt me any more than I’ve already been hurt. You can’t do anything worse than taking Sebastian away from me.”

She grabs for my hand with her uninjured one, staring her father down.

“I love him,” Estella whispers, looking at her father defiantly.

“And he loves me. I’ve given him everything ,” she says emphatically, not breaking her father’s gaze for a moment.

“Everything. And I’d do it again in a heartbeat. ”

Antony’s mouth tightens. “Vito hurt you.” He looks at her hand. “We need to get you home, daughter. You need a doctor, and?—”

“Not without Sebastian.” Estella’s voice is unwavering. “I can’t live without him, papa . And I won’t. You can’t watch me every moment, forever. If you kill him?—”

Antony’s eyebrows rise. He turns to look at me. “What about you, Sinclair?” he says, turning to look at me, something that almost sounds like genuine curiosity in his voice. “Was it worth dying for?”

He says it as calmly as if he’s asking me my preference in the weather, or what I want for dinner. My heart pounds behind my ribs, but my voice is calm, too, when I respond. Calm and utterly certain.

“Yes.” I meet his gaze unflinchingly. “I love her. It was worth it. It always would be.”

Estella gasps. “No,” she breathes. “Please… Dad. Please.” Estella doesn’t waver. “I won’t marry someone else. And if Sebastian is dead, I have nothing to live for.”

My heart twists in my chest. “Estella, no?—”

Antony holds up a hand to silence me, his gaze fixed on his daughter. “If you have something to say, say it now,” he says slowly. “I will hear you out once, Estella, and no more after that.”

Her eyes widen. She takes a step forward, her chin up, eyes blazing.

“You think I can’t inherit because I’m a woman,” she whispers.

“Because I’m not smart enough, or strong enough, or wise enough.

Or maybe it’s just because tradition demands it, and even if you believe that I am all of those things, you just can’t break away.

But the truth is—” She takes a deep breath.

“I am smart, and strong, and I can learn your wisdom, if you would just teach me.” She reaches down, raising the edge of her shirt to show the bandage on her side.

“I had the courage to run, because I couldn’t give myself to someone else when I loved Sebastian, because I couldn’t live life in a cage.

I made a choice to be his. I was hungry, and tired, and wounded, and I still fought. ”

She holds her father’s gaze, speaking quickly, but firmly.

“I can learn anything you need to teach me. I can be brutal if I need to be—I’ve proven that today.

I can stand my ground—I’ve proven that, too.

And I can be the heir that the Gallo family deserves.

But I won’t do it without Sebastian. And I promise you, if you take him from me and try to give me to someone else, I will make sure that your name dies with me, forever. ”

I’ve never been more proud of her than I am in that moment. I look at her, as fierce as a warrior, as a queen, and I know that there’s no woman in the world who can match her. There’s no woman I could ever love as much as I love Estella Gallo.

Antony turns, ever so slightly, and glances at me. “Sinclair,” he says slowly. "If I were to release you right now, what would you do?"