Page 21 of Saint Of Envy (Tangled Hearts, Sinful Hands #2)

LUC

“ Z ara, we need your help,” I say as Vincent and I burst through the doors of her office.

Her eyes glance up at us over the top of her laptop screen. “Geez, you know that knocking before barging in through a closed door is a thing, right?”

But as soon as she sees the desperate and furious look on my face, and the spray of Angelo Barone’s blood on Vincent’s face, Zara drops the sarcasm and realizes that this is a dire matter.

“What happened?” she asks.

“Leonardo ran from the auction with Valentina,” I explain as I pace the room furiously. “I almost had her, but he slipped away from me, grabbed her, and ran.”

“We were vastly outnumbered,” Vincent adds. “When we lost sight of Leonardo, we had to get out of there or risk not being able to get away at all.”

“Whose blood is that?” she asks as she motions toward the splatter covering Vincent’s clothes and face.

“Angelo Barone,” he proclaims proudly. “After all these years, he finally got what he deserved.”

“Sorry, not to give you this moment to bask in the glory of your revenge,” I say impatiently, knowing how much it means to Vincent and the entire Moretti family to have eliminated Angelo once and for all.

“But we need to find Valentina now. God only knows what Leonardo will do to her after the trouble we just caused him at his auction. Not only did another one of his high-profile events just get ruined in front of an audience, but now he surely realizes that keeping Valentina around is nothing more than a liability for him.”

“Agreed,” Vincent nods as he sits down beside Zara, who is already getting to work pulling up the camera network around the city.

“And he also now knows that selling her won’t be a viable option for him anymore, either.

No one is going to want to risk purchasing a woman that puts them in our crosshairs, especially not after seeing what just happened to Angelo Barone. ”

“I found them,” Zara announces within a matter of seconds. “Well, I kind of found them.”

“What does that mean?” I ask anxiously, looking over at her laptop screen.

“It means that I’ve got them on camera surveillance, leaving Leonardo’s estate, and driving through the city,” she explains.

“I’ve got them driving all the way through the city until the camera network ends.

I can see them heading out to the desert, taking the lone road, and driving at record pace.

But after that, the city’s surveillance camera network ends.

There aren’t any cameras in the desert.”

“So that’s where they are, though—in the desert outside the city?” I ask to be sure.

“Yep. If Leonardo had driven back onto the Strip, I would have been able to see it on the video feed. I sped up the video to the current moment, and there’s no sign of him, or his car, or Valentina re-entering the city. They’re out there in the desert somewhere still.”

“What the hell is he doing with her out in the desert?” Vincent asks me.

“I don’t know, but whatever it is, it can’t be good.”

I head for the door, and Vincent follows.

“No, thank you for all of your help, cousin, but I’m going after him alone this time,” I say as I pause momentarily before leaving.

“He’s alone out there, and he owes me a debt for what he’s done to Valentina.

I can take him on myself. I intend to put a bullet in his head just like you did to Angelo Barone. I’m sure you can understand that.”

Vincent nods and gives me a pat on the shoulder for luck.

“We’ll be right here monitoring things over the cameras.

As soon as you and Valentina get back into the city, we’ll be here to support whatever you need.

And if I see any of the Conti crew heading out to the desert while you’re gone, I’ll send our men to stop them in their tracks before they reach you. Good luck, Luc.”

I nod in appreciation and then race out to my car, leaving Zara and Vincent to monitor things from here as I chase Leonardo Conti into the desert.

When I find him—I’m going to kill him. I won’t hesitate this time.

I know that the only way to get this bastard out of our lives for good, and to keep him from ever tormenting Valentina again, is to end him once and for all.

Otherwise, his sick obsession with having her will continue.

I drive like mad out into the desert, ignoring every traffic light and breaking every law in order to reach her before something happens.

There’s no good reason to take someone all the way out into the desert beyond the city unless you intend to kill them.

I hadn’t expected Leonardo to kill her, as it would be the ultimate admission that he’s failed to keep and control her.

But now that Valentina is useless to him, and she has humiliated him more than once—I wouldn’t put anything past him.

I slam on the gas until it feels like I’m pressing the pedal through the floor of the car, and as soon as I get outside the city, I follow the one long dirt road out into the night. All my eyes can see is dirt and sand and deserted land until I spot Leonardo’s car far in the distance.

I slow the car down so as not to kick up as much dust as I approach and reach for my gun so that I’m ready to jump out and engage Leonardo as soon as I’m within shooting range. But the sound of a single gunshot cuts through the still air.

Panic instantly sets in, and despite the sand, I punch the gas again and race toward the car up ahead. As soon as I get close enough, I stop the car and step out.

The air all around me is thick with dust and sand that the car’s spinning tires have kicked up.

I take a few steps forward with my gun held out in front of me, not able to get a clear view of what’s ahead until the debris in the air settles.

Then, I think I see someone walking toward me, someone much too small to be Leonardo.

“Valentina!” I call out.

“Luc?”

As soon as I hear her shaking voice, I run toward her.

By the time I reach her, the dirt and sand have settled, and I can see her dust-covered body standing against the horizon with one shaking hand held outstretched toward the car, and the other reaching out for me.

Blood covers the front of her body and face, and runs down the inside of her leg.

“Valentina!” I shout out as I reach for her.

Her trembling body falls into my arms as she cries.

I hold her against me and try to calm her. “Shhh, everything is going to be okay. I’m here now. I’ve got you.” As I look over her shoulder, I can see Leonardo’s body on the ground, surrounded by a pool of blood.

“What happened?”

“He tried to come at me,” she cries. “Tried to force himself on me, but I didn’t let him. Not this time. I shot him and killed him, and I’m glad for it.”

The thought of him bringing Valentina all the way out here so that he could force himself onto her blinds me with hatred and rage.

“Stay right here for one second,” I say as I steady her against the side of the car. I need to make sure that he’s dead and that Leonardo Conti will never bother her again.

I walk toward Leonardo’s lifeless body and kick it twice. He’s completely unresponsive, with his eyes rolled into the back of his head. But still—I crouch down beside him, disgusted at the sight of his flaccid, sand-covered dick, and put the barrel of my gun against the center of his forehead.

“No amount of money or status could protect you from the death you so greatly deserve, Leonardo,” I say, before pulling the trigger.

Now, with his brains splattered against the ground, I can be sure that he will never again interfere in our lives. Tonight, the Moretti family made good on two of its debts of revenge—Angelo Barone and Leonardo Conti are no more.

Just as I go to stand up and wipe Leonardo’s blood off my face with the back of my hand, Valentina lets out a scream of pain. I turn to look at her and see her fall to her knees beside the car. Around her heels, a puddle of blood is forming on the sand.

I run toward her, panicked over her condition, seeing the urgent need to get her to the hospital.

“What happened? What’s causing all this bleeding?” I ask, feeling entirely out of my depth, but knowing that a bleeding pregnant woman is definitely bad.

She tries to talk as she holds her stomach and cries, but her words are scrambled and faint. She’s losing too much blood and is in obvious excruciating pain. I can make out a few words she utters—forced, pill, too late, but I don’t know what that all means. All I know is that she needs help.

I lift Valentina up into my arms and carry her quickly back to my car, opening the back door and laying her down on the backseat before driving back into the city at record speed. On the way, I call Vincent through the car speaker and update him on the situation.

“Zara is informing the ER at the hospital now,” Vincent says. “They’ll be expecting you and ready when you arrive. Everything you need will be at your disposal, and Isla and I will head that way and meet you both there.”

“Thank you, Vincent,” I say, struggling not to let my voice crack as Valentina continues to cry in the back of the car.

“Of course. Don’t worry, Luciano. Valentina will be okay. Trust me when I say that our women are tougher than we give them credit for.”

When I end the call and glance in the rearview mirror at Valentina, all I can think of is how not tough she looks right now.

She looks fragile, afraid, and in pain. I know deep down how strong and resilient she is.

I’ve seen that strength in her before. But it’s not just her anymore—there’s a tiny life inside of her, one that is so innocent and delicate, and it is now that little life too that I’m afraid for.