Page 111 of The Temptation

“When we stopped so she could relieve herself, we had to remove the cable ties on her wrists, and she used that to her advantage.”

“How?” Giuseppe growls.

“She elbowed Leo in the throat and tried to make a run for it.”

I roll my eyes. It’s a bit hard to run when your ankles are tied together. It was more like a clumsy jump for freedom, but I didn’t make it far. One of the others leapt out of the car and tackled me to the ground before I could even make it to the tree line.

Giuseppe chuckles. “She sounds like a feisty little thing. I’m going to have to watch myself around this one. But that fire won’t last; they all break eventually.”

The guys in the car burst out laughing, and when the one in the passenger seat says, “Leo’s voice is so shot, he sounds like a three-pack-a-day smoker,” it sets them off all over again.

Once the laughter dies down, the driver says, “We’re about ten minutes out, Boss.”

“Well, hurry the fuck up,” Giuseppe snaps. “I’ve already boarded the jet.”

Ten minutes.

My stomach churns at the thought.

I’ve got to try and think of a way out of this, because the moment I board that flight, I’m doomed.

Chapter 25

Romeo

Dante crouches down, his thumbs flying across his phone screen. A few seconds later, mine dings in my pocket.

I pull it out to see he’s sent a group message to all of us. I’m starting to get double vision, so I can only just make out the words.

Dante: Pick out the closest man to you and take him out on the count of ten. When all the men are down, we’ll storm the plane.

I know I’ve been sidelined, but I’m already in shit, and this whole fucking thing is my fault, so I make the conscious move to help out however I can.

Yanking the gun from the back of my sweats, pain rips through my side as I crouch lower, clench my teeth, and force myself into a sprint towards the rear of the aeroplane hangar.

When multiple shots ring out, I see a few of Salvatori’s men who were standing guard only moments ago go down like bags of shit. Their bodies peppered with multiple bullets.

I can’t see everything from this vantage point, but when I catch sight of Dante, Dominic, Giorgio, and Frank sprinting across the tarmac and disappearing into the plane. A wave of relief washes over me. They must have gotten them all if they’re out in the open.

Shouts and more gunshots pierce the silence of the night as chaos ensues, but my focus shifts as approaching headlights cut through the darkness.

My heart pounds in my chest as a surge of hope rises within me.

Lucia.

I’m holding my breath as the car pulls to a stop beside the SUVs. I find myself praying she’s inside and that she’s okay.

I train my gun on the first guy who exits the back seat, but pause when he turns and reaches back inside the vehicle. A moment later, I spy a sea of long, dark hair, and I feel immediate relief. But when he forcefully tugs her out by the arm, making her stumble and fall on the asphalt below with a thud, something inside me snaps.

She’s bound and gagged, and the rage that courses through my veins at the sight is blinding. I don’t think, I just react.

The fist on my free hand clenches by my side as I charge forward, and the sound of my wife’s muffled cry echoes in my ears, drowning out everything else.

The fucker doesn’t see me coming until it’s too late.

I raise my arm and don’t hesitate to put a bullet straight through the side of his head. When the passenger side door swings open, and a pair of surprised brown eyes meet mine, wide with shock, I take him out as well.

A second later, a bullet coming from inside the vehicle whistles past my ear, so I empty my entire magazine into the car.