Page 114

“Ares, no,” she whispers. “Don’t?—”

“Silenzio,” Nicolai snaps, and shoves the gun harder against her skin. She gasps, and that’s all it takes.

I drop. Hard .

The marble cracks beneath my knees, and the weight of it slams into my spine like shame. I don’t look away from her, even as the bile rises in my throat. Even as Nicolai laughs and the monster claws at me from the inside to be set free to rip the smug son of a bitch limb from limb.

“There he is,” he says with a sneer. “Il Mietitore. The big bad Reaper. Look at you now, on your knees for a girl . If the famiglia could see you now. If your father could see you now. He would be so ashamed.” He presses his face against Jordyn’s hair, inhales slowly again like he owns her, and whispers loud enough for me to hear, “Look Tesoro, so much for the monster.”

Behind me, I hear heavy steps. And then, the familiar voice of Vincenzo, uncertain and poised for blood. “Boss, we’ve got the sister secured. Cazzo—” And then I hear the sound of guns being drawn and bullets being chambered behind me.

“Easy,” Nicolai growls. Pushing the barrel of his gun under her chin. Jordyn flinches. “Tell them to stand down. Now. Or I’ll paint these walls and you with her pretty little brain.”

I don’t move at first.

But then I meet Jordyn’s eyes. She holds my gaze and gives me a slight shake of her head. “Don’t do it, Ares...”

“Lower your guns and fall back,” I rasp, not turning. “Both of you. That’s an order.”

There’s a pause. Then the reluctant shuffle of boots, the low murmurs of retreat.

The thought barely sets in my mind when I hear the sound of two gun shots and the sound of bodies hitting the floor just outside the room.

Jordyn gasps, watching in horror.

Fuck. I pray Dante’s still somewhere in the shadows, watching. Initiating the back-up plan.

“Bravo ragazzo,” Nicolai taunts. “Now… let’s make sure you don’t get any ideas.”

One whistle and his men flood in like a tide, six of them. Two seize my arms, wrenching them back. One lands a solid punch to my ribs, and another swings the butt of his rifle across my face.

Blood explodes in my mouth, but I don’t fight it.

I don’t care. All I can see is the fear in Jordyn’s eyes.

“No! Stop!” she screams, struggling against Nicolai’s hold as they force me to the floor. “Please, don’t hurt him!”

One of the guards slams his boot into my back, pressing me down.

“Let him go! You said you wanted me!” she cries, tears streaking down her cheeks. “Nicolai, please, you said you wouldn’t hurt him, just let him go!”

Nicolai smiles down at her, unmoved. “No, Tesoro, I said I wouldn’t kill him,” he murmurs against her ear, “Remember what I said to you, his fate, whether he lives or dies rests in your hands.”

And then he nods.

A gun is cocked behind my head.

“No!” Jordyn’s scream tears through the room like something dying. “Please, Nicolai, don’t!”

He leans in, brushing her hair away from her face with the barrel of his gun. “You want him alive?”

Jordyn nods frantically, tears spilling down her cheeks. “Yes. Yes... please .”

“Then you marry me.”

The silence that follows is instant. Suffocating. My heart slams in my chest, thunderous, and I lift my bloodied face just enough to meet her eyes. She freezes, the horror already blooming behind her lashes.

“What?” she whispers.

Nicolai grins. “You heard me. You want your beloved to live...you become mine . Not just in theory. Not just in spirit. In name. In blood. You walk down that aisle, take my last name, and say you belong to me. Or I will make you watch as I remove one piece of him at a time.”

I shake my head once when our eyes lock from across the room.

He yanks her closer, his mouth grazing her ear. “Say yes, Jordyn. Or I’ll decorate this floor with him.”

She looks at me.

And for the first time in my life, I want to scream. Because she’s going to do it. I can see it in her trembling lips. The way her eyes flicker, like she’s already made peace with dying inside if it means I don’t.

“No, Bambina, don’t.” I breathe. “Don’t you dare do it. You think you’re saving me, but you’re not. Let him kill me. I’d rather die than let you sacrifice yourself to save me by giving yourself up to this son of a bitch.”

“I don’t have a choice. You don’t get to sacrifice yourself for me, I won’t let you.” she chokes out, looking only at me now. “You were right. I should have listened when you told me to stay away. You’re here because of me.”

She turns to Nicolai, tears falling freely. “Let him go,” Jordyn says through gritted teeth. “Let him walk out of here unharmed, and I’ll do it. I’ll marry you.”

But Nicolai laughs. “No, no. First, you marry me. Then he walks, if he’s able.”

Her voice breaks. “How do I know you’ll keep your word? How do I know you won’t kill him the second you get what you want?”

“You don’t,” he shrugs. “That’s what makes it fun.”

Jordyn shakes her head, her voice cracking as she stares down the man with a gun to her temple. “I don’t trust you. Let Ares go… and give me your word you’ll never come after him again.”

Nicolai clicks his tongue, pretending to weigh her words as though they carry actual weight. “Hmm.” He tilts his head, the picture of mock consideration. “Tempting.”

“No!” I roar, surging forward, but the three men holding me slam me back to my knees.

My shoulders scream in protest, muscles torn between breaking free and breaking down.

“Don’t, Jordyn. Please. Look at me.” My chest heaves.

“You can’t trust him. Don’t... don’t do this, bambina.

You might as well put a fucking bullet in my head yourself. You hear me? Don’t.”

She turns, meeting my eyes.

And what I see in hers, shattered hope, a soul already mourning, rips me apart from the inside out. She’s breaking for me… to save me. And I’ve never felt more powerless in my life.

Nicolai leans in closer to her, his grin slicing across his face like a knife. “You have my word, Tesoro,” he croons, tasting the word like poison-laced candy. “I’ll even be so generous as to give Ares here a front-row seat at our wedding.”

I bite the inside of my cheek so hard, I taste blood.

“Watching me take what you love,” he continues, voice dark with delight, “will be a fate far worse than death.”

Jordyn trembles. Her eyes are glassy, lashes wet and heavy. She keeps her eyes on mine, our gazes locked in a silent world only we know.

Her lips barely move, but the words strike like a bullet to the chest.

“Solo tuo,” she whispers.

Then she mouths it again, softer, for only me to see.

Only yours.

And in that moment, with those two words hanging between us, every scream in me goes silent.