27. A Slow Agonizing Death
CHAPTER 27
A SLOW AGONIZING DEATH
S erena
I slide to my knees by Antonio’s side and fear lances through my chest at the deep crimson splotches across the back of his black shirt. He’s lying face down in a bed of violets, the scene absurdly beautiful in a chaotic way. Somehow, the fire hasn’t reached the flowerbed, but flames crackle across the lawn growing closer every second.
“Antonio!” I shout as I run my hands over his back, and they come away sticky with blood. I can barely make out the faint rise and fall of his ribcage through the back of his shirt. He’s still breathing. The amount of relief that courses through me at the discovery is embarrassing. “Antonio, wake up!” I shake him, grabbing his shoulder, and a faint moan parts his lips. “You have to get up!”
Blood warms my icy hand, and I stare at the deep ruby liquid covering my palm. Shit. Where the hell is it coming from? I search his back again, but with the black shirt and the darkening sky, I can’t find the damned wound.
“Listen to me, you stubborn, arrogant coglione , if you don’t move your ass in a second, you’re going to be burned alive.”
His eyelids flicker open for an instant, and what I could swear is a smile parts his lips. Then he’s out again.
“You have to get up!”
“Go.” He doesn’t open his eyes this time. The word is barely audible over the mad pounding of my heart and the crackle of the roaring fire. “They’ll be back…”
“No,” I hiss. Then with a big push that has his eyes snapping open, I manage to roll him over onto his back.
A sharp groan purses his lips.
“Who did this?”
“I’m not sure…”
“Look at me!” I shout, clapping my hands on his cheeks, and I can’t help my gaze from drifting to his mouth. My thoughts fly back to that kiss… Dark, unfocused eyes finally latch onto mine, and I force the traitorous thoughts away. “Okay, who doesn’t really matter right now, but I do need you to stand up. Hell, I don’t care if you crawl, but we need to get out of here now.” The heat of the fire licks up my back as the shrubbery to our right is consumed in flames.
“Go,” he rasps out again, clutching his left shoulder. Blood trickles from between his fingers.
“Not without you.”
He blinks slowly as if he can’t quite follow what I’m saying.
“Whoever did this is coming after me, too, you stronzo . They’re already headed to the town center to find me. I won’t get out of this by myself, and you won’t get what you want from Papà without me.”
His brows furrow as he regards me, and his chest heaves from the effort of lifting his head up. “It’s over,” he whispers. “You’re free.”
“I am not free, you stubborn asshole. This is all your fault, and you are the one that’s going to get me out of this mess. Now pick your ass up off the ground, and let’s get out of here.”
That half smile reappears for only an instant before he winces through another pang.
My gaze runs down the length of his jeans. Some blood splatter but looks minimal. “Are your legs okay?”
He nods, then lifts his hand off the wound right below his collarbone, just shy of his heart. “The bullet went through here. It’s clean, in and out.”
“Good, then you should be able to walk just fine.”
His dark eyes settle over my shoulder on the blazing inferno behind me. “It’s over. Just let me die here.”
“No,” I grit out.
“Why not? It’s what I deserve, isn’t it?”
I shake my head. “No one deserves to be burnt alive, Antonio, regardless of the sins you keep on some mental list to torture yourself. We all have them. Now, let’s get the hell out of here and if we survive this and you still want to die, I’d be more than happy to put a bullet in your head.” I throw him a smirk. “Clean and easy.”
A rueful smile curls the corners of his lips, igniting a spark in those dark eyes more brilliant than the starry sky. “What’s your escape plan, tesoro ?”
“Let’s just get to the boat, and then I’ll fill you in.”
With a frustrated, or maybe pained, sigh, he rolls over again, then pushes himself up to stand. A groan slides through his clenched teeth as he straightens. With my bum ankle, I’m not exactly any help. He grits through the pain, clutching the wound, and we stagger toward the lake and away from the ever-expanding inferno.
“Mariuccia and Fabi?” I whisper once the heat of the flames on my back lessens to a more tolerable level.
“Dead,” he whispers.
The pain is sharp and quick. I swallow it down just as fast. “I’m sorry.”
“Me too,” he mutters.
We stagger through the foliage on the east side of the estate, the part that has miraculously avoided the brunt of the destruction. I lead the way, limping along through the underbrush, the pain in my ankle starting to rush back. Not that the crutches would have been an option in this terrain. At least I still have the bandage keeping the joint in place.
“The boat is secure?” he huffs out once we’re clear of the house.
“Yeah. They came to check it out, but luckily, they left me and it alone.”
“They who?” He whirls at me, eyes suddenly wide.
“I don’t know. I didn’t get a chance to look at them.”
“How did they not see you?”
“I hid.”
“Where?”
“I’m not telling you.” I toss him a cheeky grin. “We might be allies for now, but as soon as we’re out of here and safe, you’re still the man who kidnapped me.”
“And you’re still my hostage.” A smirk flashes for an instant before the darkness descends once again. “I’m going to destroy the motherfucker behind this attack.”
I push back a thick branch, letting Antonio go by before I trail after him. The pathway ahead divides and in my mad rush up from the lake, I can’t remember exactly where we left the boat. “Who do you think it is?”
“I have a few ideas.” His dark gaze rakes over me, a tendon fluttering in his jaw.
“Who?”
“Serena, I know you’re not going to want to hear this, but there were only a handful of people who knew where we were. They are my most trusted men.”
“Oh, you mean like Otto?”
A scowl carves into his jaw. “Despite his clear lapse in judgement and obvious character flaws, he attacked you in a misguided attempt to help me.”
I snort on a laugh. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
“I’m not excusing his behavior in any way, tesoro . And there’s not a single part of me that regrets what I did to him. He deserved to die for touching you, but he was never disloyal to me. He never would have leaked our location… none of them would have.”
“So what are you saying?”
“Tony and your father?—”
I halt midstride and spin at him, anger scorching my veins. “You better stop right there before you say something I’ll make you regret.”
“I’m only pointing out the obvious?—”
“ Papà would never sacrifice me!” I hiss. “Your dad might have been a fucked-up piece of shit but mine is not. He would never risk me getting hurt in that fire.”
He heaves out a breath, a twinge of regret in those bottomless eyes. “Then Tony maybe?—”
“Nope, also no. Tony is family. He was at the hospital the day I was born. And then again for Isabella and each one of my cousins since. He would never!”
“No one else could have known,” he mutters and starts to walk slowly again.
I speed up to his side. “It has to be one of your men… They could have spilled to one of your enemies.”
He shakes his head, scowling.
“No offense, but you haven’t been in charge for long. Maybe someone made your guys a better offer.” My thoughts flicker to the past, to the meeting I wasn’t supposed to be at in Milano with Pa. “What about that Sartori guy?”
His fist clenches at his side, the tell like a warning bell. “What do you know about Enrico Sartori?”
“Not much, other than he wants you dead.”
“That’s not news, tesoro . But Enrico is old school, he wouldn’t pull something underhanded like this.” He chews on the inside of his cheek, eyes churning with rage. “These assholes murdered two innocent women in cold blood. That’s not the old man’s style.”
“What about his son?”
His brows furrow. “Federico?”
“He was there, too. He didn’t seem too fond of you either.”
Antonio slows as the top of the boat’s canopy comes into view just over the ridge. Thank Dio , we’re almost there. “Well, whoever the fuck did it, is going to die a slow, agonizing death.”