Chapter 15
Nora
A shrill ringing sound jerked me awake, and I blinked against the sudden wash of light as Dante turned on the lamp. He answered his phone, and his expression darkened to something thunderous.
“How many?” he asked in clipped tones. “The Russians? We can handle— Fuck! Get Luca’s men to pull back to the house. And I want snipers on the roof. Now.”
He raked a hand through his dark curls and barked another curse as he ended the call.
“What’s going on?” Luca demanded. “Are we under attack?”
Dante gave him a grim nod and got out of bed, rushing to the closet to hastily pull on some clothes.
“Get dressed,” he commanded. “And put these on.” He hefted two Kevlar vests and put them on the bed, waiting for Luca and me.
“The Russians?” Luca pressed, jerking a t-shirt over his head.
My blood froze in my veins. They were here, in our safe haven. They would get to me. They would…
Luca’s arms enfolded me, warming my chilled skin. “I’ll protect you, Nora,” he vowed. “They won’t touch you. You have to get dressed right now.”
I nodded mutely and allowed him to start tugging clothes onto my stiff limbs.
I took deep, calming breaths, struggling to remain in the present with them.
We were all in danger, and I couldn’t allow myself to go catatonic with terror.
I would become a liability, and I wouldn’t put my men at risk needlessly.
“Giuseppe’s men are with them,” Dante growled. “The old bastard has fully allied himself with the Bratva so that he can kill us and take control of our organization. Or the shreds of it that would be left if he had his way. He’s gone insane.”
“No,” Luca ground out. “He’s always been a proud, greedy son of a bitch. And he’s callous enough to sell his own daughter to those monsters. He won’t give a shit about losses on our side. He’ll be King of the Ashes, and he’ll be satisfied, as long as he’s in power.”
Luca fitted my Kevlar vest before securing his own.
My stomach flipped. “Where’s your vest?” I asked Dante, voice shaking with echoes of my trauma.
He ignored me and passed a gun to Luca. “Protecting her is your responsibility now. Don’t let them anywhere near her. If any of those Russian bastards come for her, you blow their brains out. No hesitation. No mercy.”
“None,” Luca agreed.
“Where’s your vest, Dante?” I straightened my spine and imbued my voice with as much strength as I could muster.
“I only have two up here. Luca needs one so he can protect you.”
“But what about you?” I insisted.
He didn’t meet my eyes. “I have to go out there and kill as many of them as I can. I won’t let them get to you, Nora.”
“But you need a vest.” Why wasn’t he looking at me?
“I’ll get one from the armory.”
My heart twisted. “You promised you’d never lie to me,” I accused. “You always keep your promises, Dante. Look at me!” I shrieked the last, fear for him tearing at my insides.
His emerald eyes pierced my soul, glittering with a fervent, desperate light. He cupped my cheeks in both hands.
“I swore to protect you, Nora. That’s the only promise that matters now. You’re all that matters to me.”
I grabbed his wrists as though I possessed the strength to tether him to me.
“Don’t go,” I begged.
“I would die for you,” he vowed.
“No one is dying!” Tears made my voice break. “I already told you that. I’m not going to allow it.”
He surged toward me, sealing my lips with a fierce, desperate kiss. I wrapped myself around him, as though I could anchor him to me forever.
It lasted only a few seconds. He easily broke free from my hold and turned to Luca.
“Don’t let her follow me.”
“I won’t.”
Luca’s brawny arms closed around me in a protective cage.
“You’ll come back to me,” I demanded. “Promise me you’ll come back.”
Dante pressed one final kiss to the top of my head and murmured in my ear. “Goodbye, little bird.”
Then he was striding away from me, storming toward the men who might hurt me with murderous intent.
“Dante!” I twisted against the iron shackles of Luca’s arms. “Let me go!”
“No, Nora,” he said, gentle but firm. “He’s made his choice. You’ll be safe here with me.”
“No!” I protested, furious. “That’s not a choice he gets to make.”
“He’ll come back to you if he can,” Luca said, trying to soothe me. “He’s a cunning, ruthless bastard. He’s hard to kill.”
“But he—”
“He would kill me slowly if I allowed you to go after him.” Luca cut me off with the blunt truth. “And I won’t allow it. We’re staying right here.”
A distant scream pierced my chest, even though it was barely audible at this distance.
“Giana!” I tried to go to my sister, but Luca held me in that unbreakable grip.
“I won’t risk you,” he growled. “You’re not going anywhere.”
I twisted to face him, so that he could see the stark truth shining from my eyes. “I will never forgive you if anything happens to her. I love you, but she’s my sister. Without her, my world is meaningless. I can’t lose her.”
I’d spent my whole life protecting my fragile, sweet-natured sister.
If I didn’t have her to defend, I didn’t know how I’d exist. The need to protect her gave me strength I never would’ve possessed otherwise.
Without her, I’d shatter into a million pieces, and even Luca and Dante wouldn’t be able to put me back together again.
Dante. My heart ached for him. He’d lost his brother. For a terrible moment, I understood the full, devastating horror of his loss.
“You have to help me save her,” I begged Luca. “You know that was her scream.”
Luca’s jaw was tight, his eyes dark. “It’s gone quiet.”
What did he mean…?
I slapped him across the face with my full strength. He barely flinched.
“She’s not dead!” I shouted. “Let me go to her right now, or I’ll hate you forever.”
He spat a curse, then released me from the cage of his arms. He snagged my hand before I could dash away.
“We’re going together, and you will stay behind me,” he commanded. “No matter what happens, you don’t let go of my hand unless I tell you to,”
“Let’s go,” I urged, nodding my agreement.
Precious minutes had ticked by since I’d heard my sister scream. Anything could’ve happened to her in that time.
And it was so quiet in the house now…
“She’s not dead,” I repeated, seething. It couldn’t be true. I wouldn’t allow it to be true.
“Almost there,” Luca said rather than answering my vehement declaration.
He checked her bedroom, forcing me to remain behind him while he dared to round the corner, making himself a target.
“Empty. She’s not here.” He turned to me and gently grasped my jaw, forcing me to look up into his eyes. “I can’t let you—”
Gunfire popped just outside the house, far too close.
“It’s the snipers,” he explained, tone far too calm. “They’ll pick off our enemies as they approach. But I need to get you someplace safe.”
I looked around my sister’s room, frantic. The bedside lamp lay smashed on the hardwood floor.
Signs of a struggle.
“Someone took her!” I exclaimed. “They have my sister.”
Luca muttered another curse. “They’ll be planning to take her to your father.
He’ll know that she’s a valuable hostage now.
We went to all that trouble to extract her with Antonio’s help.
He had time to escape because we prioritized her safety.
He knows she’s a weak spot, and his people couldn’t get to you as a hostage instead because Dante and I would’ve slaughtered anyone who came for you. ”
“Then what are we waiting for?” I demanded.
“We have to save her before he gets his hands on her. If he does, we’ll all be vulnerable.
” I reasoned with him since my pleas for my sister’s life didn’t seem to be enough to sway him.
“Like you said, he knows she’s a valuable hostage.
You and Dante would put yourselves at risk to rescue her for me.
And he knows that I would surrender myself for her in a heartbeat. ”
Luca bared his teeth at me. “That’s not happening under any circumstances.”
I tipped my chin back and met his feral snarl with a growl of my own. “Then come with me to rescue her before Giuseppe gets to her.”
He didn’t say another word. He simply grabbed my hand and started running, pausing to check for shooters every time we needed to round a corner.
Within breathless minutes that felt like hours, we made it to the foyer.
Luca snagged my waist and pulled me into the shadows beneath the curved double staircase before I could bolt out into the open.
The gunfire was dying down outside, but a deafening bang shuddered through the cavernous space when my father burst through the front door.
He had Giana pinned, using her as a shield. His eyes were wide and wild, almost insane. And he was holding a gun to my sister’s head.
Luca’s hand slapped over my mouth just as I tried to cry out for her. He pulled me deeper into the shadows. I tried to kick my way free, but he pressed me tight to the wall, so I didn’t have any room to maneuver.
“Dante!” Father bellowed. “Luca! Come out here, you cowards.”
I was vaguely aware of engines revving outside, tires squealing. The gunfire died down almost entirely.
The Russians were retreating. Giuseppe was on his own. No wonder he was half out of his mind with fear. But his terror was nothing compared to the all-consuming horror of seeing my father hold a gun to my sister’s head.
He’d sold me to the Bratva. He wouldn’t hesitate to kill Giana. Especially now that he was backed into a corner, no escape. His allies had just driven off and abandoned him to his fate.
Giuseppe wouldn’t survive this, but he might decide to take my beloved sister down with him.
“I’ll fix this for you, Nora,” Luca murmured, brushing a kiss over my cheek. “Stay here, and don’t make a sound. I’m going to save Giana. I’ll protect her as though I’m protecting you.”
My throat tightened. That meant he would die for her.
I didn’t want to lose the man I loved. And Dante…
Where was Dante?
He couldn’t be dead. I refused to contemplate it.
“Stay here, no matter what.” He issued the command in an undertone, but it was a firm order, nonetheless.
“I’m here, Giuseppe,” he called out, lingering in the shadows but stepping away from where I was hidden. “Let Giana go, and you can have me instead.”
He shot me a swift, warning glare, and my protest died in my throat, I had to trust him. He was wearing a bulletproof vest. My sister wasn’t.
“Come out here and face me like a man, Luca,” Father sneered. “You never were worthy of taking your father’s place. You’ve always been too weak to be the heir.”
“Let Giana walk three paces to your right, and I’ll come to you.”
“Not happening. I won’t release her until I see that you’re unarmed.”
Father jammed the gun into Giana’s ribs, and she cried out. I felt an echo of her pain radiating through my own body. Desperation clawed at my insides, and my muscles vibrated with the suppressed need to go to her.
I took a breath and forced myself to stillness. I trusted Luca. He wouldn’t simply allow Giuseppe to shoot him in order to save my sister.
Would he?
Oh, god.
The realization hit me as soon as he stepped out into the open, arms raised in a show of surrender.
I would sacrifice anything for you.
He’d made himself an open target. He might be wearing Kevlar, but a headshot would end him before I could scream his name.
Giuseppe’s gun swung away from my sister, toward Luca.
Dante plowed into my father with a bellow of primal rage, tackling him and Giana to the ground. The gunshot rang out, but Luca wasn’t hit.
“Run!” Dante roared at Giana, and she scrambled away from the grappling men.
I darted out to drag my sister to safety just as another shot thundered through the cavernous foyer. Luca was already there, covering her with his body. Dante shouted in wordless fury, wrestling the older man onto his back. A third shot, and my father’s brain splattered against the wall.
I reached them in a few racing heartbeats, dropping to my knees beside Giana. Luca rolled off her, and I ran my hands over her, checking for injuries.
“I’m okay,” she sobbed. “I’m okay.” But she hugged her knees to her chest, rocking back and forth as she stared at our father’s ruined skull.
I spared a glance at the bastard, just to reassure myself that he was dead.
Icy terror encased my heart, and I flung myself toward the men I loved.
“Dante!”
My fierce husband lay on his back, clutching at his stomach. Crimson stained his white shirt, and a gory pool was growing beneath his powerful body.
Luca applied pressure to the bullet wound, and Dante roared, the sound of his pain knifing through my soul.
“Stupid bastard,” Luca muttered. “I’m the one wearing Kevlar. You didn’t have to throw yourself in front of a bullet for me.”
“I did,” Dante forced the retort through gritted teeth. “She loves you.”
I grabbed his hand, squeezing with my full strength, as though that would be enough to keep him here with me.
His eyes pierced me, his gaze so intense that it knocked the air from my lungs.
“You can be together now,” he said, gentle tone roughened by agony. “He does deserve you, Nora. I was wrong.”
“You deserve me too,” I insisted, blinking away the tears before they could blind me. I couldn’t lose sight of him. I couldn’t lose him. “I need you.”
His dark lashes fluttered, and he forced his eyes open wide as he caressed my cheek with his bloody hand. “It’s…better this way.” He choked on a breath, chest convulsing. “You don’t have to worry about hurting me. Your choice is made.”
“You don’t get to make the choice for me, remember?” I reminded him. “Stay with me, Dante. I love you.”
“I’m sorry.” He released the apology on a ragged sigh, and his eyes slid closed.
His hand dropped from my face. I grabbed it and pressed his palm to my cheek, willing him to touch me.
He couldn’t be dead. I wasn’t ready to give up on him. Not ever.
“Stay with me,” I begged.
I couldn’t lose Dante, or I’d lose half my heart.