Chapter Eighteen
Will
Iburst into the church to see Gianna standing before Nico at the altar. The priest is reciting their wedding vows. She is really going to marry him. It’s obvious from the expression on her face that she’s miserable.
Gianna isn’t even mine. She is her own person who has the right to make her own decisions. I took that from her when I kidnapped her but now I know I have to let her go to make up her own mind.
But it’s clear that she doesn’t want to marry Nico and I have to save her. Even if she doesn’t choose me in the end.
“Stop!” I shout, storming down the aisle, my gun drawn. The church is empty except for Gianna, her aunt, Nico, and the priest.
Nico spins around, pure shock and fury on his face. “You should have died.” He pulls out his own gun but I fire into the air before he can shoot me. It makes him flinch and drop his gun.
“I will not stand back and watch you force Gianna into a marriage she clearly doesn’t want. Let her go, Nico.”
“She is not yours,” he snarls.
“And she’s not yours either. Gianna wants to live her life for herself. She doesn’t want to be forced to live a life anyone forces on her. Now, I won’t shoot you as long as you let Gianna go.”
Nico grabs Gianna, putting her in front of him. “You can’t shoot me now. Not unless you want to shoot her.”
I hesitate. He’s not wrong. If I were to try and shoot Nico, Gianna could be hurt and I can’t risk that. I fucked up when I kidnapped her. An innocent person who didn’t deserve it – all for money. But I don’t want to be that anymore. I will do whatever it takes to save her life.
“Drop the gun,” a woman says behind me. Francesca. Shit. I forgot all about her. Glancing over my shoulder, I see that she has a tiny gun in her hands and it’s pointed right at me.
“Francesca, no,” Gianna cries out, rushing forward but Nico grabs her and pulls her flush against him. “Don’t shoot him!”
“He kidnapped you,” Francesca says it like it’s obvious. “He needs to die.”
“You’ve never killed anyone. Don’t kill him. I don’t want him to die! Please!” The pure agony in Gianna’s voice sends a shiver down my spine. She truly cares for me. I’ve never felt the warmth that spreads over my body at that thought before.
Francesca hesitates and that’s when I spin around and grab her wrist, making her drop the gun. She scrambles for it but I grab it first and aim it at her.
“Don’t even try,” I say. “You controlled Gianna’s life so much that she resorted to throwing up every day. You should be ashamed of yourself.”
Francesca blanches. “What are you talking about?”
“Will!” Gianna cries out before I can say more to Francesca. Turning back around, I see that Nico has pushed Gianna to the side and has his gun back in his hand. He fires.
The bullet hits me in the shoulder, knocking me back. It’s not a life-threatening blow but it still fucking hurts. Before Nico can shoot again, I aim at him and my bullet goes straight through his thigh. His scream echoes through the church as he drops to the ground.
Gianna kicks his gun out of his hand before she runs to my side. “Will.” She wraps her arms around me and after a beat, I do the same. “I wasn’t sure if you were dead or not.”
“I’m alive. But we have to get out of here. Now.” I wince when I move my shoulder. “We have to go.”
“You’re not taking my niece away from me again!” Francesca screams.
“You are not going to force me to marry Nico,” Gianna announces. “I am going away with Will. It’s the only way I’ll ever have some happiness in my life.” She grabs my hand. “Come on.” We’re almost at the end of the aisle when Francesca speaks.
“Is it true?”
Gianna looks back at her. Nico is on the ground, clasping his bleeding thigh. Francesca gives her niece a painful look.
“What?” Gianna asks.
“We have to go,” I murmur to her but Gianna holds up a hand.
Francesca takes a step forward. “Were you making yourself throw up? Why? That hitman said it was because of me. But surely not. I never hurt you. I only ever protected you.”
For a moment, Gianna’s shoulders cave in and she ducks her chin.
Years of baggage her aunt gave to her. But then she sighs and stands up taller, pushing her shoulders back.
“You did hurt me. You were the reason I would make myself throw up. You controlled every inch of my life and I was tired of it. Which is why I am not going to marry Nico.”
Francesca looks like she’s been shot herself.
Gianna turns her back on her aunt and walks out of the church. I follow behind, gripping my bleeding shoulder.
“You’re hurt,” Gianna gasps like she just remembered.
“I’ll be fine. We have to get you away from her. Before Nico tries to marry you again.”
We get into my car but I can’t even grip the steering wheel from how hurt my shoulder is. “Can you drive?”
“No,” she admits. “I wasn’t taught. Francesca didn’t think it was proper for a woman to drive. I had a driver.”
“It’s not hard. I need you to do it. We need to get away so I can fix my shoulder.”
A determined expression crosses her face and she nods. “Of course. I’ll try.”
We quickly switch seats and Gianna starts to drive. It’s a slow start. The uncertainty in her movements is obvious but it doesn’t take her long to figure out how to move forward.
“Find the nearest hospital,” I say. Going back to the hospital for another gunshot wound is not going to be a good look but I have no other choice.
I can’t go to my old contacts in the risk that they could be compromised.
Marco is still out looking for us. And now Nico will be even more angry – if he doesn’t die that is. And then there’s Enzo.
“Where was your brother?” I ask, realizing he wasn’t at the church.
“Enzo doesn’t know that Nico found me. He kept that information from my brother because he knows that Enzo will never marry me to a man as bad as Nico. But I don’t know where my brother is right now. And I have no way to contact him.”
“I have my cell phone.”
“I can’t remember his number,” she admits. “I never needed to remember it before and I just… don’t know it.”
“Do you think Enzo will listen to you? Honestly?”
She slams on the brakes when she comes to a red light.
“Easy,” I murmur.
“Sorry,” she squeaks. After a moment, she sighs. “I have to hope he’ll listen to me. But there’s a chance my aunt and Nico will get to him first. They’ll twist the story. Say you kidnapped me again. I don’t know what to do.”
“Just drive. That’s all you can do right now.”
She nods.
We arrive at the nearest hospital – thankfully it’s a different one from the one where I got my arm stitched up. Gianna places my unhurt arm around her shoulders and helps me walk inside.
“My legs still work,” I tell her.
“I know. I just want to help.”
A nurse sees me bleeding and immediately gets me into a private room where Gianna isn’t allowed to follow. A doctor sees to my shoulder and tells me that I was lucky. The bullet went in and out. A few inches over and I could have been shot in the heart.
Relief courses through me. I’m not dead yet.
But I know not everything is over. I may have saved Gianna from Nico today but we’ll have to keep fighting to be together. I need to let her go. For her own safety.
I need to get her back to her brother. It’s the only way she’ll find an ounce of happiness. And I have to come to terms with the fact that I may not get to be in her life. As long as she’s safe, that’s all that matters to me.
I can no longer be selfish. It’s time to be a selfless man my mom would be proud of.
Gianna
I pace back and forth in the hall, watching doctors and nurses pass me by. I keep glancing at the ER doors, worrying that Nico or Marco will find me. That I’ll be forced to marry one of them.
After an hour, Will comes out of the private room and approaches me. “I’m all right. They stitched up my wound and gave me some pain meds.”
With a cry of relief, I throw my arms around him. He winces. “Sorry,” I squeak.
“It’s not a problem.” He pulls me into his arms and holds me tight. Never have I felt more safe than in this moment.
I know, right now, that I never want to leave Will’s arms again. “I want to be with you. There’s no one else.”
He gazes down into my eyes with an expression I can’t decipher.
Both pain and happiness and… regret. “I care for you, Gianna. I wouldn’t have risked my life if I didn’t.
But it’s time I get you back to your brother.
We can’t keep running. Bad people will only find us and one of those times, your life will be taken from you.
Not because you’ll be dead. But because you’ll be forced to live a life you don’t want.
We need to find your brother and I’ll return you to him.
You can explain everything. But… there’s a good chance that he won’t agree to us being together. ”
“Not if I make him see reason.”
“Gianna.” He cups my face. “Do you actually believe he’ll let you be with a hitman? A lowly hitman with enemies on top of everything?”
My heart pounds faster until it makes me lightheaded. “What are you saying?”
“I’ll return you to your brother. But there’s a good chance we won’t get to be together.”
“So let’s run away.”
“Do you want to live your life on the run? Always looking over your shoulder?”
“No,” I whisper, realizing how right he is.
“You need your brother. He’s the one who can truly keep you safe. If you believe he’ll listen, then I’ll take you to him. But you have to be prepared that we might never see each other again.”
“Is that what you want? You never want to see me again?” Tears hit my eyes before I can stop them.
“No,” he says in a gruff voice. “I want to keep you in my arms. But I’m realistic. Your brother won’t allow us to be together. But as long as you’re safe then I’m willing to do it. I can’t be selfish with you any longer. I just… can’t.”
A sob escapes my throat. It’s for all the pain I’ve been through these past couple of weeks. The fear and anxiety. The desire and lust for Will.
And the love I now have for him. Only for it to be taken away because he’s right. My brother won’t agree with me being with Will but he can keep me safe. So I have to choose: safety or love.
“What if I choose you?” I ask.
“I can’t let you do that.”
“But you said I get to make my own decisions in life.”
He sighs deeply and pulls away from me. That’s the thing that hurts most of all.
“I know what I said. But I can’t let you choose a life with me.
Not when it puts you in danger. I don’t want that.
And I doubt you want that either. So, I don’t want you to choose me, Gianna. I want you to choose safety.”
“What about happiness? Don’t I get that?”
“Will you actually be happy going on the run with me? Answer me honestly.”
I hesitate because I know he’s right. I won’t be happy with this constant state of stress I’m under. I need my brother… even if that means giving up Will.
“I’ll miss you,” I whisper.
He nods as the light in his eyes dim. “I’ll miss you too. But this is the right thing. We both know it.”
That’s the part that hurts most of all. We both know it and yet, neither one of us wants it.
“Can you give me a kiss before you return me to Enzo?” I ask. “Just one more kiss.”
Without a word, he pulls me into his arms for one final time and kisses me deeply. It’s a kiss I’ll never forget. Both passionate and sweet. Full of desire and pain.
I never want to leave this moment.
But it all comes crashing down when I hear a voice behind us.
“Get your hands off her.” It’s a voice I know very well.
Because it belongs to my brother.