Chapter 28
Anna
The loud voices become increasingly close. The brush is too crunchy, and even the smallest sound is going to make me easier to find. I do the only thing that I can do. Huddle into the canopy of a large bush and wait.
Gun pointed, I’m barely able to breathe as the monsters stomp through the brush, swiping at branches with something that sounds like large sticks or bats, and every time they do it my chest tightens even more.
If I ever get away from here, I swear I’m going to disappear so very far away that no one will ever be able to find me.
A crack against the sapling close by causes me to jump and rustle the leaves.
An evil laugh spills into the darkness of the forest before a large hand grabs me by my hair.
I get two shots off but I’m aiming in the dark and while I know at least one of them hit him, it doesn’t stop the bastard from dragging me from the bush and onto my feet. “There you are you little bitch.”
The man pulls tighter, right down to the roots, causing tears to spill down my cheeks.
I do my best not to cry, not to shed a tear, to will them away, swiping at them the best I can before other men arrive and zip tie my arms behind me and push me toward more voices in the forest. “We’ve got her.
Radio it in and let the boss know he can make that call and set up the deal. ”
Light spills into the small clearing as the men gather with flashlights. “You better get that looked at. You’re lucky she missed your big-ass gut.”
“Fuck you. It’ll wait until I see the bitch handed over. That’s all the payback I need right there.”
The reality that they’re going to hand me over to Bastian Gallini in just a very short while is not lost on me. The threat has been held over my head for so long. I’m so exhausted emotionally and physically from running that it’s not hard to act like I now simply accept my fate.
At least for now…
They push me forward, surrounded by smelly men as we head up the small pathway toward the roadway. The rush of animals scurrying through the forest heighten my sense of where we are. In the middle of a dense wooded area where big animals of the non-human kind can come out and play.
A small shiver runs down my spine as I hear a crunching sound, before the resounding sound of gunfire erupts and lights up the darkness of the forest. “Anna, down!”
I hit the forest floor with a thud making my chest take the impact with no hands to help cushion my blow as soldier after soldier of the enemy join me on the dirt-packed ground.
But all of them are dead…
Some with eyes wide open, but all with bullets ripping them apart. I close my eyes tight. It’s not that I haven’t seen death and lots of it, but I’ve never been the single cause of so many lost lives.
Vincenzo is the one who kneels beside me, quickly severing the zip ties with his knife, his eyes dark and intense.
Anxiety billows in my chest. “I’m sorry.”
His dark eyes search mine. “I know.”
Nicolo reaches us. “You two okay?” he asks, glancing over to his brother before looking at me. “What were you thinking?”
“Not now,” Vincenzo growls. “Terry should have made it back to the car by now.” At the same time a set of lights come on in the distance. Vincenzo takes me by the arm and guides me toward them, keeping us well into the shadows of the overhanging brush on the roadway.
A black car crunches down the path and pulls up almost right beside us. Vincenzo opens the back door. “Get in.” In seconds, not minutes we’re all in place and the driver has the car flipped around heading back the way he came.
The vehicle is too quiet, but the voices in my head and pounding of my heart make up for it tenfold.
The wrath of the men back there was scary, but the coldness in Vincenzo’s tone makes my chest squeeze just as tight. Never has he seemed this upset or angry with me. But the fact that blood, lots of blood has been shed, and the reason why is not lost on me.
It’s all my fault. I ran to avoid it but clearly it was too late. I should have listened to Massimo a long time ago.
Nicolo shifts in his seat so he can talk to Vincenzo. “I’m not sure how far away the Gallinis are. Our guy said Sarone already put in a call to Gallini and told him they have Anna. He’s coming for her tomorrow night.” He turns his attention to the driver. “Get back to the casino fast, Terry.”
“Roger that.”
Vincenzo is quiet for a while. So long that I think his intent is simply to ignore everyone and not just me. “They won’t find Anna. After tomorrow, Anna Cassone will no longer exist.”
My chest tightens so suddenly that it’s hard to breathe. “I said I was sorry.”
Vincenzo snakes an arm beneath my hair and draws me closer to him, leaning down, his face so close to me that his lips are almost touching mine, but don’t. “You’re going to be sorry, but first we have to fix this.”
Nicolo clears his throat. “Vincenzo, you okay?”
Vincenzo doesn’t move an inch. “She’s sure as fuck not going to be used for the revenge of someone else’s sin. Tomorrow, she’s going to wear my ring.”
He strokes a finger over my lip. “Tomorrow, you’ll no longer be Anna Cassone, you’ll be Anna DeLuca, my wife.”
My mouth falls open. He’s gone completely and utterly mad if he thinks I’m going to have one more loss of life on my hands.
“Massimo will never allow it, especially after he finds out what you’ve done.
The elders will never allow it, the Gallinis will never allow it.
You can’t just marry me and start a war. Right now, it’s just me they want.”
His fingers trace an almost soothing pattern while the darkness of his eyes sends shivers snaking down my spine. “Watch me, princessa.”