28. Tessa
28
TESSA
“ W hat the fuck do you want?” I shouted at Stefan when he didn’t answer me the first time.
The old man before us didn’t match what I imagined he’d look like. Short and aging, he was a worn-out man. Not tall and strong, appearing like a formidable foe. Romeo, Dante, and Franco spent so much time talking about Stefan and Reaper as being their enemies and waiting for the opportune moment to hit back at them without risking the Constella forces.
This shriveled up man didn’t look scary. His scowl seemed petty and pinched, like an expression worthy of a toddler throwing a tantrum. But the gun in his hand looked all too real.
I hesitated to bring my gun out of my purse, but in that moment as he sneered at me and Nina, I was so glad that Romeo was the over-the-top protector that he was. Right now, I was relieved that he insisted that I never leave the house without this gun on me.
The guards and driver had to be incapacitated to not be defending us, but that was another worry for later. Nina—and her baby—were priorities. I had to keep my friend safe and also make sure I could survive to see Romeo again.
Maybe his protectiveness was rubbing off on me.
“I want to end the Constellas,” Stefan replied. His voice was gravelly and rough, raw from overuse and likely from a lifetime of smoking. “I will see the end to this vendetta against the Constellas if it’s the last thing I do.”
“Fuck you,” I drawled. “You’ll never end us.”
One of the Giovanni soldiers behind him grunted. “Oh. You consider yourself one of them already?”
Stefan grinned, nodding. “You’re nothing but a convenient piece of ass he picked up somewhere.”
Nina’s fingers curled around the back of my shirt.
“You’re just another whore,” the guard said. “You’re not a Constella.”
Their words were intended to cut me. To wound me and lower my guard. It didn’t work. I knew that I had worth. I was all too aware of how much I mattered to Romeo.
“Just get the fuck outta the way so we can have her,” Stefan snarled, leaning to the side to see Nina.
“I don’t think so.” I held my arm out, bent at the elbow, to barricade her behind me.
“You ain’t anyone to tell us how it’s gonna be.”
I tipped my chin up higher, riding on this high of defending my best friend. “You’re not getting near us. Not if you want to survive and finish out your pathetic lives.”
My heart raced, and I licked my lips before I swallowed. With my mouth this dry and my breaths whipping in so fast as I fought the panic rising to the surface, I tried to look into the SUV and see if the drivers were dead or just unconscious. They’d never leave the scene if they could. They’d remain with us, watching from outside the shop.
“We want her,” Stefan said. Then he shrugged one shoulder, laughing mirthlessly. “Ah, hell. You too. We’ll take both of you even though she’s the only Constella, breeding another motherfucker in her belly. If you’re Romeo’s whore of the week, we’ll take you too.”
“That’s not going to work.” I said it as a bluff, hoping he wouldn’t call me on it.
“It will, you dumb bitch. It will. If I can’t kill those fuckers, then I’ll hit them where it’ll hurt. I’ll take their women, and they’ll be so fucking mad they’ll slip up and walk into any trap I set.”
I shook my head, nervous when the guards crept up behind us, forcing us to walk forward.
Holding my arm out around Nina, I kept her close. Her back was to mine, and we paired up in facing them off.
Another SUV was parked behind the one we rode over here in. The backseat door was opened by one of the Giovanni guards, and he gestured for us to get in.
“Now, bitch. Let’s go. Both of you,” Stefan ordered.
“I don’t think so.”
Stefan aimed his gun lower, likely planning to hit me somewhere that wouldn’t kill me quickly. Before he could have a chance to shoot, I brought my gun up and aimed at him.
“Run!” I shoved Nina to make a dash for it as I fired at Stefan and his men. I dropped as I fired, a trick I’d learned from the soldier who sparred with me and Max at the shooting range.
Gunfire filled the air, and with my chest squeezing tight with anxiety, I could barely drag in a breath to stay steady on my feet and keep my head clear.
Shouts rang out around the shots. Tires squealed on the pavement. Pedestrians and others near the store shouted and cried out in terror.
I stayed low to the ground, hoping no one would aim at me with the dusk setting shadows over us. Fear claimed me, but the rush of adrenaline kept me as focused as possible. I couldn’t give up now. I had this. I could fight. I could shoot. And as soon as I got back on my feet, I would aim again and again.
Sheer luck had to be on my side because no wounds stung my skin or warranted a fall to the ground. I didn’t know if I’d hit anyone, but I wanted to cling to the fortune that no one had hit me.
“Get her!”
I tensed as I scrambled back on my feet. Slamming my hand to the bumper of another car that I’d crawled to, I stood and searched through the smoky darkness and commotion for Nina.
They had to mean her. They said they wanted Nina, as an officially declared Constella as Dante’s fiancée, pregnant with his child.
But they hadn’t forgotten about me. A firm set of fingers wrapped around my wrist. Manacled by one of the Giovanni men, I lurched backward as he pulled me toward him.
“Take her and go!” Stefan yelled.
Car doors slammed shut. More tires burned rubber and squealed on the pavement. All through the chaotic sounds drowning out my thoughts, I punched and kicked at the man who tried to drag me away.
My fear evaporated. Instead, red-hot rage took over me. This guard’s hold on me was eerily similar to how those three rapists had overtaken me in the alley. The muscle memory of being captured sliced through my panic.
And I lashed out, striking at the guards and refusing to be a victim of anything, ever again.