Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 34295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
Pow. Pow. Pow.
I scream as gunfire erupts outside, so close it sounds as if it's right on top of us.
"Cazzo!" Marcello shouts, dragging me to the floor as chaos erupts outside.
Enforcers shout, a mix of Italian and English that makes it clear they're under attack. Another gunshot rings out.
"Luca," I sob, fighting to get free of Marcello's embrace. "Luca!"
"Calmati! Calmati!" Marcello growls, shaking me gently. "I'll handle it. You stay here. Don't move from this spot, Callie."
I sob again, nodding as he pulls away and scrambles toward the door. More guards pour out of the back of the house, rushing toward the patio doors with guns drawn.
I bite my lip, holding back a scream of fury. This is my worst nightmare in the flesh, and Marcello expects me to just sit here and wait. No. I won't.
I push myself to my feet and race toward the front door. Marcello left it standing open. It's eerily quiet outside now. Too quiet.
My feet fly down the steps.
I shudder in horror at the bodies of my father's guards littering the ground. How did Luca kill so many so quickly? Dio. He's truly on the warpath.
I race around the corner of the house to see a vision that rivals my worst nightmares. Luca is alive, but my father's guards have half a dozen guns pointed at his back. And he has his aimed at Marcello's head.
"You took her from me," Luca snarls, his expression thunderous. Murderous fury dancing like lightning in his eyes. "You tried to give her to another man."
"She's inside, Valentino," Marcello says, speaking softly. He has his hands raised. "She's safe."
"I should kill you right here and now," Luca snaps.
"No!" I cry, throwing myself in front of Marcello.
My father's guards shift uneasily.
"Bella," Luca breathes.
"Calmati!" Marcello snaps at the men behind Luca. "Lower your weapons."
They hesitate.
"Adesso!" Marcello growls. "If anyone fucking shoots my sister, you'll wish for death."
All six reluctantly lower their weapons.
"Luca," I sob, tears rolling down my face. "It's over, Luca. Please take me home."
He hesitates, clearly torn between his desire to punish my brother and his need to give me what I want. That battle plays out across his handsome face, etching it in stark lines of agony.
"Please," I whisper. "He was letting me go. He wasn't going to turn me over to Andrea."
A menacing snarl rips from his lips when I say Andrea's name. And then I understand.
"I belong to you." I step toward him, my hands outstretched. "Body, heart, and soul. Sempre."
He roars, rushing forward to scoop me up. His strong arms surround me, holding me close as his lips slant down over mine, staking his claim on me in my father's driveway. I cling to him, tears spilling down my cheeks as the vise around my heart shatters and falls away.
And for the first time in hours, perhaps for the first time since I was thirteen, I breathe freely.
Chapter Twelve
Luca
" Bella ," I whisper, pressing adoring kisses all over Callandria's perfect face as we lay in our bed, holding each other close. As soon as we arrived home, I carried her upstairs. Rafe already sent Ricardo and Alessio off to get medical attention. They're going to be all right, though it's going to be a rough recovery for both of them. Ricardo has a concussion. Marcello's knife nicked Alessio's lung. They'll both be down for a while. But they'll survive.
Callandria wept with relief when I gave her the news. It seems she has a soft spot for the old man and her bodyguard. I'm trying very hard not to be jealous of that fact. I don't want to share a single piece of her heart with another man, but it seems I'll be sharing it with a few of them. It'll drive me fucking crazy. I'll be possessive and jealous and have my cock down her throat and my tongue buried in her cunt, making her scream my name at every available opportunity to remind myself that she's mine and only mine. But I'll learn to live with it.
If it makes her happy, I'll learn.
"Bella principessa. Sei tutto per me."
"You're everything to me too," she whispers, nuzzling her face against my jaw. "I was so afraid I was going to lose you today, Luca." Her eyes grow damp. "I can't lose you. Sei la mia anima gemella."
You're my twin soul.
"You are my soul, piccolina."
"No," she says, shaking her head. "I've seen your soul, Luca. I've felt it. It's bright and fierce."
"So are you, Callandria."
"You make me feel that way."
"You are that way." I kiss a trail down her chest, laving the flat of my tongue across the hard bud of her nipple. "So bright." I sink my teeth into the taut flesh and then suck hard. "So fierce."
"Luca," she moans, thrusting her hand into my hair and pulling.