Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 80550 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80550 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
“Wow, you got me,” he jests.
“How many of you are here?” Lucio growls.
“Too many for you to fight,” the man retorts with a stupid shit-eating grin. “Guess what we’re here for?” His eyes suddenly connect with mine. “Or who?”
Lucio snatches the gun from the guy’s hand. “Take him downstairs,” Lucio barks at his guard.
“Get your fucking hands off me,” the man growls.
I can’t allow him to kill that man. He came here for me, so he must be one of Matteo’s men.
I crawl off the bed, stumbling on my feet because the drugs Lucio injected still haven’t worn off properly. My body is buzzing, and my nerves are on fire, but I’m relentless in my pursuit of justice as I approach the fighting men.
Behind them, more men storm up the staircase, and several shots go off, reverberating through the halls of Lucio’s house. The De Silvas have come. Screams filter through while Lucio’s men stand off against Matteo’s. It’s an onslaught of epic proportions. The sight makes me violently ill, but I keep it together so I can make my way to the scene of the crime.
Lucio’s guard hauls the man through the hallway, but is met by several of Matteo’s men blocking his path, and another fight for power ensues.
From the corner of my eye, I spot a small gun lying on the cabinet beside the door, and I lurch over to it to grab it, but Lucio suddenly marches back into the bedroom and shuts the door behind him, locking it to seal us both inside.
“You think that’s going to help you now?”
I clutch the gun tightly, my legs quaking as I step back to try to remain in control of my feeble body, still reeling from the medicine. Everything spins, but I will fucking fight him off with everything I have.
“Matteo is here. You know he’s going to win.”
Lucio laughs. “Bullshit. My men have got him cornered.”
“Lies,” I spit back.
Behind the door, several thumps make me look up, and the voice of the same man who tried to come in to help me can be heard. However, Lucio’s got his gaze fixated on me, and I raise the gun as he approaches.
“You think he’ll kill me because you’re in danger? Wrong. All he’s wanted since his mother died is for me to suffer,” he says through gritted teeth. “And that was his greatest mistake.”
He stalks at me, but it’s the evil glint in his eyes that throws me off the most.
Kill him. Just fucking kill him, and it’ll all be over.
But what about Matteo’s revenge?
Suddenly, the window shatters into a million pieces, and I fall to the floor and cover my face with my hands to stop the glass from hitting me. The gun flings out of my fingers and rolls onto the floor.
Fuck.
“Stella!”
His voice activates my neurons, and my head tilts up to meet his gaze, my eyes glazing over with tears. “Matteo!”
MATTEO
With my hands wrapped in solid cloth, I jump through the window from the balcony I climbed up on to try to get to her in time. I glance at Stella who’s lying on the floor in complete shock, her body covered in bruises, stoking the flames burning up my heart.
He hurt her.
“DON’T YOU FUCKING TOUCH MY WIFE!” I yell, raising my ire at Lucio, who’s standing mere inches away from her, ready to strike again.
That’s it. He’s going to die.
I pull out two of my knives and rush at him, roaring out loud as I throw out my first strike. He dodges and steps sideways, while laughing like a maniac. “You think you can kill me?”
He pulls out his own knife and stabs me in the shoulder, so I return the favor and stab him in the thigh, crippling him even more.
“I already stole your fucking fingers, I can cut off any piece of your body and leave you hanging by a thread!” I retort, before striking again, thrusting my knife straight into his pelvis.
He howls in pain and steps back, while Stella slowly crawls off the floor and steadies herself, as if she’s still woozy from some type of drug.
Did he slip her something?
That fucking bastard is going to pay for what he did to her.
Stella grabs the gun off the floor and points it at the back of Lucio’s head. “Don’t. Move.”
“You don’t have the courage to do it,” Lucio grits, frozen in place.
“Do not speak about my wife,” I warn him. “You have no idea what she is capable of.”
“Oh, is that so?” He laughs.
Behind us, my men are fighting Lucio’s men with everything they have, blasting through doors, tearing his house open to drag them out of their hiding places and kill them on sight. This is not going to end well for him, and he knows it. He’s just dragging things out for as long as possible.