Total pages in book: 52
Estimated words: 48585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 243(@200wpm)___ 194(@250wpm)___ 162(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 243(@200wpm)___ 194(@250wpm)___ 162(@300wpm)
“Valentina isn’t leaving this place with anyone other than us,” Vincent growls at him in a low voice as the sounds of the auction for Valentina begin all around us.
“I assure you she is,” Angelo sneers. “But don’t worry. I haven’t forgotten about the special debt that I intend to claim from you specifically. Your precious Isla will be on this same stage soon enough.”
What happens next happens faster than I can react to it. Within a second, and with a smooth, silent movement that no one even notices until it’s too late, Vincent pulls his gun and shoots Angelo Barone dead between the eyes.
The sound of the shot echoes above the noise of the auction, and the spray of blood and bits of Angelo’s flesh erupts in a gruesome confetti onto all the guests directly around us. Instantly, everyone scatters as screaming breaks out and Angelo’s lifeless body falls to the ground with a dull thud.
For a frozen second, I can see the look of sheer satisfaction and fulfilled vindication on Vincent’s face. Immediately after, the two of us rush toward the stage to grab Valentina and get the hell out of here.
The Barone crew and Leonardo’s guards, hidden in the crowd, fire on us as we dodge their bullets. Vincent fires back at them, taking a few out with his impeccable aim, but I remain keenly focused on one thing—getting to the stage and reaching Valentina before she gets hurt. I am almost there, with one foot on the step up to the stage, when one of Leonardo’s men barrels into my side, knocking me off-balance and taking me down.
I fire my gun into his chest, instantly killing him, before shoving his body away from me. But it’s too late.
As soon as I get to my feet again and lunge toward the stage, I see Leonardo grab the end of Valentina’s leash and jerk it so hard that she falls to her knees. He reaches down to grab her, throwing her over his shoulder before taking off toward the back of the stage, where I assume there’s another way out of the room. I follow in close pursuit, racing through dark hallways and pushing the Conti staff out of my way as I run after them. But even as fast as I make my way through the estate, I don’t catch them in time before spilling out into the back of the yard and see Leonardo speed off with Valentina in his car.
“Damn it!” I shout into the night just as Vincent arrives at my side. “Fuck! He got away with her.”
“Come on,” Vincent says as he pulls me toward the trees. “We need to get out of here before we’re overrun. We’ll find her, Luc, I promise.”
I run alongside Vincent until we make it back to his car, with a horde of men in hot pursuit of us as we speed away from the Conti estate.
This mission failed, and now, instead of being auctioned off, Valentina is alone with Leonardo Conti, and I fear that might be even worse.
CHAPTER 18
VALENTINA
For a single moment, I saw a glimpse of my freedom again. I saw the fierce determination in Luc’s eyes as he rushed to the stage of the auction in order to save me. But then, just as quickly as he had appeared, that glimpse of freedom was gone again.
Now, I'm in a car being driven by a madman as he heads out to the surrounding desert outside of the city.
Leonardo curses and mumbles under his breath in a feverish fit of rage. He’s driving erratically, kicking up dust around the outside of the car as the wheels spin. All the while, he rambles on about how Luciano is always ruining his plans and impeding things for him. He isn’t yet ranting at me. So, I stare out the window, looking at my reflection in the side view mirror and at the collar still affixed to my neck as if I’m a dog.
I block out the sound of his voice and the words spewing out of his mouth because all I can think about is how much I’ve lost—the child inside of me, the love of my life, my freedom. There truly isn’t much more for me to be afraid of because there isn’t much more that Leonardo can steal from me. He’s already taken my pride, my choice, and my autonomy. And it almost amuses me to see how upset he is that he hasn’t been able to do so without at least some pushback that has vexed him.
When the car stops, I force myself back into the present moment and look around. We are in the middle of the desert, with nothing around within sight except for sand, a winding dirt road, and a few scrubby-looking desert plants that look as dry as Leonardo’s patience.