Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 65112 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 326(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65112 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 326(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
“Let her go,” I say. “There’s no reason to hurt her.”
“I’ll do whatever I want with her,” he seethes. “She’s mine.”
“She doesn’t belong to you.”
His mouth twists. “That’s where you’re wrong.”
Val’s eyes find mine over the line of his arm. I can see the fear there now, stripped raw. I can also see that she’s trying not to give him more of it than he already has.
“Adrian,” Matteo says, his voice steady, “you’re boxed in. You don’t have a car out front, you don’t have men with you, and our people are outside. This only ends one way.”
Adrian barks out another laugh. “You think I care?”
“Yes,” Matteo says. “I think if you didn’t care, she’d already be dead.”
Adrian presses the gun harder into Val’s temple. She winces. My hands tighten on my own weapon.
“I should have killed you in New York,” Adrian snarls, right into her ear.
“You didn’t have the nerve,” Val spits.
His grip jerks in her hair. “Shut up.”
“Make me.”
“Val,” I say sharply.
Her eyes cut back to me. I just need him to move the gun one inch. That’s all.
“Look at me,” I tell her.
She does. Her eyes fill. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize.”
“I’m sorry,” she says. “I’m sorry I fought you on everything. I’m sorry I left. I’m sorry, Sebastian.”
“Val, stop. None of this is your fault.”
Adrian’s face twists with something ugly and jealous and half broken. He drags her harder against him.
“Look at you,” Adrian says. “Crying for him.”
Val shakes her head as much as she can with the gun against her skin. “I’m not crying for him.”
“Then what are you doing?”
She looks at me, and for the first time since I stepped into this room, I’m truly afraid of what she’s about to say.
“I love you.”
Adrian hears it. His grip tightens, his eyes cutting to me like she just handed me something he thought was his. Val cries harder now, but she keeps looking at me.
“I should’ve said it before. But if this is the last chance I get, I need you to hear it.”
“This isn’t your last chance,” I say.
Adrian jerks the gun as if he’s going to prove me wrong. Matteo moves first.
He lunges sideways into the stack of crates by Adrian’s left shoulder, driving them down hard. Wood crashes. Bottles shatter. Adrian flinches toward the sound on pure instinct, the barrel shifting a fraction away from Val’s head.
That fraction is enough. I fire once. The bullet catches Adrian high in the temple. One clean shot. His body goes slack instantly. Val screams, a desperate, primal cry emitting from her throat.
Adrian falls backward, and she goes with him for half a second before I’m across the room, dropping my gun and catching her under the arms. She clings to me hard enough to hurt, then starts patting her own chest and stomach with wild, frantic hands.
“I’m hit,” she gasps. “Sebastian, I’m hit, I’m hit.”
“No, you’re not.” I pull her tighter against me and run my hands over her ribs, her side, her stomach, and then her back. No blood. No wound. “You’re not hit. Look at me. Val. Look at me.”
She does, but barely. Her pupils are blown wide.
“You’re okay,” I tell her. “You’re okay. I’ve got you.”
Matteo is already on Adrian, kicking the gun away, then crouching long enough to confirm what I already know.
“He’s dead,” he says.
Good.
Val makes a small, wrecked sound and buries her face against my chest. I wrap both arms around her and hold on. Her whole body shakes. Mine probably does too.
“I thought he shot me,” she says into my shirt.
“I know.”
“I thought I was dead.”
“You’re okay.”
“What if the baby’s hurt?” she asks, voice raw with panic.
“Everything’s going to be okay,” I tell her gently. “Just take a few deep breaths. It’s over. We’re getting you out of here.”
She lifts her head just enough to look at me. Dirt on her cheek, tears flowing, and that split in her lip makes something savage rise in my throat all over again.
“You rescued me,” she whispers.
I kiss her forehead instead of answering. “Of course I did.”
Matteo steps closer, voice lower now.
“We need to move. Our guys are coming in to handle the body. She doesn’t need to see that.”
He’s right. I slide one arm under Val’s knees and lift her.
29
VALENTINA
Iwake up to Sebastian saying my name. He’s close enough that I hear him through whatever thick, dark place my brain keeps dragging me back to. My whole body jerks before I can stop it. One hand flies to my stomach and the other reaches for something to shove away. Sebastian’s hand covers mine, warm and firm without holding me down.
“Valentina,” he says again. “It’s me.”
I blink hard and force myself to look around. I’m back in his bedroom, in his bed. The curtains are drawn. Somewhere nearby, a woman’s voice says my name, softer this time, and I turn my head enough to see a doctor sitting beside the bed with a Doppler in her hand and a black medical bag open at her feet.