Hook. Line. Sinker.
“What are you talking about?” she demands, inching forward.
Roman and Levi follow her movements, not saying a damn word, but they don’t need to, their intentions are clear in their dark eyes. They won’t be giving up tonight. Gia is nothing but a small hurdle that stands in the way of what they really want, and they won’t hesitate to take her out and start a war if it will get them one step closer to victory.
“Oh, didn’t you hear?” I taunt, knowing just how much my bullshit is grating on her nerves, and honestly, with this little red dot hovering over my chest, it’s not the smartest idea, but she needs answers, and until she gets them, the red dot is nothing but an empty threat. “You must be so proud. Your baby girl finally got hitched. I’m a DeAngelis now.”
Gia’s face drops, her eyes going wide as she gapes at the boys at my side. She storms forward, her men following her without question. She puts herself directly in front of me, jabbing her fingers right into my chest. “I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, but I’ll see to it that marriage does not stand, even if I have to slit their throats myself.”
A full-on belly laugh tears through me as I shove a hand into her shoulder and push her back a step. “That’s cute you think one of these assholes is my husband. I mean, I wish. Could you imagine just how possessive they’d be if they got to legally call me theirs? But think again, Mother dearest. You were right; running from you did come with its consequences because now there’s a ring on Giovanni’s finger with my name on it.”
Her face falls again and she stumbles back a few steps, her eyes wide, quickly calculating her every move and what this could mean for her empire. But I just grin. “That’s right, Giovanni DeAngelis has just opened a back door right into the heart of your empire, and there’s not a goddamn thing you can do about it.”
Panic tears through her gaze, wild and unpredictable, and in a flash, she tears her gun from the holster strapped to her thigh. My eyes go wide as time seems to slow.
A million things happen at once.
She raises the gun and aims directly between my eyes, just as Roman’s hand curls around my arm, yanking me hard. Marcus pulls the trigger just as Zeke shoves Gia out of the way, but not before she fires her own weapon, sending a bullet hurtling toward us. Levi throws himself forward, catching the bullet in his shoulder just as Zeke drops to the ground, the bullets meant for Gia now plunging through his chest.
A tortured scream tears from my chest as Gia looks at Zeke, horror in her eyes for only a moment before she disregards him and scrambles to her feet.
Roman throws himself protectively in front of me and Levi, standing fearlessly before those he loves. “MAKE SURE HE’S ALIVE,” Roman yells back at me, his gun stretched out in front of him, prepared and ready to take as many shots as he can, if that’s what it comes down to, but there’s too many of them. If Gia decides to turn this into a fucking war, we would crumble.
Dropping to my knees, I scurry to Levi’s side. Blood coats the ground as fear rockets through me. “LEVI?” I cry, slamming my hand over the bullet wound and trying to stop the bleeding. “Please be okay. Please be okay.”
He grunts, the pain tearing through me. “FUCK,” he roars, spitting the word through a clenched jaw. “I’M FINE. I’M OKAY.”
“There’s too many of them,” Roman calls back at us as Gia holds up a hand, a silent signal for her army to start descending on us. “LEVI,” Roman calls, desperate for some kind of backup other than Marcus hidden up on the roof.
Levi scrambles to his feet, and as I race in between them, their big shoulders force me back. Blood soaks the back of Levi’s shirt, and I know he’s not going to be able to deal with this for long, especially after the shit he’s still healing from.
Gia’s army stands at her back, two men gripping onto Zeke's arms and dragging him back into the crowd as she looks back at us in a pure rage. “Hand her over,” Gia commands, momentarily forgetting who the fuck she’s speaking to.
Roman scoffs. “Come and get her.”
Well fuck.
And that asshole was warning me against provoking her. He’s just given her an open invitation to attack.
Bracing myself, I prepare for what’s bound to be the fight of my life when Gia slowly begins looking between me and the boys. Curiosity dances in her eyes and my back stiffens, realizing the games are far from finished. She’s had her moment of panic and an added bonus tantrum, but now the fierce leader of the Moretti family is back, and she can see the world clearly once again.
“I’ll make you a deal,” she says, her eyes on me, but her words aimed at the two men standing before me. “One of the famous DeAngelis brothers comes with me, and I will spare her life … for now.”
I scoff under my breath. “She’s fucking insane.”
There’s no way in hell.
I look through the boys’ shoulders, preparing to tell her to go and fuck a donkey when Roman’s shoulders sag and Levi turns to me. My brows furrow, looking up at him as he steps into me, taking my face in his big hands and pressing his lips to mine. “I love you,” he says, meeting my eyes with a loyal fierceness that kills me inside.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I demand, looking at him as though he’s lost his mind. “Don’t you dare walk away from me. She’s playing us. She’s only doing this to lure me out.”
Levi smiles, pulling me into his chest and holding me tight. “I know, Shayne. I fucking know, which is why you can’t come for me.”
I search his eyes, desperation filling my veins like lead, weighing me down. He pulls back, and before I know it, Roman’s arms are around my waist, gripping me tight … too tight. Levi steps away and I shake my head, my eyes filling with tears. “No,” I yell at him. “NO. LEVI.”
“I’m sorry, Shayne. I fucking love you with everything that I am and if sacrificing myself to the likes of Gia Moretti is what it takes for you and my brothers to walk free tonight, then that’s what I’m going to do. Do you understand me? I love you, Shayne. Don’t do anything stupid.”
I pull against Roman’s hold, but his grip tightens, and he begins dragging me back toward the steps. “LET ME GO,” I scream, clawing at his arm as Levi watches me, his heart on his sleeve.