He snorted. “What things?”
“Everything.”
His dark brows slanted inward as he frowned. “Oh my God. You fucked her, didn’t you?”
I couldn’t answer him. Vico was a loose cannon right now, and I had to tread lightly if I wanted to keep him from blowing.
“Listen to me, Vico. I think Mother is lying to us. She’s been acting strange, and Uncle Gino—”
“Uncle Gino?” He narrowed his black eyes. “Tell me you’re not fooled by that old man. He’s been out to ruin our mother for God knows how long. You know how he tried to turn Dad against her.”
“Did he? Or was he simply seeing something none of us could?”
“Oh my God. She’s really done a number on you, hasn’t she?” He peered over my shoulder at her, and I shifted, trying to block his view. By now, my body was against hers, and I could feel how she trembled. Fuck, I really needed to get her the fuck out of here.
“Vico, calm down.” I held my hand out in front of me and slowly started to step to the side, my other hand guiding Tatum to follow. “I need to get Tatum out of here.”
“What?” He straightened and balled his fists. “You’re kidding, right?”
Another few steps, and the door came closer and closer. “I’m serious.”
“Fuck!” His voice boomed through the room, and I felt Tatum jerk behind me. “Nicollo was right. You don’t have the fucking balls to lead this family. No wonder Dad spent all his time training Carlo and ignoring you. He saw it too, the coward you really are.”
His words were like a punch to the gut, but my need to get Tatum to safety overshadowed my need to retaliate. Every instinct I ever had came together in one giant need to protect what was mine—and Tatum Linscott was mine, whether she wanted to be or not.
Vico stepped closer, spite and malice emanating from him like deadly threats. “I’m sorry, brother, but I can’t let you take her anywhere.”
“Vico, I don’t want to hurt you.”
But my little brother had already made up his mind. He launched at me, and I yelled over my shoulder, “Tatum, run!”
With a hard shove, I pushed her out the door and ducked just in time as Vico’s fist came flying toward my face. With a punch to Vico’s gut, I jerked up straight and flung my other fist toward his face, my knuckles connecting against his cheekbone. Bone cracked, and grunts and roars of anger echoed.
Vico spun from the force and collapsed on the ground. For a second, I wanted to kick him while he was down. I wanted to beat him to a fucking pulp for threatening Tatum, for whipping her, and for every ounce of hate he had directed at her. But Tatum was out there running through a house she didn’t know, guaranteed to find a threat around every damn corner. I had to go find her.
I rushed out the door and down the hall. There was only one place in this house she knew how to get to—my bedroom. So I rushed in the direction of my room, praying she didn’t chance it by running anywhere else. My heart raced at a million miles a second, and my feet couldn’t carry me fast enough. If anyone found her—especially my mother—she’d be dead before I even had a chance at saving her.
I sprinted up the stairs, and the second I rounded the corner, I found her running toward my bedroom door—flailing against the wall was more like it.
“Tatum!”
She froze and turned. “Castello.”
Immediately, she started running in my direction, and like a scene out of a goddamn romance movie, she wrapped her arms tight around my neck while I enclosed her within mine. I could feel her heart beating wildly, the pulse resonating against my chest. Her warm breath crossed the skin of my neck, and the only thought running through my mind wasI need to keep this woman.
“Tatum, we need to get you inside my room.” With one arm still around her waist, we both ran toward the door. The second we went in, I locked the door and bolted it shut with the extra security lever I knew would come in handy someday.
With a heavy sigh, I leaned against the door, trying to get my racing heart under control.
Motherfucker!
I basically just signed our death warrants. Tatum and I were both as good as dead. Everything spiraled out of control within minutes. One moment, one decision, one bullet, and now everything was fucked up.
“Castello?”
I closed my eyes at the sound of her sweet voice. So close. It was so fucking close, or Nicollo would have stolen everything from her. He would have taken all of her that was mine now. Her soul, her mind, her body, her fucking heartbeat. It was all mine, and that motherfucker was seconds away from taking it all.
I turned, and she was standing a few feet away from me, her eye swollen and her cheeks red with tears.