“You don’t really get a choice in the matter.”
Working up my courage, I spit Matteo in the eye. He flinches back and I use that moment to surge off the couch and run to the door but Matteo catches me within moments and throws me back onto the couch.
I freeze when he looks down at me. The memory of him trying to rape me haunts me in my bones.
“You are just a weak, pathetic woman,” he sneers. “You are nothing.”
“But I’m not. You just said so yourself. By taking me, you have the power to hurt Enzo. That means something. So I am everything.”
Matteo flashes me a charming, handsome smile that would have worked on me weeks ago but now? Now it means nothing to me.
“You are going to be mine,” he growls before lowering his body onto mine. I scream and buck and fight him off but he’s too strong.
As his hands go to my zipper, I’m reminded of the park. Of what he tried to do and what he’s going to do to me now.
My eyes land on a paperweight on the coffee table. It’s in the shape of a bike. The moment Matteo sits up to undo his own pants, I lunge for the paperweight and grab it.
Matteo yanks me towards him. Still holding onto the paperweight, I smash it against his head. He lets out a grunt and falls onto the floor. Breathing heavy, I bring the weight against his head once more, leaving a large, wet bloody welt on his forehead. Matteo groans, telling me he isn’t dead.
He doesn’t get up though, which gives me time to run to the door.
But then I stop. There are at least five guards in the hallway outside the penthouse. I can’t get past them. I just have to wait until Enzo can come save me but I can’t risk Matteo hurting me in the process. He still hasn’t gotten back up yet so I rush to the kitchen and find duct tape and rope in one of the drawers.
Hesitating, I approach Matteo. I grab his hands and tie them with the rope. He tries fighting me but he doesn’t have the strength after being bashed in the head. Then I place the duct tape over his mouth so he can’t yell for his guards to come.
I know mafia men carry guns on them. My brother and father always did and I know Enzo does too.
Matteo glares at me as I reach into his jacket pocket and pull out his gun. It’s the best weapon I can have but I was never taught to use it.
All I can do is sit on the couch, keeping the gun pointed at Matteo. I have no choice but to wait for my husband to come save me.
The husband I once hated. Now I have no one else to rely on.
Enzo
I know all the properties Matteo owns given that we were once friends. I order a lot of my men to go looking at each and every one of them. I will find Kira before it’s too late.
I never knew I could care this much for another person. Didn’t know I had it in me. But with Kira, she lights something up inside of my body. My soul. I feel challenged but excited. I made the right decision in marrying her.
Now I have to get her back.
I end up outside of the large apartment building that I know Matteo owns the penthouse of. Because of me and the money I gave him. Well, I’m not going to let that fucker earn any more money from me. He has to die, even if it causes problems with my men.
When I called them to tell them that Matteo kidnapped my wife, most of them seemed to be on my side. Marco didn’t believe me at first but he eventually came around. It’s not the Bratva we need to fear. It’s our own people. The betrayal cuts deep.
I don’t have the key to get up to the penthouse but I can charm the security guard in the lobby into giving me one.
“I’m Enzo Bianchi,” I say to the security guard that has no clue who lives in the very apartment building he has to protect. “My friend, Matteo Rossi, lives in the penthouse. Give him a call and tell him I’m here.”
The security guard picks up the phone and tells Matteo that I’m here to see him. After a moment, he nods and hangs up. “You can go on up.”
“Thank you.” The security guard is lucky that Matteo agreed otherwise, he’d be passed out cold since nothing is going to keep me from Kira.
When the elevator reaches the top floor, I’m confronted with the sight of five guards in the hallway leading to the penthouse. Fucking great.
Before they even realize what’s happening, I lift my gun and kill three of them in an instant. Thank god for silencers.
The other two shoot at me but I dive back into the elevator. The gunshots stop. I wait for them to make the next move because I know they’re waiting for me to expose myself and I’m not stupid enough to do that.