“What’s wrong?”
“I just don’t know if that’s possible. It’s a beautiful dream but… can it be real?”
I hold her tighter, not able to give her an answer since I’m not sure myself. “We can stay here all day.”
“But then what? Someone will find us eventually. I know it. You know it. We can’t hide forever. Nico already found you once. Maybe you should return me to Enzo. You can take me to my house and then quickly leave before Enzo can find you. I can then explain everything to my brother. It’s the best option. It’s our only option.”
“But what happens when he forces you to marry Nico?”
“If I tell Enzo that I don’t want to marry Nico, he won’t make me. I know it. My brother loves me. If I tell him how bad Nico is, he’ll believe it.”
“Are you sure? Your brother is a mafia man and I’ve known lot of mafia men. They tend to be stubborn.”
“Enzo is stubborn,” she admits. “But… if I can just talk to him, I can make him see reason. I know it. You have to trust me to handle this, Will. It’s the only way we can get a chance to be together. If we run away, we’ll always be hunted. But this way, we can have a chance. I know it’s hard for you to trust. But you have to trust me.”
I gaze into her eyes for a long moment, thinking of my past. How I had to fight to survive. How I couldn’t rely on anyone but myself.
And yet, here’s this innocent woman, without any fighting experience, willing to put herself in the line of fire to save me. To give us a chance to be together.
Fuck. I think I’m falling in love with her. That thought hits me hard. I’ve never let myself fully love another person. It’s too messy and complicated. But with Gianna, it’s what I’m feeling. It’s what I need.
And I need to trust her.
“Ok,” I finally answer. “I’ll take you back to your brother. And I’m trusting you to help me.”
“I haven’t been lying to you. I care for you, Will. This isn’t some ploy to get you to let me go. I’ll make my brother see reason. I promise. I’ll do everything in my power.”
“Ok then. Let’s do it.” It makes a heavy weight settle over the room. This changes everything. Once I let Gianna go, there’s no going back.
We share another kiss.
And it’s at that very moment the door bursts open and in storms Nico. He runs into the room too fast for me to reach for my gun. He pulls Gianna away from me and yanks her out of the bed by the hair. She cries out as she lands on the ground.
“You fucker,” I snarl, reaching for my gun but Nico already has his out and pointed right at me.
“You defiled her,” he snarls back. “You took what was mine.”
“She wasn’t yours. Let her go.”
“I am taking my fiancé back with me. And you’re not going to follow.” That’s when he fires off his gun. I roll out of bed and fall onto the floor before I can get hit.
“Nico!” Gianna screams. “Don’t! Just take me back to my brother. Let’s go.”
“This fucker needs to die for kidnapping you. For raping you.”
“Just take me back to my brother,” she sobs. “I just want to go home. I don’t want any death on your hands. Please.”
Nico hesitates, looking between me and Gianna, before he nods. “Fine. Put your clothes on. I can’t stand the sight of you naked knowing that fucker put his hands on you.”
With shaky hands, Gianna gets dressed. Her eyes lock with mine as I remain on the floor. She gives me a small nod before she turns to Nico.
“Take me back to my brother.”
Nico shoves her out of the motel room but instead of following her, he turns back to me and fires. The bullet lands in my arm as I scramble away. I reach for my gun and fire at him but Nico runs out of the room. I run after them but Nico gets Gianna into his car before I can stop him. My arm is bleeding like fucking crazy and that’s when a wooziness hits me and I stumble to the ground.
I watch in horror as Gianna is taken away from me.
Chapter Seventeen