“And she’s not yours either. Gianna wants to live her life for herself. She doesn’t want to be forced to live a life anyone forces on her. Now, I won’t shoot you as long as you let Gianna go.”
Nico grabs Gianna, putting her in front of him. “You can’t shoot me now. Not unless you want to shoot her.”
I hesitate. He’s not wrong. If I were to try and shoot Nico, Gianna could be hurt and I can’t risk that. I fucked up when I kidnapped her. An innocent person who didn’t deserve it – all for money. But I don’t want to be that anymore. I will do whatever it takes to save her life.
“Drop the gun,” a woman says behind me. Francesca. Shit. I forgot all about her. Glancing over my shoulder, I see that she has a tiny gun in her hands and it’s pointed right at me.
“Francesca, no,” Gianna cries out, rushing forward but Nico grabs her and pulls her flush against him. “Don’t shoot him!”
“He kidnapped you,” Francesca says it like it’s obvious. “He needs to die.”
“You’ve never killed anyone. Don’t kill him. I don’t want him to die! Please!” The pure agony in Gianna’s voice sends a shiver down my spine. She truly cares for me. I’ve never felt the warmth that spreads over my body at that thought before.
Francesca hesitates and that’s when I spin around and grab her wrist, making her drop the gun. She scrambles for it but I grab it first and aim it at her.
“Don’t even try,” I say. “You controlled Gianna’s life so much that she resorted to throwing up every day. You should be ashamed of yourself.”
Francesca blanches. “What are you talking about?”
“Will!” Gianna cries out before I can say more to Francesca. Turning back around, I see that Nico has pushed Gianna to the side and has his gun back in his hand. He fires.
The bullet hits me in the shoulder, knocking me back. It’s not a life-threatening blow but it still fucking hurts. Before Nico can shoot again, I aim at him and my bullet goes straight through his thigh. His scream echoes through the church as he drops to the ground.
Gianna kicks his gun out of his hand before she runs to my side. “Will.” She wraps her arms around me and after a beat, I do the same. “I wasn’t sure if you were dead or not.”
“I’m alive. But we have to get out of here. Now.” I wince when I move my shoulder. “We have to go.”
“You’re not taking my niece away from me again!” Francesca screams.
“You are not going to force me to marry Nico,” Gianna announces. “I am going away with Will. It’s the only way I’ll ever have some happiness in my life.” She grabs my hand. “Come on.” We’re almost at the end of the aisle when Francesca speaks.
“Is it true?”
Gianna looks back at her. Nico is on the ground, clasping his bleeding thigh. Francesca gives her niece a painful look.
“What?” Gianna asks.
“We have to go,” I murmur to her but Gianna holds up a hand.
Francesca takes a step forward. “Were you making yourself throw up? Why? That hitman said it was because of me. But surely not. I never hurt you. I only ever protected you.”
For a moment, Gianna’s shoulders cave in and she ducks her chin. Years of baggage her aunt gave to her. But then she sighsand stands up taller, pushing her shoulders back. “You did hurt me. You were the reason I would make myself throw up. You controlled every inch of my life and I was tired of it. Which is why I am not going to marry Nico.”
Francesca looks like she’s been shot herself.
Gianna turns her back on her aunt and walks out of the church. I follow behind, gripping my bleeding shoulder.
“You’re hurt,” Gianna gasps like she just remembered.
“I’ll be fine. We have to get you away from her. Before Nico tries to marry you again.”
We get into my car but I can’t even grip the steering wheel from how hurt my shoulder is. “Can you drive?”
“No,” she admits. “I wasn’t taught. Francesca didn’t think it was proper for a woman to drive. I had a driver.”
“It’s not hard. I need you to do it. We need to get away so I can fix my shoulder.”
A determined expression crosses her face and she nods. “Of course. I’ll try.”