The door flies open.
Lorenzo
As I break apart from Lydia, I see my sister standing in the doorway. She takes in the kiss, the packed suitcase, and the shock on Lydia’s face and her expression darkens.
“This is not happening,” she hisses. “I warned you, Lorenzo. I said you’re going to ruin everything for us. But you couldn’t leave it alone, could you? You couldn’t just let her go.”
“I don’t want to let her go,” I growl. “She’s mine. And you’ll be pleased to know that this won’t be your problem anymore. I’m leaving and I’m taking Lydia somewhere safe. The family business is yours.”
“No,” Bianca snaps. “You’re not leaving.”
“I thought you’d be pleased,” I retort. “Isn’t this what you wanted? To get rid of me? To take over our empire.”
Bianca looks so shocked that I actually believe that her reaction must be genuine. She shakes her head at me in disbelief.
“No. That’s now what I wanted. I wanted you to stay and get back on top. I wanted things to go back to the way they’ve always been! We’ve never needed anyone else before, Lorenzo. Everything was fine until you brought her into the equation!”
Realization sinks in. I’m not the only one who has been alone all this time. Bianca hasn’t been in a relationship since we were much younger. How could I overlook the fact that by choosing to be with Lydia that leaves her more alone than ever?
“Bianca, I’m sorry if I’ve hurt you. But I have to get out of here. I have to choose my own path now. You’ll be great here,” I say. Bianca shakes her head, glaring at Lydia.
“No. I told you, you’re not going. She is free to leave whenever she wishes. The sooner the better, actually.”
“Bianca, please,” Lydia pleads gently. “We’re going to be family, please don’t make this harder.”
Bianca stares at us both in horror. “What the hell did you do, Lorenzo? Do you get her pregnant? I knew you’d lost some of your sense, but have you gone completely mad?”
“I want her pregnant,” I growl. “I want a family with her. I’m not willing to wait any longer for what I want. I’m going and you can’t stop me.”
“Like hell you are! You need to stay and fix the mess you made with the Moretti family. Maybe if you can get through that alive I’ll let you go. But just know you’ve betrayed this family, Lorenzo. You’ve ruined everything.”
“There’s nothing to ruin when we’re both miserable here alone,” I snarl. “Why don’t you just accept that you want what I have? You can have it too, Bianca. Stop making this harder than it needs to be.”
“You’re not leaving!” she shouts. But suddenly, there’s a crashing noise downstairs and we both fall silent, cutting off our argument. Lydia looks terrified. Bianca takes two guns from the deep pockets of her coat and nods at me to follow her. I don’t want to fire a gun. I’ve never shot another person, but now that Lydia is here I have to protect her. I turn to her.
“Stay here, out of sight. I have to see what’s going on.”
She looks scared, but she nods. I kiss her as I leave the room, taking the other gun from Bianca and making my way through the house. I know that it must be the Moretti family coming to take their revenge. They’re the only family that we have a quarrel with. I grip my gun and silently vow that I’ll shoot them if I have to. Things are different now. These men are here because one of them wants my Lydia. They’re embarrassed by the way I took them down so easily. I won’t show so much mercy this time. Now that Lydia is mine, I have to make sure I do anything to protect her...even if it means killing.
The house is eerily quiet as we creep through. Bianca is better prepared for this moment than I am. She’s killed before. Her moral code isn’t as tight as my own.
“We have to split up and find them,” she says. Then she darts away before I can protest, making her way toward the other end of the house. I’m forced to head down the stairs alone, my heart racing in my chest.
I find the rest of my staff hiding in the dining room and lock the door to keep them safe. I see a shadow in the kitchen, but there’s no one there. Somehow, these people have managed to slip away from me.
I hear a scream upstairs and my heart stops. I curse myself for being so lax in my security if they were able to make it into my home. As I run to the base of the staircase, I collide with Bianca, but it’s what I see at the top of the stairs that really scares me.
Luca has Lydia clutched in one arm and his gun pressed to her head. She’s crying silently, pleading me with her eyes to help her. But one wrong move now and she’ll be dead. I have to play this right. As much as she’s scared, I know he doesn’t want to hurt her. He wants to hurt me.
“You played with fire when you crossed me, Lorenzo,” he hisses. “Meet me in the garden in ten minutes...alone. Or I’ll kill your pretty little maid.”
I know he’s all talk, and yet I can’t risk the possibility that he’s not. I can’t risk any possibility of him killing Lydia. So I know even as he disappears toward the other staircase that I’ll be in the garden. I won’t let Bianca come with me. I’ll be unarmed.
I’ll even let him kill me if it saves Lydia’s life.
CHAPTER NINE
Lydia
I’m shaking with fear as I’m dragged outside by Luca. His grip around me is so strong that I
