Page 106 of The Devil's Fire

“Then take him.” I coughed out. Surprise showed in her eyes as she looked at me, and her grip on me loosened ever so slightly. That’s when I grabbed her head and smashed her face right into my knee.

Sofia screamed as blood poured out of her nose, stumbling away from me and falling to the floor. I sprinted to the door, ignoring the pain shooting up my foot as I panted, desperately wanting to get away from her.

Swinging the door open, I glanced back to make sure she was still on the floor. The sight had my heart almost stopped beating when she aimed a gun at me with her trembling hands.

I let out a piercing scream as I threw myself to the floor at the same time the reverberating gunshot shattered the silence. With my body trembling, I tried to crawl away from the door, each breath becoming harder to take.

“H-help…” I croaked out. My throat felt like it was on fire, making me cough every time I tried to speak. I wanted to get up, but the weakness in my body overpowered me, leaving me on the floor.

“Althaia!” I heard several hurried footsteps echoing up the stairs, and a wave of relief washed over me as tears threatened to spill.

I flinched when suddenly a pair of arms grabbed me and pulled me up. Looking up, I realized it was Damiano who had pulled me close and held me tightly.

But he wasn’t looking at me.

I followed his gaze and saw Sofia standing at the end of the hallway, her hands shaking as she aimed the gun at me. Her nose was still bleeding, but she paid no attention to it, her gaze fixed firmly on me.

“Sofia.” Damiano’s sneer twisted his face into a menacing expression as he pulled me protectively behind him.

“Move, Damiano. I don’t want to hurt you.” Her breathing was loud and harsh, her trembling hands struggled to take aim at me.

“Put the gun down. You don’t want to do this.” Damiano talked to her calmly. Her eyes darted behind us, and I instinctively turned to follow her line of sight. Antonio, Luca, and Lorenzo were observing her intently, their hands resting on their guns. Arianna and Cara were by the stairs, but out of Sofia’s view.

“Look, I don’t want to hurt anyone. I just want her!” Sofia hissed, looking back at me.

“Why?” Damiano spoke to her calmly, as if she wasn’t waving a gun at us.

“She doesn’t deserve you.”

“That’s not a good enough answer, Sofia.” Slowly, he began to close the distance between them.

“No!” In a moment of panic, I reached out and grabbed the back of his shirt, afraid of what she might do.

“Don’t fucking touch him!” Sofia screamed at the top of her lungs and shots were fired.

I froze and stopped breathing as I squeezed my eyes shut. When I didn’t feel any pain, I slowly opened them and looked down at my body.

Suddenly a blood-curdling scream pierced through the ringing in my ears and made me snap my head towards the sound. Sofia was sprawled on the floor, her hands stained with blood, as she let out piercing screams of agony.

“What…?” I breathed out, looking at Damiano, only then noticing the gun in his hand.

thirty-three

Damiano

“Take her away. I’ll deal with her later.” I told Antonio and Luca, and they dragged her away as she sobbed.

I slid my gun into the waistband behind my back, focusing on Althaia as I gently cupped her cheeks to examine her. My anger flared at the sight of her bloodshot eyes, and her neck that was red.

“Don’t talk.” I said to Althaia when she winced as she tried to speak.

“How could something like this happen?” Cara pulled her away from me to look at her. Her eyes blazed with fury as she turned to glare at me. “Do you just let everyone have a gun in this house?”

“I don’t.”

“Good to know you’re not keeping track of shit.” She spat out, and I shot her a look, taking a step towards her.

“It would be wise of you to watch your mouth, woman.” I warned her. Cara took a step back and looked away.

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