Page 125 of His Tesoro

We could shoot at them. There was no way they would allow any of us to live, so we might as well take as many of them down with us.

But then, what would happen to Sofiya? I wasn’t convinced Rustik would kill his daughter, but I wasn’t willing to take that risk, especially knowing he had no reservations when it came to hurting her. Or selling her off to be married.

Motherfucker.

Another piece of the puzzle fell into place. He was going to marry her to Arben.

“How do I know you actually have Sofiya?” I needed to buy us time.

Domenico shrugged. “That’s just a risk you’ll have to?—”

A gunshot rang out from across the room. Blood trickled from Domenico’s mouth before he fell forward.

Mayhem broke out. “Open-fire!” I screamed. My men fired on the line of Bratva and Albanian soldiers, who continued to be struck from behind by some unknown shooter. Bullets pinged past me as I crouched down and shot at the swiftly falling men. The concrete floor and walls kicked up dust, and then the lights went off, drenching us in darkness as shouts and bullets filled the air.

And then an eerie silence fell. The flashlight on my phone highlighted Domenico’s body, surrounded by dead soldiers. I turned the light on my men, who looked mostly unharmed thanks to whoever had shot at the enemy soldiers from behind. The shooter must still be in this room, but it was impossible to spot him with stacks of crates creating a perfect hiding place.

“Francesco’s been shot,” Romeo said. “Seems like a flesh wound, but Ajello is going to bring him back to the car to check on him.”

“Good.” I addressed the rest of the men. “Spread out across the warehouse and find Sofiya.”

I turned to Romeo and lowered my voice. “I’m going to see if there’s another door this way.” I jerked my head at the other side of the large warehouse space.

Romeo lifted his chin and the rest of my men spread out to check the rest of the rooms in the building.

I felt along the wall for a light switch but couldn’t find it.

I made my way through the room, my eyes skimming across the walls and moving around the pallets, my gun raised in my arms in case I ran into the shooter. Whoever they were, they didn’t seem to be my enemy, but I didn’t trust anyone who hid in the shadows.

A loud scraping noise and shouts sounded from outside. My heart pounded faster as I made my way along the wall to the other side of the room, feeling for a door. My fingers hit a bump, and I realized it was a light switch.

I flipped it. My eyes raked across the room, and then I saw her.

Sofiya. My love.

Her eyes were wild and she was crawling towards a door not far from where I stood.

Relief like I’d never experienced before stole my breath away.

She was here.

She was alive.

I called out her name and ran toward her. She turned, the expression on her face was one of confusion and relief. Her lips moved, forming my name.

Then an explosion hit the side of the room and I was thrown back.

67

MATTEO

Astrangled sound left me as the breath was knocked from my lungs and something hard landed on my legs. I blinked through the dust filling the room and saw a large chunk of concrete from the blown-apart wall pinning me to the ground. I could wiggle my toes so I didn’t think anything was broken, but I couldn’t move from underneath it.

I turned my head, desperate to catch a glimpse of Sofiya. I shuddered in relief when I saw her about ten feet away, covered in dust but seemingly unharmed.

“Sofiya, love, are you alright?”

She coughed and wiped her face with her sleeve. “I’m okay. Are you?”

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