Page 208 of Forced Vows

But it kind of feels like love.

Water splashes my legs and I look down, expecting to see Fitz or one of my cousins.

It's not them. Arms covered in black neoprene rise out of the water, reaching for me. I scream and kick out with one foot, aiming at the black apparition's head.

I make contact and his head goes back, but hands like manacles lock around my ankles. A bullet hits the dock, sending splinters flying.

I hear a rage filled roar as I'm yanked under the water.

Shutting my mouth, I expel air through my nose as I thrash, trying to get away from the man…no, men…attacking me.

One of them grabs my feet and then something hard and thin tightens around my ankles. I keep fighting, but the water makes it hard and it's three against one.

Assholes!

They get zip cuffs over my hands, scraping my knuckles in the process and then yank them tight. Now, I'm squirming like an eel. My chest hurts with the need to suck in air.

But there is no air. It's water.

Then an opaque diver's mask is shoved over my face, turning everything around me black. A mouthpiece jams into my mouth and unable to stop myself, I suck in.

But it's oxygen, not water that fills my mouth and lungs.

The next few minutes are a blur of water rushing by much faster than any human could swim. Are we being towed by a boat?

Chapter 73: MICELI

Later, I will realize this all happened in a few seconds, but in the present, everything happens in excruciating slow motion.

Men in black diving gear have my woman. She's fighting, but there are three fucking assailants in the water that is supposed to be safe.

A gunshot rings out and the dock near Róise explodes.

"Hold fire," I shout as loud as I can.

Some idiot is going to kill my fiancée in his attempt to rescue her. If that happens, I will cut off his hands and feed him to the sharks.

Terror I have never felt before runs through my veins like corrosive acid.

My men converge on the water.

Too late.

I know, it's too late.

But I don't order them not to dive. I'm almost there.

Allessio pops up to the surface and shakes his head. An enraged shout erupts from my throat, but I force myself not to dive into the bay.

I know what he's going to say before he says it.

"They had DPV's boss," Allessio shouts from the water. "No way to catch them."

"She's got an oxygen tank," the other man who went into the water shouts.

Like that's supposed to make me feel better.

The two soldiers who were furthest away, patrolling the north and south perimeters, reach me.

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