Page 60 of Ruthless Passion

"HEY!" Josephine shouts over Vito's disgusting words. "My kid is here. This is traumatic enough. I don't need you putting garbage in his head. As a matter of fact, I need a trailer. Jett can wait in the trailer and I'll do whatever you want for the scene."

"Don't do anything for these shits, Mom!" Jett shouts. Duke jerks him back again. "Let me go, Duke the Puke."

"That's a great name, kid." Vito grins. "Why don't you leave the kid, Duke? Since the best friend is too high to work, it will be just as devastating to Luca to watch his budding starlet and love of his life, get railed by her ex."

"LANGUAGE, SHITHEADS!" Jo shouts angrily. She points a finger at Duke. "If you come anywhere near me, I promise you'll regret it."

"I like promises," Duke's gaze goes sinister as I pull out my phone to text Sonny it's time to break this shit up. Duke's laugh is obnoxious as he moves closer to Jo. "You know why I like promises, because they can be broken as easily as you."

"Enough of the foreplay. Duke strip. Matteo! Put the kid in the office or something." Vito commands and a guy with a wound from when Sonny pelted him with an ashtray moves closer to Jett. He simply nods his head for Jett to walk and I duck out of sight, waiting for the right moment.

I can see the fear building in Jo's eyes, her courage fading because seeing Jett was her shield. Without him on set, her time to stall is running out. I have to move quickly.

Jett spots me, but I hold a finger up to my lips to keep him quiet, sneaking up behind the guy to take him out as easily as I did the first. This time I have help. A Marzano soldier moves in quietly with his weapon drawn and six others behind him. They spread out to surround the set as I grab Jett away from the Matteo guy.

"Hey, you okay?" I ask him, moving his hair out of his face, a face puffy from the tears he’s shed. His head moves up and down quickly as he wraps his arms around my neck. "You're so brave, Jett. I need you to be brave one more time, okay?"

I pull out my phone to show him a picture of Sonny. "You remember this guy, right?"

"He works with you at the studio."

"Yeah, that's my brother, Sonny. I'm going to take you to the door and he should be right there. You run right to him and no one else, capiche?"

Jett does as he's told as soon as I open the side entrance. The only problem is opening the door lets a flash of sunlight into the darkly lit back room long after the film crew's done moving their equipment inside.

Chaos erupts as Vito shouts. "That bastard's here. Everyone spread out and if that bitch moves, put her down."

That's the last thing Vito should have shouted. Bullets ring out from Marzano soldiers, taking out Vito's people as everyone scatters. Jo dives over Monique and drags her to the ground. I see Duke's beady eyes scouring the area until I spot what he's looking for. He picks up a gun and points it at Jo and Monique. Jo never sees him as she's trying to get Monique to her feet for them to escape.

I dip low and rush Duke like a football player, knocking the wind out of him as he lets off a bullet which flies into the ceiling. I get on top of him, unleashing my fists the same way I did on Vito the night before. This time, there's no one to stop me.

No one except the sweet sound of Josephine's voice luring me out of the violent abyss of my anger.

"Luca, don't kill him, not here. We have to get Monique to a hospital. Where's Jett?"

"With Sonny, outside," I tell her, moving off Duke's bloody body.

"Another fire tonight?" she asks with a smirk, pinching my shirt as I move to scoop Monique into my arms.

Her body is limp, but she's breathing. I force her eyes open and check her skin. She's sweaty, and her pulse is racing.

"I'm freezing, guys, turn the AC down," Monique mumbles as she swats at my hands.

"You stupid cunt! FUCK YOU!" Duke rages from behind us. "You don't get a happy ending. You ruined my fucking life! You don't get a happy ending! Not with me and damn sure not without me."

Duke runs toward us at full speed. The sound of gunfire beside me makes me flinch. The smoke billowing from the barrel of the Glock in Jo's hand is as shocking to me as it is to her. I let Monique rest on the bed as I move toward Jo, easing the gun out of her hand to wipe her prints off of it.

"Is he…?" Jo asks, a light tremble in her voice.

"Dead?" I finish for her and shake my head, moving out of her line of sight.

Duke's rolling back and forth, gripping his leg as blood pours from a bullet hole in his knee. Jo lets out a sigh of relief.

"You're a shit shot." I laugh. "But we have plenty of time to practice."

The cavalry arrives as we head outside where Marzano soldiers make themselves scarce just in time for the police to show up with Agent Shaw. Paramedics take the wounded while we give statements to Agent Shaw.

Josephine does most of the talking. Her improv skills are phenomenal. "Vito Dacosta was working with my ex, Duke, to blackmail me into doing a porn film. Duke hated me for having his kid and then for moving on without him. Duke told me that with Vito in his corner, Vito and Luca would kill each other and he hoped I'd become a victim in the process of them sorting out their production studio differences."

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