Page 65 of Twisted Fate

Leo shrugs. “Probably wasn’t me. I’m not really an explosives type of guy. I prefer things up close and personal.”

“I’ll give you up close and personal,” Nicole snarls. “On your knees. Now.”

Leo just stares at her, unmoving.

One of the gunmen moves forward and kicks Leo’s legs out from under him while another forces him to his knees.

Damian surges toward his brother. A third gunman moves between them, weapon poised. Two others grab Damian’s arms, holding him back.

“Today’s not about you,” Nicole says to Damian. “I have no good reason to kill you or her.” She tips her head toward Sabina. “So don’t give me one.”

“Damiano,” Leo says. Damian shoots him a look, then pulls free of the two men holding him.

The pain on Damian’s face reaches inside me and twists.

I would do anything to save my brother.

I have no doubt Damian feels the same. Sabina too.

“Today, you pay the price for what you did,” Nicole says to Leo.

“I didn’t kill your father.”

Nicole ignores him and gestures to one of her men to hand her his weapon.

“Stop! No, don’t do this! Please!” Sabina yells, struggling against her captor, trying to get to her brother.

“Sabina,” Leo says, his tone one of command. “You will stay calm. You will let this happen. And you and Damian will live.”

Even facing death, Leonardo Russo has an air of command, of confidence. And he puts family first. His brother. His sister.

But if he expects that little speech to calm Sabina, he is sorely mistaken. She struggles even harder, twisting and biting, a flurry of elbow jabs and stomps and kicks. Howling at the top of her lungs.

In that second, Damian tackles one of the guards, catching the man’s wrists and struggling for the gun.

Everything happens in a blur.

Nicole aims at Leo.

Leo holds her gaze, his chin lifted. His jaw tense. “Do it,” he snarls.

I aim at her, feeling sick, my hand shaking. Can I shoot this woman to save a man who’d just tried to strangle me?

After what feels like forever, Nicole lets out an anguished yell and drops her arm.

Whatever stopped her, the blond gunman feels no such hesitation. He shoots just as Leo surges to his feet. His body jerks and he spins off the edge of the swim platform, falling into the waves.

The blond grabs Nicole and shoves her toward the motorboat. “We need to go!”

“Leo,” Sabina yells, struggling against the man who holds her. “Leo!”

But Leo is gone, sinking beneath the surface.

Sabina knees the gunman holding her in the groin, then stomps his foot, all while struggling and trying to elbow him in the gut. With a snarl, he punches her in the side of the head. As she falls to her knees, he hits her again with the butt of his gun and runs for the motorboat.

The blond turns and aims. At Damian.

My fear and anxiety fade. I have only one focus. In that instant, I realize that I can, in fact, shoot a person. And I do.

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