Page 71 of The Last Vendetta

And that was the only place where she belonged. With me.

23

GIULIA

Giulia

Iwoke to a firm grasp on my upper arm.

Again? So soon? I swore that I’d just closed my eyes, that we’d just had another hot, intense round of lovemaking. I wouldn’t protest, though. I was already addicted.

I was a goner for my enemy.

As I came to, lazy to open my eyes, I rolled into Renzo’s grip. He pulled on me, roughly, but that didn’t alarm me. I was quickly realizing how needy and impatient of a lover he was. And I enjoyed every gruff bit of affection and desire he showed me.

“Shh.”

What? Who said that? Warnings blared in my head, and as I opened my eyes, I saw a very real reason to be alarmed. Someone else had spoken. And it wasn’t Renzo.

Three burly, tall men dressed in black had trespassed into the room. As I opened my mouth to scream, to call for Renzo, one slapped his gloved hand over my mouth.

It was too thick of leather to bite through and cause this man enough pain to release me, but I tried. My screams were muffled. All the curses and shouts I flung at them faded to mumbled noises that wouldn’t alert anyone.

A frantic glance to my left showed that I was alone on this huge, messy bed. But then I wasn’t even in it myself any longer.

One man hauled me up by grabbing my arms. A third handled my legs. Together, they gagged me and tied me at the wrists in such an efficient manner that I knew they’d done this many times.

Mafia thugs. Soldiers who’d been trained to kidnap.

But who?

I fought the best I could, too damned determined to stop this fucking routine of being used and moved and controlled by men. Wriggling and bucking didn’t slow this trio down. Not at all. They were too strong. Too practiced. And too eager to follow the orders of whichever Mafia lord had instructed them to snatch me right out of Renzo’s bed.

How’d they know where to find me?

Who sent you to take me away?

Where is Renzo?

Is he okay?

Are they coming for me because we found Cecilia dying?

What is going on!

I couldn’t rationalize an answer to any of my questions. They bombarded me as adrenaline kicked in. I breathed too fast through my nose, and my sinuses burned with the rapid inhalation on top of the musty stink of the rag they’d used to secure my silence. As my heart raced with fear and anger, I lost control of any calm, any steadiness that I could bank on right now.

I couldn’t freak out. I had to stay in control of my emotions. Of my body. The more I repeated that mantra, I brought myself down from the roller coaster of panic and shock.

From sleeping in to taken away. It was mental whiplash, but I fought against the all-consuming terror that threatened to make me freeze up.

They rushed me out of the Bernardi vacation home and tossed me into the backseat of a car.

Driving was another guard, and I recognized him as one of the brutes Renzo’s Family employed.

For fuck’s sake. I glowered at the other three men. Two caged me in while I rode in the backseat, and the tallest one had taken the passenger seat up front. All four men worked for Renzo’s Family. I’d been kidnapped by Bernardi soldiers. Taken as I slept at a Bernardi residence.

My anger shifted. A deep, seething rage slowly filled me.

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