Page 31 of Savage Heart

I was so sure that if I stayed away from her that she'd be safe. I wouldn't bring her into my world of death and murder and hit men, and in turn, she'd be happy.

I should have stayed away, but the other night I couldn't do it anymore. Two years without feel her lips on mine and her graduation meant I needed to see her. She deserved to get a gift from me.

Fucking Trent. I knew as soon as I saw that son of a bitch that he was no good. I don't care if Helix and Nick checked him out. I knew he was rotten. Turns out I was right.

Her brother got to him. Son of a bitch. When this is all over, I’ll get that bastard back for doing this to Sienna.

But I can't focus on that right now, though. I need to figure out how to escape this place, and I need to find a way to get Sienna out of here safely.

I look around at the manicured gardens surrounding me. Lucius Angeloni has more than enough money to spend on statues and fountains and landscapers to create the most exquisite Italian garden. Why he fucking needs to have Sienna as his wife I don't understand.

There must be at least half a dozen women inside who I heard in passing tonight say that they would kill to be in her position. Why not take one of them as his bride?

Not that this marriage is anything close to real. He doesn't even care about her. So what's the point? Is this just a family thing? Is it merely the joining of the Rossetti and Angeloni families? It must be. Not that any of that means damn thing to me. I'm going to get her out of here, and she's going to be able to forget all about Matteo and Lucius.

And then it will just be the two of us. Maybe we can find a place together.

As soon as the thought enters my brain, I'm struck at how unique that idea is for me. I have never even once with any woman thought that I could make a life with them.

I think I could with Sienna, though.

Maybe I wouldn't be a hit man anymore. Maybe I would find something else to do. Maybe it's time. This is a young man's game. It could be time for me to get out while I’m still alive. I could get a regular job. I’m sure Helix has some position in his organization I can do.

We could live on the island with Helix and Kerry. That might be nice. I think Sienna would like the island, but if not, we could go somewhere else. I have money. The entire world is open to us.

I just need to get her away from here.

Footsteps tear me out of my thoughts, and I turn around expecting to see Gideon, who is supposed to be helping me find a way out of here. Instead, I see a different familiar face, someone who's been absent from my life for at least a year, maybe two since he looks older.

He looks more vicious than the last time I saw him too. Alexei Wolfe.

The question is what the hell is he doing here at the Angeloni villa and at a party where Sienna is being announced as Lucius Angeloni's next wife?

Alexei spies me from across the garden. Slowly, he approaches me with a wicked smile so typical of him. He does enjoy being an unrepentant villain.

“What are you doing here, Alaric?” he asks as he stops a few feet away from me.

“I could ask the same thing of you. In fact, I was just about to. What the hell are you doing here, Alexei?”

His smile fades, and I notice it no longer goes all the way up to his eyes. Something looks wrong with him. It isn't just that it looks older. Now he looks like something's changed with him.

“I thought since I didn't see you for a year or so that you got out of the game,” I say with a low chuckle.

Wolfe shakes his head slowly left and then right. “I thought about it. I scaled back what jobs I was taking. My wife would prefer if I would stay home more lately. But tonight, I had a reason to come here to see Lucius.”

Now my curiosity is piqued. I study him for a moment wondering what on earth he could want with Angeloni tonight of all nights.

“So, what's your business here? You here on a job?”

Alexei frowns and gives me a single nod. “A job. Yeah, I guess you'd call it that, except it’s more personal than professional.”

His words are cryptic, and I'm not sure what he's talking about. So I wait for him to continue and when he does, I realize it is far more personal for him tonight.

He swallows hard and says, “My daughter was with this son of a bitch.”

Fuck. Alexei’s daughter was with Lucius Angeloni? Was she one of the women Gideon told me about who didn’t make it out alive?

“You know about him? He likes to beat the hell out of women,” Alexei says through gritted teeth.

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