Page 19 of Claimed by The Italian

“Like hell you are! You need to stay and fix the mess you made with the Moretti family. Maybe if you can get through that alive I’ll let you go. But just know you’ve betrayed this family, Lorenzo. You’ve ruined everything.”

“There’s nothing to ruin when we’re both miserable here alone,” I snarl. “Why don’t you just accept that you want what I have? You can have it too, Bianca. Stop making this harder than it needs to be.”

“You’re not leaving!” she shouts. But suddenly, there’s a crashing noise downstairs and we both fall silent, cutting off our argument. Lydia looks terrified. Bianca takes two guns from the deep pockets of her coat and nods at me to follow her. I don’t want to fire a gun. I’ve never shot another person, but now that Lydia is here I have to protect her. I turn to her.

“Stay here, out of sight. I have to see what’s going on.”

She looks scared, but she nods. I kiss her as I leave the room, taking the other gun from Bianca and making my way through the house. I know that it must be the Moretti family coming to take their revenge. They’re the only family that we have a quarrel with. I grip my gun and silently vow that I’ll shoot them if I have to. Things are different now. These men are here because one of them wants my Lydia. They’re embarrassed by the way I took them down so easily. I won’t show so much mercy this time. Now that Lydia is mine, I have to make sure I do anything to protect her...even if it means killing.

The house is eerily quiet as we creep through. Bianca is better prepared for this moment than I am. She’s killed before. Her moral code isn’t as tight as my own.

“We have to split up and find them,” she says. Then she darts away before I can protest, making her way toward the other end of the house. I’m forced to head down the stairs alone, my heart racing in my chest.

I find the rest of my staff hiding in the dining room and lock the door to keep them safe. I see a shadow in the kitchen, but there’s no one there. Somehow, these people have managed to slip away from me.

I hear a scream upstairs and my heart stops. I curse myself for being so lax in my security if they were able to make it into my home. As I run to the base of the staircase, I collide with Bianca, but it’s what I see at the top of the stairs that really scares me.

Luca has Lydia clutched in one arm and his gun pressed to her head. She’s crying silently, pleading me with her eyes to help her. But one wrong move now and she’ll be dead. I have to play this right. As much as she’s scared, I know he doesn’t want to hurt her. He wants to hurt me.

“You played with fire when you crossed me, Lorenzo,” he hisses. “Meet me in the garden in ten minutes...alone. Or I’ll kill your pretty little maid.”

I know he’s all talk, and yet I can’t risk the possibility that he’s not. I can’t risk any possibility of him killing Lydia. So I know even as he disappears toward the other staircase that I’ll be in the garden. I won’t let Bianca come with me. I’ll be unarmed.

I’ll even let him kill me if it saves Lydia’s life.Chapter NineLydiaI’m shaking with fear as I’m dragged outside by Luca. His grip around me is so strong that I know I can’t break free. Even if I could, what would I possibly do? I could run and he’d shoot me in the back. I could try and attack him myself, but he’d be ready for that, and I know he’s stronger than me. Now, all I can hope for is a miracle.

Lorenzo.

He’ll save me, I know he will. He’ll do anything to make sure I’m okay. He’d do it for anyone because that’s just the kind of man he is. I don’t care that he’s in the mafia. He’s touched my heart and I’ve touched his, and I know his is made of solid gold. He might think that his past taints who he is, but I disagree. His moral code has kept him from killing for all these years. I know he’ll find a way to save me without spilling enemy blood.

“Don’t worry. I don’t want to harm a hair on your pretty little head,” Luca sneers in my ear. “If your boss acts right then you can come home with me. I’ll take care of you.”

I shudder. I get the feeling that’s a fate worse than death. Besides, I’d rather die than be with another man. No one can touch me the way Lorenzo can. No one can love me the way he does. If one of us dies tonight, we’ll never love again, I just know it. This can’t be replaced. If this is the end for me, then at least I met him. I had something that people only dream of.

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