Page 20 of Claimed by The Italian

I’m coming to the realization that I’m willing to die for Lorenzo.

The air outside is cold and Luca’s arm is choking me. I can feel tears threatening to squeeze out of my eyes. I can almost feel the last minutes of my life ticking away. All I want is to see Lorenzo’s face one more time. One last look at his handsome face and I’ll remember what I had as I leave this life. In such a short time, he gave me everything.

“You’re shaking, don’t be afraid,” Luca breathes in my ear. I squirm away from his hot breath.

“I’m not afraid,” I snarl, more viciously than I ever intended. Luca laughs at me cruelly.

“Maybe you should be,” he hisses. “Your boss is taking his sweet time in coming.”

My heart races in my chest. Surely he wouldn’t leave me here? No. I can’t let Luca put doubt into my head. Lorenzo will be here.

Sure enough, a moment later, he appears from the shadows. With his face half-lit by the moonlight, he looks more intimidating and sexy than usual. He glares at Luca with such intensity that Luca backs up a little, clearly a beta next to this alpha male.

“Let her go,” Lorenzo growls. Luca’s dark laughter rumbles against my back and he pulls me closer to his body.

“I don’t think so,” Luca hisses. “You need to pay for what you did to me.” He takes a gun from his belt and cocks it at Lorenzo. “With your life. It’s either you or her.”

“No!” I cry out, trying to break free. Instinctively, I want to place myself between the gun and Lorenzo. But Luca’s grip on me is too strong and I stay exactly where I am, his arm choking me even more as I struggle.

“Don’t fight him, Lydia,” Lorenzo growls. “I’m unarmed. I have no backup. I will gladly give my life for her.”

“Don’t do it!” I sob, trying even harder to get free. “Don’t leave me.”

“Don’t worry, Lorenzo,” Luca sneers with a sick grin. “I’ll take good care of her.”

He throws me down to the ground so hard that my head starts swimming. Luca laughs cruelly and aims his gun at Lorenzo.

And a shot rips through the night.Lorenzo

The bullet rips through the night, but it doesn’t come from Luca’s gun. In fact, whoever shot the gun can’t be a very good shot because there’s no victim. I glance around me, looking for the shooter. Still, it’s sent Luca into a frenzy as he glances around him for the invisible shooter.

“Show yourself!” he cries out. Suddenly, out of the dark, a figure leaps and clips Luca around the head with a gun so hard that he falls to his knees. Silently, his attacker knees him in the head and he goes down, flat on his back. I blink in confusion. I told Bianca to stay behind, to not interfere...and yet here she is now. Saving us all.

She puffs for air after the effort of taking Luca down, but she still manages to find the energy to pin his groaning body down with her boot. She flicks her hair out of her face and I can see the burning fury in her eyes. My face hardens.

“Bianca, what are you doing?”

“Saving you’re asses,” she says a little breathlessly.

“But the others, back at the house.”

“Taken care of,” she says darkly. “Not dead, though. Marco was already on his way over to discuss you and your behavior. He backed me up. The Moretti family are at our mercy now.”

I can’t help breathing out in relief. But Lydia is still lying on the ground. I run to her and pick her up in my arms, clutching her close. She looks a little dizzy as she looks at me.

“Lorenzo…”

“I’ve got you, baby,” I growl, holding her to me protectively. I can’t believe I get to hold her again. I thought the only way out of this was to die for her. If Bianca hadn’t stepped in, that would’ve happened. I was ready for a bullet through the heart for this woman. It’s now that I realize just how much I love her.

“I’m never letting you go again,” I growl.

“Yes, you are.”

Bianca is watching me, arms folded. I shake my head.

“We’re getting out of here, Bianca. It’s over.”

“You can’t just walk away,” she hisses. “This is your life. You almost died for that girl. When will you find some sense?”

“Choosing her is the only sensible thing I’ve ever done,” I snarl. “She’s mine, and that’s all I care about.

Bianca shakes her head. “After everything we’ve been through, even though I’ve just had to save you from dying, you still want her?”

I nod. “I’ll want her for the rest of my days. I want a family with her. I can survive anything with her by my side.” I look at Lydia who is gazing up at me lovingly. My face softens for once. She’s making a new man out of me. My love for her is so strong that it became a matter of life and death. I clutch her to me.

---