Page 26 of Vengeful Mafia Prince

"Oh and if you think our parents are the only people he's hurt, you've got another thing coming," she continues with a snort, clearly enjoying how easy it is to get under her skin. "There are so many more. More than he could even keep count of. Do you even remember our parents?" She addresses the question to the perpetrator standing before us. I notice, all at once, a holster beneath his jacket. The shape of it is unmistakable, there's nothing else it could be. If Valentina keeps talking shit like this to him, he's going to take a shot at her.

"Val, stop," I murmur to her, but she lifts a hand, silencing me.

"You think that your precious daughter wouldn't betray you?" Valentina continues, stalking toward him. "You know how easy it was for my brother to get her into bed?"

Elena gasps. I grab her hand.

"Valentina, that's enough!"

But it's too far.

As his hand flies for his gun, I dive toward him, knocking him off-balance just enough that he can't get his hand on his weapon. Valentina dives toward him, knife in hand, and I throw my wrist up behind me to deflect her. I'm not going to let her hurt him. Even if it's what I set out to do at one point, I can't let it happen in front of Elena.

I grab his weapon and tuck it into my pants. Throwing Valentina off me, I get to my feet, dragging Elena's father by the lapels, and shove him in the elevator. As he crashes to the elevator floor, I send it down, then buzz the doorman.

"Call security. There's someone we need to get out of here."

"Let me at that fucking bastard!" Valentina yells, leaping for the elevator. I grab her arm and pull her back, and she turns to face me, a wild look flashing in her eyes.

"You need to let it go," I warn her. "I don't want you in prison. I can't lose you too, Valentina."

Something finally seems to click for her. She lowers the blade by her side, though she's still gripping it tight. And then, her gaze swerves to Elena.

"And what is she doing here?" she demands, jabbing her knife in Elena's direction. I move to stand in front of her.

"It's nothing—"

"Yes, it is!" Valentina exclaims. "You're here with her rather than being with me. Even though you knew we needed to talk, you didn't care, you still chose her—"

I know I'm not going to be able to reason with Valentina. When my sister flies into a rage, it's impossible to talk her down. I grab her and shove her into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her. It clicks shut—there's an automatic timer on it that releases after two minutes if not otherwise adjusted.

Valentina batters on the door, screaming my name, and I turn to Elena.

"We need to get out of here."

"What? I can't go! I have..."

"Please," I tell her, grabbing her hands and pulling them to my mouth. I plant a kiss against them, not taking my eyes off of her.

"I can't protect you here," I murmur to her. "I need to get you somewhere safe. Away from my family, away from yours. Please, Elena."

She pauses for a moment, considering the question. But then, finally, she nods.

"Fine," she replies, slipping her hand into mine. She doesn't look entirely happy about all of this, but she's giving me what I want. That's all I can ask for now.

I pull her toward the fire exit of the penthouse, which takes us down to the garage at the back. Once we make it down, out of sight of security or Elena's father, I use my key to let us into the garage and unlock my car.

"In, now."

I gesture for her to get inside, and she does as she's told. Whatever is going on, all that I care about right now is that she trusts me. I want her next to me—I don't care what it costs. Knowing that I'm the first person she came to after what happened with her father, that has to mean something.

And I'm not going to take whatever that is for granted.

I kick the car into gear and back out of the garage.

"Where are we going?"

It's hard to read the tone in her voice. I can't tell if she's happy or worried or wondering if she's made the wrong decision.

---