Page 35 of Vengeful Mafia Prince

He hesitates. He probably doesn't want to find out what happens if he betrays someone like Elena's father.

"I said open the fucking gates!"

He springs to it, figuring his life isn't worth keeping these gates shut, I guess. He keys in a code, and the gates slide open, and I stride in, starting up the long gravel driveway toward the mansion.

There's a single man on the door, and it takes him a moment to figure out that my intentions are far from pure. Just as I reach him, he goes to grab a radio pinned to his side. I grab his arm just in time and twist it up and around him, shoving it against his back and drawing a howl of pain from between his lips.

"Open that door."

He doesn't put up much of a fight. Damn, these men are a whole lot less loyal than I would have imagined them to be. He needs to get better staff.

Not that I give a damn.

The door swings open, and I rush inside to find Elena. I have no idea how many people I'm going to have to fight through to get to her, but I'll do whatever it takes.

Inside, two men walk out of a room just off the entrance, and the moment they see me, they both reach for their weapons. I don't have time to think. I pull the gun and fire off two shots, hitting one in the shoulder, the other in the leg, sending them both collapsing to the ground.

And then, I hear a voice.

"Gio!"

I spin around, and there she is—Elena, the woman I came here to save. I rush toward her and pull her into my arms.

"Are you okay?" I ask her urgently, looking her over for any signs of hurt.

She nods. "I-I am. But we need to get out of here."

"I wasn't planning on sticking around," I growl and glance around, making sure the coast is clear. Right now, this is the calm before the storm, before all of his men come descending down upon us, and I want to be as far from here as possible when that happens.

"Back exit?" I demand. She pauses for a moment, clearly not sure what to say.

"Uh, this way," she replies. "Here, toward the kitchen."

She leads me to the exit, and I keep my hand on my gun, ready to take a shot at any second. If these fuckers think they're going to get the drop on me, they have another thing coming. I'll take out anyone who comes after us—whatever it takes to get her out of here.

"I didn't know if you'd come," she admits, her words tumbling from her mouth faster than she can stop them, itseems. "I-I don't even know why I texted you the address, I just felt like someone should know where I was—"

"Because you knew your father was going to try and pull something," I fire back. "Come on. We can't just stroll and chat. Exit?"

She points to the door that leads out into the large gardens beyond, and we rush outside. Keeping close to the house, we make our way quickly around to the front once more, out of sight of any guards who might be looking for us. After the gunshots, they're going to be searching the house, assuming that I'm in there somewhere. Little do they know, of course, that I'm already on the run with Elena.

We reach my car, and I bundle her inside before I slide over the hood and into the driver's side. Kicking it into high gear, I tear away from the house, keeping a close watch on my rearview mirror as we go.

For a while, we drive in silence. I'm sure neither of us really knows what to say. How do you even start after a mess like that? It feels like everything is falling apart, and now that I've taken out some of her father's men, I know it's going to be even tougher for me to shake them. People like that want revenge.

As if he didn't already have enough to make me pay for.

And then, all at once, I realize she's crying. Not just crying, but sobbing, her shoulders heaving, her breath coming in uneven gasps, her body shaking as she tries to pull herself together.

"Hey, hey," I murmur, grabbing her hand. "It's okay. We're out of there now. You have nothing to worry about—"

"Yes, I do," she protests, her eyes shining with tears. "My father... you don't understand what my father will do to you, to me…"

"You said he would never hurt you," I remind her, and she shakes her head.

"That was when I was still playing at being his sweet little daughter," she shoots back bitterly. "Back when— back when I didn't ask questions or cause trouble or make him doubt himself. But now..." She trails off. I don't say anything, letting her gather herself before she continues. "But now, I know he's not going to give me that grace, not anymore. He's going to... if he gets his hands on me, he's going to kill me. It's that simple."

Fuck. Once she gets the words out, I understand why she's crying so hard. I know exactly how it feels, to have your relationship with your family ripped away in a matter of moments.

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