Page 107 of Diavolo

Cara's gaze turned to steel. She leveled her weapon at Elyse once more. The choices Cara gave her weren't choices at all. Elyse felt fucked either way. Her mind raced back to Alessandro's story about his eighteenth birthday, his father, and Mauricio. Elyse watched as Cara's perfectly manicured finger curled around the trigger. Her heart hammered like a drum. Was this wretched moment about to define her as a selfless wife? Or her husband's killer?

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Gazing into the gun'sdeadly barrel, Elyse's nerves pulsed along a razor's edge. Both hands balled into white-knuckled fists. Cara probably believed she held the upper hand. But Elyse wasn't going to let her win. In a roundabout way, her past as a surgeon had prepared her for this very moment. Elyse thrived in high pressure situations. Operating rooms often led to life or death emergencies that demanded solutions in a matter of seconds.

Fuck Cara.

Bitch could take her little mind games and go choke on glass. Elyse refused to die tonight. She wasn't about to let Alessandro die, either. Her will to survive kicked in, and another solution emerged. She took the briefest of moments to assess the playing field. Cara stood about three feet away from her while they were, at least, several hundred feet away from Alessandro. It seemed unlikely for the bullet to spare her at such close firing range, but it was possible that Cara might miss Alessandro. How good of a shot was the woman? Elyse didn't want to risk her husband's lifeon unknown odds. She was, however, willing to risk her life for a chance to save them both.

In the next second, Elyse chose to act, sprinting forward in a burst of speed and recklessness. It seemed to catch Cara off guard. Elyse swiveled away from the redhead's outstretched firearm and latched onto her opponent's wrist from the side. Her fingers tightened around the velvety sleeve of Cara's gown, digging sharply into the flesh underneath. Hurriedly, Elyse sank her teeth as hard she could into Cara's forearm until the other woman shrieked with pain and dropped her gun. Elyse held on until blood stained the velvet, and she tasted metal on her tongue. A stray bullet cracked through the air as the firearm clattered to the ground.

With murder in her eyes, Cara snarled at Elyse like a rabid beast,"Fottuta puttana!"

Elyse's shoulder stung a little, but she chose to ignore the pain. She stayed laser-focused, scrambling over to swipe the dainty L-shaped pistol before Cara could reach it. The weight of such a small weapon felt surprisingly heavy in her hand. Elyse gripped the handle firmly and dashed away from the veranda back to the ballroom. Loaded gun in hand, Elyse didn't know the first thing about handling a weapon. All she cared about was getting as far away from Cara as possible. Mariposa had been right.This bitch was fucking crazy. But maybe she was crazier. She could still taste Cara's blood in her mouth.

A large crowd gathered around the chaos like circling hyenas. Monte and Luca rushed onto the scene with their guns drawn. They aimed their barrels at Cara. Alessandro followed closely behind them with his weapon in hand as well. Pure, unadulterated fear and fury marred Alessandro's handsome features as he hastened to Elyse's side, eyes wide, brimming with relief, as he took in the sight of her as though she was an apparition.

"You are alive," he whispered hoarsely, "I-I thought..."

Before Elyse could find her voice, she felt wetness trickle down her arm. She glanced over to her shoulder. Rivulets of crimson trailed down her skin. Elyse's eyes grew wide as a series of disconcerting observations slammed into her. Her shoulder was bleeding. Cara tried to kill her.She could've died.

"Mierda," Elyse muttered under her breath.

Alessandro's gaze locked onto her shoulder as well. He demanded, "How badly are you hurt?"

Elyse answered after taking a moment to assess the damage, "Don't worry. The bullet only grazed me."

She used her hand to apply pressure to the wound. Elyse then handed Cara's gun to Alessandro. He glared at the weapon for a good, long moment as though it was a vile, cursed thing. Then, he tuck the gun inside his blazer. Cara's moment of madness seemed to set off a switch inside him. Alessandro's eyes flickered peculiarly. His demeanor suddenly withdrew into a void-like state. Emotions were wiped clean. The abruptness of this shift was more than a bit frightening. Was he upset with her? Elyse eyed him with trepidation. Wheels were clearly turning in his mind. Alessandro glanced over to Monte and Luca. He ordered,"Portala in macchina. Adesso." Take her to the car. Now.

Monte and Luca ran over to collect Elyse, using their bodies to shield her from the other guests. They started herding her away, but she resisted them.

"Hold on," she insisted, "I want to see how this plays out."

Elyse twisted her head around to keep her eyes on her husband. Her heart thrummed with fear. Blood continued to drip down her arm. Alessandro's soulless gaze was now fixated on Cara. His voice sounded eerily calm when he addressed his old lover, "Sai che questo significa guerra."

Elyse strained to understand his Italian.

Something about war?

Tears began to trail down Cara's face. "Non volevo farlo, amore mio.Domenico me l'ha fatto fare."

Were they talking about Domenico Berlusconi, Cara's brother?

"In ogni caso, non mi interessa.Ecco la mia risposta. Fanne ciò che vuoi."

Do with this what you will?

Elyse wanted to stamp her foot in frustration. She'd missed the first part of Alessandro's response. Then, without warning, Alessandro raised his gun to Cara and pulled the trigger. Cara screamed bloody murder as the bullet nicked her shoulder in the exact same spot where she had marked Elyse.An eye for an eye.Gasps filled the ballroom.

He remarked, "La prossima volta non mancherò."

Chills ran down Elyse's spine as she registered the full meaning of her husband's words.

Next time, I won't miss.

Monte and Luca started ushering her toward the front door again. Elyse let them guide her away. The heightened, numbing spike of adrenaline from her earlier tussle with Cara had faded. Senses returned to normal. Her arm was beginning to sting like a motherfucker. She needed to disinfect the wound and bandage it up. Pain shot up and down her arm in surges of discomfort. All of a sudden, though, Elyse's attention snapped back to her husband and the redhead. Cara was screeching again. The pain seemed to unlock something mutinous and broken in her. She switched to English, spitting at Alessandro loud enough for Elyse to hear, "You shot me over that stupid American bitch? Is it because she speaks English? Is that why you married her? Ever since your father sent you away to England, you have obsessed over their fucking language.Well, I can speak English, too!"

"No need to be so dramatic."

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