Page 49 of Royally Embraced: RBMC

She inched her way down the back stairs, thanking whoever had designed the house that none of the stairs creaked. While she’d wandered earlier, Tori found herself walking the entire first level. The little pacing made her sneaking easier.

Voices alerted her to where the men appeared to be interrogating Andre. She halted. Biting her lip to keep the cry from escaping. Fear slithered down her spine as she heard the familiar sound of two voices she’d not heard in years.

“I will ask you one more time, cazzarola. Where is my puttana di una figlia?” Gino Masseria asked.

Tori flinched at the sound of a fist hitting something solid, followed by a grunt.

Andre’s deep voice came out strained but clear. “Puppami la fava, Masseria.”

Tori’s hand shook, hearing Andre tell Gino to suck his dick. Her stepfather calling her a whore was nothing new. Hell, she’d expect nothing less.

Another sound of fist on flesh threatened to make her hurl. She needed to do something. How many men did they bring?

Taking a chance, she looked around the corner to see how they’d subdued Andre. He was a huge hulk of a man, so she knew they didn’t just come upon him two-on-one.

Fuck. Besides Gino and Geovani, there were three others in the room. She moved back, bracing her frame against the wall. Her gaze caught on the alarm system with its solid green light. She bit her lip, knowing they'd immediately jump into action if she hit the panic button. However, from the sounds coming from the other room, Andre wouldn’t last much longer.

She prayed, hoping Jeter and the others were close enough to get here once she set off the alarm. Tori hit the button and closed her eyes, frowning as the immediate siren didn’t blare. She looked down at the panel and saw a message scroll across, asking her to hit the pound sign.

A rush of adrenalin filled her veins as she realized the alarm gave her an out if it was an accident, giving her a chance to run back upstairs and into the safe room. She moved quickly, knowing she’d be no help to Andre or herself dead.

Rounding the corner, she came to a skidding stop at the sight of a man with his back to her. He looked to be in his early twenties, dressed in what she’d always called her stepfather’s company garb. In a pair of black slacks and a black button-down with black loafers, his outfit gave her chills. If they had to kill someone in the Family's name, their clothes were less likely to show blood. If shot or stabbed, the same goes.

The stairs she needed to reach were several feet behind the man. If she made a run for them, he’d hear her. If she shot him, the others would hear and come running. Of course, she could make it to the safe room before they reached her, but if she didn’t kill the asshole, he could slow her down or worse, shoot her with the gun he held at his side.

Dammit.

The sound of the alarm rang. The man turned, locked eyes on her. She already had her gun raised, and before he could do the same, she fired off three shots. The kickback of the gun made the second and third go a little off, but she didn’t wait to see if he was alive or dead.

Tori sprinted for the stairs. Her feet slipped on the first and second steps. Her knee cracked on the third, making her cry out. She continued up and ignored the pain.

Her entire body shook when she made it to the third floor. The alarm blared through the whole house, drowning out the men’s voices. She burst through Kendrick’s room and headed straight for the closet.

The sight of a beautiful woman standing in the open doorway had her skidding to a stop. The feral look she leveled on Tori froze her blood.

“So, my betrothed replaced me with a piccola ladra? And not a very pretty one at that,” Taysey sneered.

Tori straightened her spine. “First of all, I’m not a thief. Second, you have no clue what you’re talking about. Although I think Kendrick is great, I’m not with him. However, if I were, he’d have definitely chosen up from the likes of you, tegame.” Okay, so stooping to name-calling might be childish, but the woman was a bitch and clearly a whore.

“So, what are you going to do, shoot me?” Taysey asked.

She tilted her head to the side, holding her arms out, and braced her hands on the doorway.

“Move out of my way,” Tori gritted out.

“You won’t make me, little girl, and your time is running out.” Taysey stared at something behind Tori.

She didn’t spare the woman another minute, knowing from the sounds coming from the hall that either Gino or Geovani had figured out where she had gone.

Lowering her gun, she pulled the trigger. Taysey’s eyes widened, and then she screamed. Tori sprinted across the feet that separated them. She jumped over the fallen woman. Relief flooded her when Taysey fell forward instead of backward.

She spun and saw both her stepfather and stepbrother closing in on the closet doorway; their angry eyes pinned her to the spot. Tori’s hands shook as she reached for the heavy door. Their angry shouts of stop and name-calling didn’t prevent her from slamming the door.

Chapter Twenty Four

Jeter sat next to King in the center of Kendrick’s SUV while his brother drove them back toward his home. They’d filed into one of the SUVs, as the rest of them climbed into the other, leaving the rental truck in the parking lot. If the situation hadn’t been dire, he’d have laughed at the sight of four gigantic men squished into the back with King, him, and Traeger nearly on one another’s lap.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been this close to you, King. Ayesha might get jealous knowing I’m taking her spot,” Traeger joked.

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