Page 62 of Borrowed Bride

No one has been safe from me since then.

“She doesn’t work for me,” Leo snaps, waving his gun. “I thought she worked for you!”

“Bullshit,” I snarl, throwing my empty gun aside. “You’re trying to stall until she gets here so you have back up, aren’t you? Can’t fight me like a fucking man because you’re not a man, you’re a fucking coward!”

My muscles are coiled so tight that walking toward Leonardo is painful. All my joints protest the overflowing tension in my body, but I can’t focus on anything else.

“She doesn’t work for you?” Leo says and he takes a step back, raising one hand. “I’m telling you man, she doesn’t work for me either.”

Something about his tone finally reaches me through the fog of fury blinding me, and I hesitate.

Isn’t Fawn working with Leonardo? All this time I had viewed them as a package deal since killing me is a goal they share, but learning that she’s been flitting around Leonardo like a reaper changes things.

I lower my fists, and Leo lowers his gun.

“Then,” I say tightly. “Who the fuck does she work for?”

A sudden blast of heat rushes across my back, followed by a deafening explosion, the force of which sends me forward and over the DJ booth. I crash into Leonardo who yells in shock. The heat becomes unbearable in an instant, and then darkness follows as an explosion rips right through the heart of the club.

25

GIANNA

“Mamma,” Freya whines, yawning widely as tears cling to her lashes. “I don’t wanna!”

“I know sweetie, I know. I’m sorry, but we have to, okay? So choose which stuffie you want to take with you or I will.” I do my best to soothe her but being woken up this late has her in an understandably cranky mood, and my heart aches to see her so distressed.

Fawn stands nearby, busy on her phone as I wrestle Freya into some clothes and then set her down. “Do you want the pig? The hen? How about Mr. Hippo?”

Freya sobs softly and stretches out her hands for the hippo, then she clutches it to her chest. Having her a little calmer gives me the peace of mind I need to tear through the drawers and deposit as many clothes as I can into the suitcases. I don’t care about my own clothes, only Freya’s.

“This makes no sense,” I mutter as I drag clothes from their neatly folded home. “Why would Dante keep me here for so long if he wasn’t keeping me safe? If he was as cruel and as twisted as to…” I trail off and glance at Fawn who regards me cooly.

I’m still shocked to my core at her revelation, and it throws everything into doubt. Everything I thought I knew about Marco and his family, everything he did to convince me that he was helping those women and not hurting them. The truth, it seems, is to remain clouded and out of reach.

I pack clothing, underwear, and everything else I can think of into the small suitcase, and by the time I close it, Fawn has moved to play with Freya. An unexpected warmth blooms across her narrow features as she does so.

“Marco thinks I’m dead. And all this time, I thought he was dead. I don’t understand.” Dragging one hand through my hair, I pull at the roots and try to ground myself with the flare of pain. “That’s why he’s tearing up the city, isn’t it?”

Fawn nods. “He’s clever. Has people doing his dirty work for him. I thought if I shadowed Leonardo for a while, Marco would appear and I could kill him but no such luck yet.”

“Fawn,” I warn. “I may be completely lost in all of this but I’m still like 80 percent sure you would be killing an innocent man. Or at least, innocent of what you think he did to you.”

The warmth on Fawn’s face vanishes and she stands abruptly. “You really want to have that discussion now?”

“No, I—I just mean that there’s more to this than we both realize. I think.” My hands take another path through my hair. “Fuck, how did I get caught up in this insanity just from picking a pocket?”

“That’s not important. Are you packed? We have to leavenow.” Just as she finishes, a soft ding rings through the apartment and we both freeze.

I stare at Fawn with wide eyes. “The elevator.”

She presses a long finger against her lips, pulls a long blade from her pants and slips from the room. I run to Freya and scoop her up into my arms, along with the pillow, then retreat to the farthest corner of the room.

I don’t know what the fuck is going on but someone else turning up this late at night can’t be good. I’m defenseless, but I will protect Freya with everything I have.

Silence fills the air and it’s almost suffocating. My heart pounds painfully against my ribs and it’s all I can hear other than Freya’s sniffles. Then the sounds of grunts and something heavy falling in the hallway drifts through the door.

Then, more silence.

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