Page 55 of His to Possess

“You’re wanted for quite a lot of money,” Angelo says, goading him, “and there are some very scary characters on the hunt looking for you right now.”

“What did you do?” Gallo snaps.

He isn’t looking very good and I notice his hand is shaking. The hand holding the gun which is still pointing at me. Not good.

“Gave you a taste of your own medicine,” I say, regretting nothing. If I hadn’t turned the tables on him then I have no doubt that Angelo and I would probably be dead.

“You’re going to pay,” he snarls. As he climbs up, I take a step back. “His family is going to suffer, too. I’m going to make sure my revenge is sweet and vicious. I won’t stop until every last Rossi is buried and then my family will sit at the table.”

“You’re delusional,” Angelo says, slowly ascending back up the staircase with me.

“And you’re dead!” Gallo declares, a wild look in his dark eyes.

The gun swings in Angelo’s direction and I do the only thing I can—throw myself into him, knocking him out of the line of fire. A searing pain rips across my back shoulder and, for a stunned moment, I realize the bastard shot me. I hear the echo of his feet pounding up the stairs, heading straight for us, but I’m feeling dizzy and when I look over at Angelo, my vision is blurred. There’s a look of horror on his face that is quickly replaced by a fury that I’ve never seen him exhibit before.

A hand slides down to my boot and I realize Angelo is pulling my knife out. But doesn’t he know a knife is no match for a gun? I’m trying to dig deep and pull myself up the last few stairs, attempting to crawl to safety, but every movement is like fire on my skin.

Speaking of fire, I swear the scent of smoke is getting stronger. I just wish I could get up and move faster, but everything is hazy and the pain in my shoulder is stinging like hades. All of a sudden, I’m picked up into Angelo’s strong arms and he’s running away from Gallo…away from the stairs…but the smoke becomes even stronger and I force myself to focus.

“Angelo!” I gasp, bouncing up and down against his him.

“You’re okay, you’re okay. I’m going to get us out of here.”

“I smell smoke.”

“The mansion is on fire,” he informs me.

I’m assuming Fury set the fire—he has been known to do it before to cause a diversion—because he’s intent on smoking Gallo out so he can capture him. Or, kill him? Who knows? AllI do know is that it’s getting harder to breathe and my shoulder hurts like a bitch.

“I’m going to put you down, okay?”

“Okay.”

He sets me down on a bed and I squeeze my eyes shut, trying not to wince and willing myself to shut out the pain. I need to gather all of my strength and help find a way out of here before the flames can reach us.

“Where’s Gallo?” I manage to ask, coughing.

“I stabbed him with your knife and the next thing I know, one of your co-workers appeared and Gallo took off.”

I would laugh if I wasn’t in so much pain. Then a horrible thought hits me as I look over at the window Angelo is opening. What if we don’t make it out of here alive? What if we die and I never had the chance to tell Angelo that I love him? That would be downright tragic.

Pushing up off the bed, I stagger over to the window and fresh air hits my face. Breathing deeply, I slap a hand against the wall, trying to hold myself up.

“C’mon, we’re getting out of here.” Angelo picks me up and I try not to show how much it pains me. “I’m sorry, kitten, I know it hurts. Try to hold on, okay?”

He grimaces, as though he can’t bear seeing me in pain, and I nod, realizing no one has ever saved me like this before. All of my life, I’ve always had to depend on myself. Now, for the first time, I have a Knight in Shining Armor and he’s slaying my dragons and getting me out of the burning castle. I feel like fuckingCinderella. Or, maybe Sleeping Beauty? Hell, I don’t know. No one ever read me any bedtime stories growing up.

Burying my face against his chest, hating how useless I feel, I cling to him as he steps onto the balcony. Fire engine sirens scream in the distance and I glance over the wrought iron railing to see a crowd of people standing below us, including Angelo’s brothers, Carlotta and Leo. No sign of Gallo or my fellow bounty hunters. I’d be willing to put they are hot on his trail, though, and that asshole is currently running for his life. And I don’t even feel a little bad about it.

The pain in my shoulder has become a non-stop dull throbbing sensation, and I’m hoping it was just a graze. A bad graze is better than a bullet lodged in my body.

The smoke seems to be getting more intense behind us, but I don’t see any sign of flames yet which is good.

“Hold on!” Miceli yells up. “They’re almost here and will get you out of there!”

I assume he’s talking about the firemen, but my head is a little fuzzy. Even so, I feel a second wind come over me, renewing my strength and hope that we’re going to be out of here very soon.

Until I hear a low voice behind us, and I look over Angelo’s shoulder.Oh, no.

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