Page 62 of High Stakes

The gunshot echoes through the dungeon, the sound deafening in the enclosed space. Lorenzo crumples to the floor, lifeless, his blood pooling around him.

I won’t spare him another glance. My focus is entirely on Milo, who lies motionless on the cold stone floor. I rush to his side, my heart pounding in my chest as I drop to my knees beside him.

“Milo,” I murmur, my voice rough with emotion as I reach out to touch his face, wincing at the sight of the damage Lorenzo’s fists have wrought. “Milo, can you hear me?”

Milo’s eyes flutter open, his gaze unfocused as he tries to focus on my face. “Leone,” he rasps, his voice weak but alive. Relief floods through me, but it’s quickly tempered by the anger that still simmers just beneath the surface. My father steps into the room and takes in the sight of his dead man beside Milo.

“What the fuck!” he roars as I help Milo sit up. Fallon stumbles in and shrieks, rushing to Milo’s side.

“I’m okay, bella,” Milo tells her, his voice strained, but he manages a small smile for her.

“You would seriously take the side of the man fucking your wife?” Dante spits, stepping into the room.

I don’t hesitate. I’m on him in an instant, my fist connecting with his jaw once more, sending him crashing to the ground. I’m on top of him, raining down punches with all the fury I can muster. My father rushes forward, trying to pull me off, but I’m too far gone, too consumed by the need to make Dante pay.

“Leone, stop!” my father yells, his voice barely penetrating the red haze clouding my vision. “You’re going to kill him!”

“Good,” I growl, my voice raw with emotion as I deliver another brutal punch to Dante’s face. “He deserves to die for this!”

My father finally manages to wedge himself between us, forcing me back. Dante is left lying on the ground, blood dripping from his mouth, his eyes wide with shock and fear.

“You killed my right-hand man over your boy fucking your wife?” my father demands, his voice shaking with anger as he glares at me.

“We share her!” I roar back, shoving him away from me. The words hang in the air, heavy with implications.

My father’s face contorts in disgust, his eyes narrowing as he looks between me, Milo, and Fallon. “You share her?” he repeats, his voice filled with disbelief and revulsion. “What the hell has gotten into you, Leone?”

“She’s ours,” I state, my voice firm as I step back, straightening my posture. “Milo and I share her—something you wouldn’t understand.”

Dante, still on the ground, wipes the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand, his expression twisting with fury.“You’re sick,” he spits, his voice hoarse. “Both of you. She’s nothing but a whore, and you’re choosing her over family.”

Dante’s vile words set something off in me, and I move to lunge at him again. But my father steps between us, his hand on my chest, pushing me back, but I pull my gun, pointing it at Dante’s face.

“Leone, no!” My father’s voice cuts through the red haze of my anger. He steps forward, placing a hand on my arm, his grip firm but not forceful. “He’s your brother.”

“He’s a fucking traitor,” I snap, my voice shaking with the force of my anger.

“And killing him won’t solve anything,” my father counters, his voice calm, but there’s an edge to it, a warning. “You kill him, and you start a war within our own family. Are you ready for that?”

“Are you truly that blind father? We’ve been at war for years already!” I snarl at him just as Dante tries to rush out but I move quickly, my father unable to react fast enough. I grab him, tossing him to the floor.

Dante’s eyes dart between our father and me, panic starting to seep through his bravado. “You’re really going to kill your own brother?” he taunts, but I can hear the underlying fear in his voice as he scrambles away from me.

“You are not my brother!” I yell at him and he goes to speak.

Only, I’ve had enough of his fucking voice. Rage coils in my chest, burning hotter and hotter until I can’t contain it anymore. I pull the knife from my boot without a second thought, and he scrambles away but my foot connects with his face and my father sighs heavily behind me.

“Jesus christ, Leone,” he groans. Dante whimpers, clutching his bleeding nose, before he can say a thing though my hand is around his throat pinning him to the floor.

“Leone!” My father’s voice echoes behind me. I ignore him.

“You interfered where you had no place, put your filthy hands on my wife and hurt my brother?” I growl, pressing my knee harder into his chest to keep him pinned. Dante’s breath hitches as his eyes dart to the blade by his face.

“Leone, stop!” My father yells, but his voice is easily ignored by the sound of my blood roaring in my ears. He doesn’t understand. He never does. He always chooses Dante’s side. But I won’t let him off so easily this time.

Dante thrashes beneath me, his smugness gone. “You’re fucking insane!” he spits, his voice breaking as panic takes hold.

I grab his jaw and force him to look at me. “Did you really think I would choose your side over them after everything you’ve done?” I laugh, pressing the knife to his cheek, just below his cheekbone, and dig the tip in. The blade bites into his skin. Blood wells instantly, trailing hot and fast down his face.

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