Page 76 of Twisted Vows

“After all,” he continues, “you led me straight to these runaway whores.”

I stiffen. The flexing of my shoulders pulls the seatbelt to the max. It clicks as the child safety mechanism engages.

“That’s right,stupido, it’s your fault I’m in New York City.” He shoves Katherine closer. She’s almost within arm’s reach of Emma. “When my men started disappearing, I had to investigate. Turns out, only the ones tailing Narciso’s side piece kept going missing.” He pushes Katherine to Terrance. Terrance grabs her nape and bends her over the table without rising from his chair. Her silent tears as she blinks up at me will forever haunt me. The turmoil in Emma’s eyes enrages the beast within me. I close my fist around the open cuff, creating an impromptu brass knuckle, and lean harder against my seatbelt, pretending to fight my bindings as I inch my free hand toward my buckle.

Seppi fists Emma’s hair and yanks her head back. She hisses and jerks but refrains from throwing her elbow back into his sternum as he presses his muzzle against her temple.

“Did you tell him about us, Emma? Does he know how good we could have had it if you weren’t such a stupidputtana?”

She swallows her initial retort and steals my breath as she forces her emotions deeper within her chest and dons a heartless bitch attitude.

“Of course I told him. I just can’t believe you thought what we had was good. He’s so much better with a whip than you could ever hope to be. Why do you think I married him?”

In the stupidest move he could make, he pushes her down beside Katherine with a furious snarl and presses his muzzle against her back, pinning her in place as he reaches for his belt.

In one fluid move, I unbuckle and surge upward, grabbing his gun and jerking it toward the ceiling as I punch my brass knuckles into his stomach. My ears ring and debris rains down on Emma and Katherine, but I swing his muzzle toward Terrance and jab his stomach again, forcing him to squeeze the trigger.

Crimson sprays out the back of Terrance’s head. Leaned forward and reaching for the pistol at the small of his back, he flings backward and paints the surrounding surfaces red as I waste three more bullets on him.

With fury-fueled strength, I twist Seppi’s arm and press his muzzle to the center of his forehead. He screams as the metal burns his flesh.

With the gag still in my mouth, I can’t speak, but I don’t need to as I meet my brother’s gaze.

I should have killed his motherfucking sorry ass seven years ago.

I wedge my finger over his, press the trigger, and watch in cold-blooded delight as his brain becomes pink mist.

As the world becomes a gory mess, I yank my gag off my head and spit out the sour fabric as I turn to Emma. She lies face down on top of Katherine, pinning her sister to the table and shielding her with her body.

Despite my fury over her endangering our child, my respect for her grows to impossible heights.

She’ll protect our children with the same ferocity. Hell, I bet she’d do nothing less for Tristan, even though he isn’t blood related. Although I hope she’ll never have to prove her loyalty in such a way, part of me longs to see her grow possessive over the Vivaldi-Achilles family.

The plane jerks forward. I growl and stomp to the cockpit, wishing I could gathermia caramellinainto my arms, but stopping the plane is most important.

When I fling the flimsy door open and point the gun at the pilot’s face while demanding he cut the engines, he stutters in his haste to comply. As the roar dies down, I yank him from his seat and engage the wheel brakes before pushing him by his scruff toward the door.

“Open it,” I snarl.

Every second away from Emma is torture. I need her in my arms. On my tongue. Under my body.

He fumbles through opening the door. I frisk him, shove him into the nearest seat, and wait for him to buckle before grabbing the doorframe and leaning out.

A quarter of the way down the runway, we’re nowhere near the staircase but close enough for me to see Seppi’s goons lying face down on the tarmac. When I wave at the caravan, a cheer rises and several SUVs head straight toward me while a few others disperse to relay news and fetch a tug to move the steps.

I don’t trust the pilot to move the plane another inch, not with such precious cargo onboard.

“You move a finger and you’ll end up just like them.Capisci?” I snarl at the man. His wide eyes and enthusiastic nod are enough to assure me he’ll stay right where he is.

The sound of retching pulls my attention to the table. Emma holds Katherine’s hair back as she vomits from the sight and smell of Seppi and Terrance’s bodies.

I stalk toward them. The moment Katherine pauses, I pick her up and carry her into the cockpit. Emma grabs the back of my shirt and trails along after me without a word.

With both women stashed away from the bloodbath and the threat annihilated, I take what feels like my first full breath in decades and allow Emma to check on her sister before gathering her into my arms.

“He’s dead,” she whispers into my chest.

I hug her tighter, careful not to dig the cuffs still attached to my wrist into her back, and stroke the top of her head. After a full-body shiver, she wraps her arms around me and squeezes.

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