Page 105 of Savage Prince

“Your father and his brothers killed my mother,” he hisses. “Does the name Blanca Alvarez ring a bell?”

My thoughts swirl back in time to Pa telling an animated story around the dinner table. Before any of us were born, he and Uncle Luca flew to Puerto Rico and got into a high velocity, mid-sea shootout to save Alessandro’s dad, Marco, fromLa Sombra Boricua, the Puerto Rican mob. Shit! How could I have been so blind? Did that mean the fire to Alessandro’s jet was another part of Santi’s revenge plot?

"Just let Antonio go," I manage to rasp out, my vision darkening at the edges. "I’m the one you want anyway, right? This is all about me and my family."

Santi laughs, the sound harsh and foreign to my ears. "Oh, this isn’t even close to being over, Sere. You’re only the first piece of the puzzle."

Shit, my cousins. My breath hitches as realization hits, wasting the final remaining air in my lungs. Santi’s hold tightens, and my knees buckle as darkness encroaches into my vision.

“Serena, no!” Antonio’s voice, screaming my name, echoes across my subconscious as he struggles against the cuffs.

“I love you,” I mouth, hoping he understands over the chaos.

His panicked, furious face is the last thing I see before the ominous black consumes me.

CHAPTER 51

YOU SAVED ME

Antonio

“Porca puttana. Maledetto pezzo di merda!” The avalanche of curses erupts from my clenched teeth as I watch Serena collapse, and there’s nothing I can do but struggle uselessly against the damned cuffs biting into my wrists. I’ve been trying to force the lock open with the tip of the knife but so far, my efforts have been in vain. My gaze dips to her motionless form splayed across the floor, and a wave of fury crashes over me.

Then a ray of light erupts from the darkness…

Was I imagining it or had she told me she loved me right before she blacked out?Dio, I have to know.

“When I get loose, I’m going to fucking annihilate both of you,” I growl. “Then I’ll drag your flayed corpses across the entire city of Roma for all to see what happens when you fuck with what’s mine.” I glare at Santiago then Federico. “And just so that we’re clear, Serena Valentino is mine.”

Her friend barks out a laugh, but the strain across his features gives away the true state of his wound. “Maybe in the afterlife. You two can live happily ever after together in the hell you deserve.”

“I’ll gut you with my bare hands before I ever let you touch her again.”Dio, I just need to get to her. Drawing in a steadying breath to still my manic heartbeats and frantic movements, I position the knife’s edge into the locking mechanism. If I can just disengage the ratchet…

“You’ll both be dead long before you ever get the chance.” Santi smirks as he folds down onto the couch.

“Take me instead then. I’ll surrender and let you do whatever you want to me. Just let her go.”

“I already have you, Ferrara.” He grins, and I can’t wait to rip that cocky smirk of his face. “Besides, I just need to keep Serena alive long enough to lure Isabella, Matteo and Alessia here. I’ve heard Alessandro is barely alive as it is. His arrival was a happy coincidence I couldn’t pass up. The Valentinos and Rossi’s stole my mother’s life, so now I’ll have their children’s lives as payback.”

He’s a lot of talk considering he could bleed out at any moment.

“You’re such a cliché.” A harsh laugh bubbles out as I eye thebastardowhile furiously working on the manacles behind my back. “You killed my mommy, and now I’m going to kill you,” I scoff in a whiny voice. Then I tick my head at Federico. “What’s your excuse?”

“I hate you.” He shrugs, pressing a towel to the wound in his upper arm and wincing. “Always have. There’s just something about you that irritates me.”

“I appreciate the honesty.” I wiggle the tip of the knife, and something clicks. Hope kindles deep in my gut, and I cut a quickglance toward Serena. Her chest rises and falls slowly, the slash on her head still dribbling blood.

“And with the old man retiring,” Federico continues, his breaths ragged, “taking over the crumbling Ferrara empire is the perfect way to cement my position as the new capo of the Sartoris.”

“How very ambitious of you, Fede, and here I thought you were simply a spoiled brat, cowering behind your father’s tremendous shadow.” Just one more twist… another click, and the lock disengages. Pain lances through my wrists as I finally slip one hand free from the cold metal of the handcuffs. Gripping the bracelets between my fingertips to keep them from clattering to the floor, I eye the pair then my gun on the floor by the door. It’s a little too far to reach, but both men are nursing gunshot wounds thanks to Serena’s sharp shooting skills, and I’m just a little banged up, plus I have a knife they know nothing about.

I like my odds.

I'm on my feet in a heartbeat, adrenaline masking the faint ache in my joints from the time spent bound and immobile. Federico and Santi are hunched over on the couch, their focus on tending to their wounds instead of me. Their guns are splayed across the coffee table just within their reach.

I fist the knife, its handle fitting snugly in my palm, a familiar and comforting weight, and inch closer.

Santi's head snaps up, his eyes widening in a mix of shock and fear. "Antonio, you—" he starts, but his words cut off as I step closer, the blade catching the light.

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