Page 93 of Savage Don's Captive

“Son,” Fabio calls, unmoving. “I think you need to step aside.”

“No.”

“Listen to Fabio, friend.”

“He’s not going to go very far,” Fabio continues. “You just need to—“

“I said, no, Fabio,” Dominic hisses against gritted teeth and it’s sickening to hear the sound of hopelessness and defiance in his voice. “This isn’t about work for me anymore. This is my life. And if something happens to her—“

His words hang in the air, unfinished but clear as day. This isn’t just another job to him—I’m not just another assignment.

I mean something to him, something worth risking everything for.

The thought fills me with a strange warmth that radiates outward from my chest.

“You think I’m going to hurt my own family?”

“You bomb that fucking church, you jackass,” Dominic reminds. Bile rises from my throat as the image of what happened that morning flashes in my mind. The screams, the heat, the bodies—children’s bodies—broken and bloody among the rubble. “And you’re aware that she was inside.”

“Did she die? No. I needed to make a point. I needed you to understand what I’m capable of, and what lengths I can go to get what I need. And right now, I need Alessa.”

I don’t know why he needs me to reform the Commission. The role I’m going to play—the role he’s going to play—but I know it’s stupid. And I’m not going to cooperate one bit for whatever cause this sick man believes in.

I study Raffy’s face—the unhinged gleam in his eyes, the arrogant set of his jaw. But beneath the madness, I see something familiar, something that makes my blood run cold. He has my mother’s chin, her cheekbones, the same stubborn tilt to his head. We share the same blood, and that terrifies me more than his gun ever could.

“So, you’ve got two choices. You can step aside, and I walk out of here with her, no bloodshed. Or you can keep defying me, and she dies. Simple as that. Because in the end, if I don’t get her, nobody does.”

Dominic stays rock solid, not a single muscle shifting, as if the weight of Raffy’s words doesn’t even faze him. I’m about to open my mouth to speak up when Dominic sighs, a sound laced with resignation. With one precise, deliberate move, he steps aside. And in that instant, I’m left face-to-face with Raffy’s devilish grin.

He watches me like a predator watching its prey, his smirk spreading wider as he savors the moment of victory. But my blood runs cold. The second Dominic steps back, Raffy tugs me forward with such force, that it feels like my arm might snap clean off. The sharp pain in my shoulder is nothing compared to the terror rising in my chest.

“That took a lot of convincing,” Raffy chuckles, his voice thick with satisfaction. My head snaps to the side, locking eyes with Dominic. A cold knot tightens in my stomach as I try to make sense of what I’m seeing. He’s just standing there, his shoulders rigid, his expression unreadable. He’s not moving, not reacting. It’s like he’s giving me up to Raffy without a second thought. No fight. No protest.

But what can he do, really?

The thought hits me like a sucker punch—Dominic’s hands are tied, and there’s nothing he can do to stop it. He’s caught in a game he can’t win. And worse, he’s letting me slip through his fingers. The silence between us stretches, suffocating, as I realize just how much worse this could get.

Before I know it, Raffy takes a step forward, his stride full of smug pride as he drags me in the house, and I can alreadyfeel the weight of what’s coming. . My pulse spikes and panic surges through me as I trash against his hold, twisting my arm desperately in the hopes of freeing myself. But the bastard is a wall of muscle—twice my size, twice my height—and I’m no match for him. His grip tightens, sending a searing pain through my arm, and my breath hitches. Every step I take feels like it could be my last, every tug at his grip a futile attempt to escape.

“No!” I cry out, ignoring the blinding pain on my shoulder as Raffy continues to manhandle me. I hear Dominic’s taunts to Raffy, promising his vengeance. I can’t comprehend as my heart pulses against my ears. “Let me go!”

“Don’t fight it, Alessa. You’re just going to get yourself—”

Raffy doesn’t even finish his sentence when gunshots erupt inside the house, the deafening sound tearing through the air like a violent storm. He freezes, his hand still clutching my arm, his grip tightening as the sharp crack of each shot echoes in the air. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up, every muscle in my body tensing as if bracing for the impact of the next round.

I can hear the screams, the panicked shouts echoing through the walls, and it sends a sickening wave of dread washing over me. My breath quickens, and my chest tightens as terror claws at my insides. I glance up at Raffy, but his face is unreadable, frozen in a mask of tension as he listens. He’s just as shaken as I am, even if he’s trying to hide it.

And then the bodies start to rain. Literally.

Chapter twenty-nine

Dominic

Againsttherapid,sharpsound of guns and screams coming from inside the house, I hear the faint echoes of struggling coming from the rooftop. A second later, a body drops, and we hear the sickening crunch of his skull as it meets the concrete, blood spilling out in a dark, widening pool beneath his shattered head. Then another body follows suit. The snipers.

The second guy has a slender Italian stiletto pierced through his left eye, driven so deep the polished steel blade is buried to the hilt. Only the handle remains visible, the crescent moon sigil and intricate engravings now slick with blood. That dagger. I know that dagger. Luca. Fucking finally. My crew’s here, but that doesn’t mean Raffy gets to breathe one second longer. My blood’s still boiling for his head.

I glance at the Commission bosses. They’ve drawn their weapons too, eyes sharp despite their age. Paolo’s jaw is set in grim determination, the family resemblance to Alessa suddenly striking. Fabio’s hand doesn’t shake on his gun, and Vincenzo has already positioned himself for a clear shot.

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