Page 46 of His to Claim

“Where the fuck is she?” Vin asks, raking a hand through his air.

“I have a funny feeling he’s about to tell us,” Enzo says, his dark eyes glued to his screen.

Miceli’s nostrils flare. “And then we kill him.”

I lock eyes with Miceli and nod. “I’m going to rip his fucking heart out,” I growl. “Then string him up.”

I can’t get my hands around Gallo’s throat fast enough. Maybe I’ll wring the life out of him before I hang him. There are so many ways I could kill him, but none of them seem good enough. Whatever I do, though, I’m going to do it with a smile on my face.

White-hot anger floods through me as Gallo continues to taunt us and waste precious time. After what feels like forever, but has probably only been about a minute, he finally starts getting to the point.

“I want you to come here, so I can continue destroying your family, one by one. I’m not scared of you—not one of you—and I’m ready.”

“What the fuck did we ever do to this guy?” Enzo asks, completely bewildered like the rest of us.

As if in answer, Gallo looks directly into the camera and says, “You took something from me and now I’m going to takeeverythingfrom you. Starting with your baby sister.”

Click.The video ends and, a few seconds later, all of our phones receive a text from him, revealing his location.

Bingo! He’s so overly-confident and believes he can beat us. No way. Yes, he’s luring us into a trap, but we’re not stupid. I used to do this kind of shit all the time. I’ve snuck into enemy war zones and rescued hostages without ever having been seen. I was a damn good Delta operator. So good that my middle fucking name may as well be stealth.

So if Carmine Gallo thinks he has any kind of a chance against me, he’s sorely mistaken. He’s just taunted the wrong fucking man because I am going to take him out before he even knows what hit him. Just like my team used to do. Operation: Sagittarius is a go and fucking heads are about to roll.

The five of us bolt into action. Words are rapid-fire exchanged, and the women step back after quickly kissing their respective men. Without a second to spare, I race over to the elevator and slam my palm on the down button, Carlotta’s brothers right on my heels. This is it and we all know it. Failure is not an option.

Carlotta’s life literally hangs in the balance.

We’d already talked over what we’d do the moment we discovered Carlotta’s location and as soon as the elevator reaches the garage and opens, I’m running over to Miceli’s SUV along with Leo Amato, while Enzo, Vin and Angelo make their way to Blake’s Jeep. It’s good for off-road driving and we figured it might be better than driving one of their more sporty cars. It’s best to be prepared because who knows what kind of terrain we might encounter.

The three of us are barely situated in Miceli’s SUV before he’s backing it up and zooming toward the exit. I pull up the GPS on my phone and plug in the location that Gallo gave us, waiting impatiently for the directions to pop up.

We’re all under the assumption that this is a trap, that he’s trying to lure us to our own destruction like he said, so we have every intention of being careful. The only reason Gallo revealed his location is because he’s waiting and he’s ready.

But, so are we. Enzo should’ve placed the call to the other four mafia families by now. They are on stand-by, waiting to hear from him, and now they should be moving. We have backup and I gotta say, I have full confidence in the dangerous men coming to our aid.

We just need to make sure we get there in time. If we don’t…

Fuck.I can’t even think about it. There’s no choice but to save Carlotta and defeat Gallo.

“ETA?” Miceli barks, all business, eyes glued to the road. He drives like a bat out of hell, and I lay a hand against the dashboard as he expertly maneuvers the vehicle around other traffic and through intersections.

“Thirty minutes,” I reply grimly.

“I’ll get us there in fifteen,” he states confidently and floors it. The Range Rover squeals around a bus and I realize I’m holding my breath. Not because of Miceli’s driving, but because I can’t stop picturing Carlotta’s face in that goddamn video. I could tell she was trying to be incredibly brave, but I saw the fear in her pretty brown eyes.

And the tears. Even though the video was slightly grainy, I couldn’t miss the bright tears glistening in her dark eyes and it makes my heart break. I’m not sure when my heart became capable of loving again, not exactly aware of the exact moment it flooded with warmth and life again, but I have an idea.

It was the moment Carlotta Rossi swept into my life dressed up like the Queen of Hearts. She’s truly the loveliest creature I’ve ever met, and it’s so much more than her beauty. More than the sex, too. As good as that was, it’s Carlotta’s warmth and smile and goodness that draws me to her, that makes me want to lose myself in her and absorb some of the amazing light she radiates.

The truth is I’m falling so hard for her, it feels like I’ve been run over by a semi truck. Getting to her in time, saving her before the trap door drops, is going to happen. We’re going to beat Gallo at his own game because there’s no other alternative.

I plan to ride off into the sunset with my woman. I just hope Gallo, or her brothers, don’t murder me beforehand.

Glancing over at Miceli, his jaw set and determined, I wonder if he’d approve of me with his sister.Shit.I honestly don’t know what he’s going to do when he finds out. But, one thing at a time. First, we have to save Lottie.

Then I face her brothers and tell them the truth—I love their little sister.

My phone vibrates and I look down to see a text from Enzo. I read it fast then look over at Miceli and then over the backseat at Leo. “The other families all confirmed. Our plan is moving forward and all the players know what to do.”

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