Page 14 of Deadly Wrath

Adrenaline kicks in at an all-time high, and I push harder, shoving through the stairwell door and bursting into the alleyway behind Elli Enterprises.

I step back, trying to catch my breath, and slam straight into a wall of muscle. It knocks the air out of me, and before I can even think about screaming, a hand clamps over my mouth.

I squirm and try to break free, fighting against the tough grip, but full-on panicking on the inside. I can’t turn to see who it is, but I don’t need to. It’s him. Or one of his men.

“Calm down, will you?” the voice hisses in my ear. “Or I will hurt you.”

I freeze. Every muscle in my body locks up, and my lungs are barely able to pull in air. The hand over my mouth loosens just enough for me to speak, but I’m still pinned tight against the human boulder behind me.

“Who the hell are you?” I manage to hiss.

“Someone who’d rather not have you dead in an alley,” he replies dryly. “And you might want to save your breath for explaining yourself.”

I twist, desperately trying to get a glimpse of my captor. “I can handle myself.”

“Sure,” he snorts. “That’s why you were running from the Don like your life depends on it. And well, maybe it does.”

I want to argue with the lumberjack sporting a man bun and snap back with something sharp, but before I can even process what’s happening, I’m being dragged back into the building.

Double shit.

I stumble as I’m pulled through the doorway, my breath catching in my throat—and then I see him.

Alessandro Gualtiero.

The guy takes the termterrifying to a whole new level. Holy crap, he seems so much bigger, up close. His broad shoulders practically block out everything behind him, and his sharp jawline looks like it was carved specifically to terrify people. His blue eyes darken, pinning me in place. I can feel them scanning me like he’s trying to figure me out, deciding if I’m worth the trouble.

I swallow hard. Spoiler alert: I’m not going down without a fight.

“You think you can run from me?” he growls. His brows pull together, so tight they’re practically forming a unibrow of rage. If this were a cartoon, there’d be actual steam shooting out of his ears. His fists clench like he’s seconds away from punching a wall, or me.

My brain screams at me to do something, anything, but my body refuses to cooperate, frozen by his force.

Breathe, Liv. Act unfazed.

My lips twitch, like they want to throw out some sassy remark, but my brain is still buffering. Instead, I tilt my head slightly, like I’m sizing him up. When really, I’m just stalling, desperately trying to figure out how the hell I’m getting out of this.

7

Alessio

Her green eyes lock onto mine, wide and intense. Her red hair’s a mess, and not in the deliberate, styled way. It’s wilder, curling at the edges, and frizzing from the summer humidity like it’s got a mind of its own. It frames her face, making her look untamed and uncontrolled. For some reason, that amuses the hell out of me. Seeing her vulnerable, exposed, and completely at my mercy makes me smirk.

What can I say? TheSirenapiques my interest.

“You’ve got some explaining to do, little stalker,” I say sharply.

“I don’t have to explain anything to you,” she spits back.

I let out a low chuckle, tilting my head as I take her in. All attitude, all fight, even when she knows she’s lost. Something about it makes me almost forget she just ran from me. Almost.

I close in on her as she scrambles backward, but Kota’s got a tight grip on her with one arm around her waist and his other around her shoulders. Yanking her back into the elevator.

Nowhere to run, Sirena.

When we get to the 27th floor, he pulls her into a small office and forces her into a chair. Before she can even think about bolting, he grabs an old phone cord from the desk and secures her wrists to the armrests. The room is tight, barely enough space for the desk, and it feels more like a prison cell than an office.

I give her a pointed look, watching for any reaction. Her jaw tightens, but she doesn’t take the bait.

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