Page 79 of Bittersweet Endings
“I’m just saying, if you don’t pull your head out of your ass soon, you might as well let JP keep her. Because at leastheknew what he wanted and went after it.”
I slammed my hand against the steering wheel. “He’s playing a game. Looking to break her.”
“And you weren’t?” Lorenzo shot back, his voice deceptively light. “You sure? Because from where I’m sitting, youdidbreak her, just in a different way.” He sat back again. “And now you’re the one chasing her.” The bastard started laughing, knowing he was minutes away from getting his ass beat.
I returned my focus to the road, the city lights bleeding into the black horizon. “I’m going to make it right,” I said. “And if she tells me to fuck off after that…” I exhaled sharply. “Then I let her go.” I paused. “Until I kidnap her again and this fuckin’ time, I lock her down right.”
Silence settled in the car. But this time, it was heavier. Because we all knew I wasn’t the kind of man who let go of anything. Especially her.
It wasn’t long before the airstrip loomed ahead, the guard stand nothing more than a blur as we blew past it, shattering the metal gate. The jet was there—lights on, engines running, the door still open. We weren’t too late.
Lorenzo clapped his hands, a wicked grin spreading across his face. “Looks like we got one more round, boys.” He unholstered his gun, rolling his shoulders like he was stepping into a boxing ring instead of a war zone.
I barely heard him. My eyes were locked ahead. Then, as we got closer, I saw it.Them.Bodies. Strewn across the tarmac like discarded trash. Cars idling and empty.
The tires screeched as I slowed, my instincts flaring hot. Lucky’s car was right there next to us. Its doors flung open. His men were already out, taking in the same sight in front of us.
This was a fuckingmassacre.
I shoved open my door and ducked behind it, my gun drawn. My brothers did the same, Lorenzo letting out a low whistle as he took in the carnage.
“Damn,” he muttered. “Looks like someone started the party without us.”
I ignored him. “Where the fuck is she?” My chest heaved and I sucked in a sharp breath as I called out, “Octavia!”
The only response was the hum of the jet engines in the distance and the wind whipping around us. No movement. No signs of her.
I gritted my teeth, my pulse hammering in my skull as I scanned the tarmac. Then Lucky shouted from the other side of his car. “She’s gotta be here somewhere. Find her.”
Armed to the gills, his men moved around the cars with military precision. Until Lucky commanded them to stop.
A man staggered out from under the belly of the plane. He looked beaten, haggard, and his entire body was drenched in blood.
Lucky’s eyes narrowed. “Rocco?”
No reaction. The man’s face held no recognition or thought,his eyes vacant. Whatever he’d seen—no, whatever he’d done—had removed him from his body.
Lucky took a cautious step forward. “Rocco, what the fuck happened?”
If he was here, where was she?
He’d taken a call from the house and that was the last I’d seen of him. His lips moved, but the words were barely more than a whisper. “Told you… I’d…” His voice cracked, his bloodied hands twitching at his sides. “Protect her. Told you.”
Lucky cursed under his breath. “Rocco, where is she?”
Rocco didn’t seem to hear him. His head turned, like he was watching something only he could see. “So much blood. They kept coming. I told you.” His voice rose, shaky and lost. “I told you I could protect her.”
I clenched my jaw and turned away. “Octavia!” I shouted, but again no answer.
I rushed to the stairs leading up to the jet, my grip tightening on my gun. My heartbeat was a goddamn war drum in my ears.
Then… a voice. Low. Controlled. Waiting. It was Octavia, yet not the one I’d fallen for.
“Only you, Carmine.” A pause. “Just you. Come in.”
Everything in me went still. I felt Matteo and Lorenzo tense behind me, but I was already moving. My feet carried me forward, up the steps, towards whatever the fuck waited inside.
“Carmine, don’t do this. Not yet.” Matteo tried grabbing for me, but I shrugged him loose. “Goddamn it. Carmine, wait.” His hand clawed at my arm, forcing me to turn. His eyes burning into mine.
