Page 99 of Beautiful Devil

Now we go. My men split up into four teams, one to breach the front of the house where the two guards are, one on the east side, one on the south side, and one with me going toward the back. Usually, I would be heading my team, but since this extraction is literally life or death for mydolcezza, I decide to hang back a little bit and let my men take over and show me what they're capable of doing. I can’t have something happen to me before we’re even inside. I need to see my wife with my own two eyes and feel her in my arms again. Only then will I be able to rest and let fate take over. I just need to stay alive long enough to get to her and get her out safely.

We stop fifteen yards away from the back door. I signal to my men to hang back but to have their weapons at the ready. Massimo uses his silencer on the end of his 9-millimeter to keep our presence hidden for now. He takes out both guards with a bullet between the eyes. Andreas and Gino quickly grab the bodies, moving them out of the way. They grab the jackets off the guards and put them on before taking up their posts in front of the door, making it look like nothing is out of the ordinary.

Once my men are in place, we head inside. Marco is next to me and has the GPS pulled up on his phone. He has the phone angled in front of us so we can both see. Even though I have my own gun and silencer out and ready, I’m only paying attention to the little red dot that’s blinking back at me.

“This way,” I say to my men and signal them to turn left down this hallway.

We are just about on top of the red dot when I hear voices and put my hand up to halt my men.

“Well, you had a good run,cara. Twenty-six years longer than you should have. Any last words?”

Dante’s voice sends a shiver down my spine. No fucking way am I letting thisstronzotake mydolcezzafrom me.

I turn to my men and mouthmoveright at the same time as I hear my sweet Gia’s voice saying, “Fuck you,uncle.”

We move to the door and kick it open, and my world comes to a halt as soon as I see Dante standing in front of Gia, holding a gun to her head. I don’t think; I just react. I lift my right arm and fire off my gun, hitting that bastard right in the chest at the same time his gun goes off, causing Gia to fall back in her chair and hit the ground.

“Marco.”

Before I can even say another word, he nods his head in understanding, taking off to handle the rest of Dante’s men as I make a mad dash to my wife. I see a puddle of blood start to form underneath her, and although I know I shouldn’t move her or touch her in any way because that may cause more harm, Ihaveto touch her and know that she's okay.

Lifting her off the ground, I quickly assess her. My eyes roam over her body to see how badly she’s injured. Quickly untying her from the chair, I cradle her in my arms and speak directly into her ear.

“It’s okay,dolcezza. I’ve got you,amore mio. I’ve got you. Stay with me, Gia.Ti amo.”

I repeat this over and over until I’m snapped out of my fog. I hear Marco calling my name, and that’s when I realize I’m in the middle of the room holding Gia with shots going off all around me.

I look to where Marco is positioned behind an old chair just in time to hear him say, “Get out of here!”

That’s all it takes for me to snap out of whatever trance I was in. He’s right. I need to move. I need to get Gia out of here and to a hospitalnow. I don’t even know if she’s still alive and where this blood is coming from. Carefully lifting her and myself off the ground, I look around to make sure no one notices us and run.

Gia is cradled to my chest like a baby. I have my gun at the ready in my right hand just in case some fucker decides to come after us. As if he can read my mind, I hear footsteps behind and turn, raising my gun. Thankfully, it’s just Marco.

He doesn’t seem to be put off by me pointing a gun at him, because all he says is, “Go! I’ve got your back. Just get her out of here.”

Turning back around, I run as fast as I can while trying to ensure I’m not jarring Gia too much. I see my men all around taking Dante’s men out. I can hear the gunshots, but I feel as if I’m detached from my body, running through this house in a haze with one goal on my mind:get Gia to safety.

We emerge from the house, and I’m happy to see that Santino already has the car pulled up in the distance. As soon as he sees me, he opens the car door for us. I nod my head in thanks as I climb in the back, still holding Gia close to me. I can’t put her down. I need to have her close; I need to feel her body against mine. It’s the only thing that’s keeping me remotely sane right now. Santino climbs back into the driver's seat, and I’m about to yell at him to go when the front passenger door opens and Marco climbs in.

“You didn’t think I was going to leave you and let you go alone, did you?”

I’m completely taken aback right now, and a lump is starting to form in my throat.

“About time, fucker. Let's go, Santino.”

He gives me one of his rare smiles before turning around in his seat. While Santino drives, I finally have time to really look over Gia and her injuries. Her face is bruised, and her right eye is swollen shut. She has blood all over her, so it’s hard to tell right now what is a cut and what is just dried blood. But just by looking at her, she doesn’t even look like mydolcezzaanymore. Dante’s gun went off and hit her, but I’m still unsure where. I carefully lift up her shirt and stop dead in my tracks when I see the bruises on her torso and ribs already. My blood is running molten now. The rage and anger I have inside me is begging to come out. To unleash the beast on those fuckers for what they did to my wife.

Tracing my hand ever so lightly over her bruised ribs, I make a silent promise to never let anyone hurt her ever again. I make my way up further to her chest and let out a breath of relief when I see that there is no gaping bullet hole there. That can only mean one thing: it’s coming from her shoulder. I lower her shirt back down and carefully peel her shirt back from her shoulder, and that’s where I’m met with a puddle of blood and the bullet wound. Not even thinking, I yank my shirt off and apply pressure to the area, all while stroking her face and telling her over and over to stay with me.

I don’t even realize we’re here until the car stops outside Boston General. Santino climbs out and opens the door. I’m about to climb out when Marco stops me.

“Fab, you can’t go in like that,” he gestures to my body. I look down at my naked torso that is now covered in my wife’s blood and brush him off.

“I don’t fucking care. If they don’t like the fact that I took my shirt off to help my wife to stop the bleeding because she was shot, then fuck ‘em,” I bark back at him.

His eyes go big, and he looks down at Gia and then back at me.

“She was shot?” he asks, shocked.

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