Page 43 of Blood Ties

“All Signs Point to Lauderdale”—A Day To Remember

Me: I’ve had enough. I’m coming over whether you like it or not. We need to talk

Isent the text and climbed into the back of the black Cadillac XTS sedan. I told my driver where I wanted to go and we pulled out into traffic.

After a couple of brief stops, we made our way to Nivea’s condo.

“Do you want me to wait?” my driver asked.

“Just until I know if she’s actually here,” I absently replied, then went into the building. The ride to the top floor seemed to take forever. When I got out, I marched to her door, prepared to knock it down if I had to. The stubborn woman was going to hear me out.

But when I reached up to knock, I heard voices coming from inside. “Shit,” I whispered, hoping it wasn’t her father. The man would probably beat my ass before I could say a word to her.

Then I heard her cry out, and I almost dropped the bag of food and flowers, but I would lose the element of surprise. Cautiously, I set them to the side and tried the door. It was locked, so I pulled out my wallet. I slipped the lock pick from it and quickly picked her knob, hoping the deadbolt wasn’t locked as well. Those could sometimes be a little tricky.

Relief hit me when I was able to open the door after unlocking the knob. Quietly, I turned it and debating barging in or opening the door slowly to draw less attention. The layout of her condo was pretty open, so I wouldn’t have much cover. There was a chance she was arguing with her father, but she had sounded scared, not angry.

What I saw when I carefully stepped inside made my blood run cold. In a move born out of muscle memory, I had my pistol in my hand.

The little weasel that was Justin Santino’s assistant was holding a gun pointed at Nivea as she stood in her open window, clutching the frame. Her eyes were wide and terrified.

As I raised my weapon, he pushed her and as her feet slipped from the sill, I pulled the trigger. The piece of shit hadn’t even hit the floor before I was in motion. Heart in my throat, I prepared myself for the devastation.

What I wasn’t expecting was to see the woman I was in love with hanging on for dear life to what looked like a plant ledge.

“Alessio!” She stared up at me with terror in her gaze.

“Fuck. I’m coming,” I told her as I leaned over the metal shelf, for lack of better words, to reach for her. But my weight leaning over added with hers caused the metal to creak and it appears to be pulling from the aged brick of the building.

She screamed and I swore. Fighting to stay calm, I glanced around her condo, looking for something I could use to harness her. There had to be something because I didn’t know how long she could hold on.

Then I spotted her welder sitting near her work area. She had a long, thick extension cord plugging it in to the wall. Stepping over the dead body, I rushed over, jerked it from the wall, and unplugged it from the machine.

“Niv, baby, I’m going to try to loop this around you so we can use it as a harness to get you up. Hang on for me,” I stared her in the eye as I was making the loops—one for her, and one for me. If she fell, I would do my damnedest to be her anchor.

“O-O-Okay,” she stuttered.

Christ, her teeth were chattering. It was both freezing out there, and she was likely going into shock. I worked faster, then I wrapped one end around myself and leaned out as far as I could without putting too much weight on the plant shelf.

I tried to use it a bit like a lasso to get it around her lower body, but a cowboy, I sure as fuck was not. Her knuckles were white, but her cheeks and hands were bright red. After two more attempts, I wanted to roar out my frustration and fear.

Taking a deep breath, I tried again. I almost cried when I got it around one foot but not the other. “Baby, I need you to see if you can get your other foot through the loop.”

She glanced down and her face went ashen. A whimper carried on the cold wind.

“Try,” I encouraged her. “I know you can do this.”

She nodded slightly, but I could tell she was trying to convince herself as much as me. She dropped her gaze and tried to slip her other foot through, but the movement only made her start to sway. Her attention snapped back to me. “I can’t.”

“Yes. You. Can. Do you hear me? You can do this.” I stared into her terrified blue eyes and prayed to a god I really didn’t believe in anymore to help her.

“Y-Y-Yes.” She tried again and almost had it. Then a determined look hit her face and she did it again. That time it connected, and the loop was around her lower legs.

“When I get it up to your chest, I need you to grab it with one hand. When I tell you, you let go of the railing with the other and I’ll pull you up.”

Her lower lip trembled, but she nodded.

Carefully, I worked the loop up. I didn’t want to do it too quickly and have it just slip off. When it was where I hoped would be the best area, I locked my gaze on her with more confidence than I really felt. “You ready?”

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