Page 49 of Tease

“Look who it is. I should have known she would never come here alone.”

Then he charged at me, his knife raised. I ducked away from his blow, spinning around to try to land one of my own. Emmett was faster than I expected. He twisted and blocked me, putting his arm up to catch my wrist. The gleam in his hazel eyes had me swallowing. He threw me back and then came at me again. I had to keep my guard up as he tried to punch me with his other hand.

“I knew I would have to deal with you sooner rather than later,” he spat. “Gennaro’s son stuck his guard dog on those bitches. Does he know you’re screwing her? Don’t think he’d be too happy about it if he did.”

I blocked another blow, losing ground as I did it. I didn’t bother replying to him, concentrating on looking for an opening. He tried to stab me again, but I stopped his hand with my free one before I slammed my fist holding my knife into his side. He grunted from the impact and staggered back slightly.

“Oh, you’re good, but I’m better.”

He came at me again, completely on the offensive. I blocked blow after blow. This fuck was determined. I was in no doubt his rage at Rina’s family was fuelling him. I managed to get a few good hits in, but I wasn’t trying to kill him, even if he seemed determined to off me. If I could incapacitate him, I could call Zayn for backup. I’d leave it up to the head of the family to deal with this piece of shit, although I wanted to stab him in the fucking heart for threatening my girl. For having the audacity to come after her family. Revenge didn’t get anyone anywhere. His hatred was blinding him. Clearly, it was why he was so intent on getting me out of the way so he could go after Rina.

The next moments played out in slow motion. He feigned a hit, drawing my attention away from his fist with the knife in it. I went to block, but he spun around me. My eyes darted down to my lower abdomen, finding a knife sticking out of it. The pain registered a moment later as he shoved me into the shelving unit a few feet away. My head slammed into the metal.

“I’ll deal with you later. Now I’m going to get that bitch and rip her fucking hair out.”

I turned, putting my back to the shelves, and saw him run off in the direction Rina had gone. My hand went to the knife, wincing at the pain, but I didn’t pull it out. That would be a huge fucking error of judgement on my part. It had been a long time since I’d been in a fight where I’d got injured. I needed to go after him, but the moment I took a step forward, my vision blurred. I leaned back against the shelves and slid down them, the knife in my other hand dropping onto the floor next to me. My head pounded, making it hard to think straight.

“Fuck,” I grunted.

Everything in me screamed to go after Emmett. To protect Rina from him, but the room was spinning. It was just my fucking luck I’d hit my head.

“Arlo,” came a hushed voice to my left.

I turned my head at the sound, finding Rina crouched down nearby. She shuffled over, her grey eyes wide behind her glasses.

“Rina, I—”

She put a hand over my mouth to shut me up. Her eyes went to the knife sticking out of me. Panic flashed across her features before she looked at me again. Her mouth thinned and her eyes turned dark. Then she dug her phone out of her pocket and fiddled with it before pressing it into my hand. I watched her pick up the knife I’d dropped and rise to her feet. She pointed at the phone, then she crept away. I wanted to tell her to stop, but what the fuck use was I at this point? I couldn’t stand up, nor help her.

I raised the phone to my face and saw she’d called Zayn. I could hear his voice, so I pressed it to my ear.

“Rina? Are you there?”

“It’s me,” I whispered, having enough wherewithal to realise I had to stay quiet. “Rina and I are in trouble.”

“What do you mean, you’re in trouble?”

“The boy… Emmett, he’s behind this. I’ll give you the address of where we are. Just get down here now. He stabbed me and my head… I can’t think properly… Rina… Rina has gone after him.”

“You let her go after him? What the fuck, Arlo?”

“I didn’t have a… a choice. Zayn, seriously, get down here.”

I rattled off the address to him. There was a lot of noise in the background of the phone as Zayn barked at someone. Then he was telling me he was on his way.

My head hurt worse now. My vision was fading at the edges. The very last thing I felt was my hand dropping to the floor before the world fell out from underneath me and it all went black.

Eighteen

Rina

The knowledge Emmett had stabbed Arlo burnt a hole in my chest. He’d hurt someone I cared for more than life itself. He’d killed my father. He was going to kill me if given half the chance. Then he’d go after my mother and sisters. I wasn’t going to let that happen. I didn’t know if he’d stop there, either. He was so blinded by revenge, I couldn’t imagine he would.

I knew what I had to do now, even if the thought of it made my heart hurt.

Creeping along the shelving unit towards the sound of his footsteps, I gripped Arlo’s knife tighter in my fist. Today, I would be the Villetti I’d been born to be. A woman who wouldn’t allow anyone to harm the ones she loved. A woman who would protect the family no matter the cost to her own soul. I wouldn’t be meek, little Rina with a stammer any longer. It was time people realised I wasn’t weak. No, I was strong enough to protect my own.

I rubbed my chest with my free hand, trying not to picture the knife sticking out of Arlo’s lower abdomen. He’d need medical attention. I hoped he’d been able to talk to Zayn and tell him where we were. My cousin was my backup plan if I failed in my task.

---