Page 91 of Twisted Embrace

“Fine. Then try and get ahold of D’Artagnan or Enzo.” As soon as I issued the words, I noticed Lucia was already on her phone. When she lifted her head, her face was white as a ghost.

“Dar isn’t answering.” She glanced at Anthony then back to me. “Something is very wrong. I feel it in my bones.”

Finally, Anthony seemed to accept one or both of us might be right, yanking his phone into his hand. Whatever number he dialed, it was obvious he didn’t have any better success.

“Stay here,” he growled then headed for the front of the store.

I took a deep breath, finally turning my head toward Lucia. “It’s going to be okay.”

“I don’t know.”

“Sit down. You can’t get upset. It’s not good for the baby.”

“I was crazy to think I could have a family and live a normal life. Don’t do it, Joy. Run as far away from this family as possible.”

Shit. She was far too distraught. I grabbed her arm, trying to guide her toward one of the chairs. That’s when we both heard a loud sound. While it could have been from a car backfiring, that was rare these days. “Sit,” I told her. “Don’t move. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Don’t do anything crazy.”

Crazy had become my middle name as of late. I took cautious steps toward the front window, now furious with myself that I hadn’t asked Enzo for a weapon. When I was within three feet of the all glass door, it shattered in front of me. Now there was no mistaking the sound of gunfire.

I reacted instantly, crouching low and rushing toward Lucia.

Pop! Pop!

The additional two rounds brought a scream from Lucia’s lips. Oh, dear God. What were we going to do? Seconds later, Anthony exploded into the store, rushing toward us.

“Get to the back. Get to the back! Now!” When we hesitated, he yanked both of us by our arms, covering us with his massive body. The hard jolt forced me to drop my phone.

“Wait!” I yelled, trying to get to it. It was my lifeline to the man I’d fallen head over heels for.

“No time.” Anthony was obviously well trained, ushering us into the back room, pointing his finger. “We have one chance to get the fuck out of here. The others are dead.”

He’d parked the second SUV in a clandestine location in the alley behind a dumpster. That didn’t mean it hadn’t already been compromised.

Lucia clung to me, her breathing irregular.

I nodded, which was all I had left in me, waiting as he opened the door, shifting from one side to the other, finally motioning for us. I now understood we had seconds to try to get out of harm’s way.

Panting, I wrapped my arm around Lucia.

“This isn’t good,” she said between clenched teeth. “Maybe your premonition was wrong.”

I wasn’t going to tell her I was certain I was right. Just as we breached the door, Anthony roared.

“Run!”

I’d always heard that people suddenly had extraordinary strength and agility when faced with a crisis. I truly hadn’t understood the concept until this moment. Everything happened in slow motion, but that allowed the terror to claw its way inside every muscle and tendon. Two men were racing down the back alley, their weapons drawn. As Anthony continued to shield our bodies, I heard two additional gunshots.

And suddenly, the only lifeline we had left went down, blood oozing from the back of his shirt.

There was no second guessing what I was doing, shoving Lucia into the back seat of the SUV. But I refused to go down without a fight. As Anthony struggled to breathe, the enemy bastards were getting closer, only they weren’t firing any additional shots.

This was still about capturing either me or both of us. That wasn’t going to happen. Not while I could still take a breath from my lungs.

I scrambled toward Anthony, yanking the weapon from his hand. It had been a few years since my father had taught me how to shoot a gun. He’d insisted on it, telling me that a girl living alone needed to know how to protect herself with something other than mace.

I’d wondered why he’d insisted on taking me to target practice, ensuring that I was a crack shot.

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