Page 60 of Captured Innocence

Suddenly, there was a loud banging noise and Mattia reacted as the savage soldier he’d been trained to be, throwing the arm holding the weapon toward the door, firing off two shots. The enemy soldiers went down.

“Fuck. Where are these assholes coming from?” Vincenzo growled under his breath.

“We need to get the fuck out of here. Stay right here, princess. I need to make certain we have a clear path. It seems someone wants you pretty badly. I guess they don’t know you,” he told me as he took two long strides toward the enemies, immediately kicking the first one who tried to struggle to his feet. Without hesitation, he shot one of them in the face before turning his attention to the one attempting to crawl out the door.

Vincenzo laughed and kicked him backwards, the hard thud as his body was slammed into the wall jarring. “The fucker actually thinks he’s getting away.”

“Yeah, well, he has another think coming,” Mattia said under his breath. I could tell he was enraged as well as perplexed why we were still being attacked. It would seem he underestimated whoever had taken control.

“Give me a weapon,” I demanded, refusing to play the victim for anyone.

“Not a chance, princess. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

To hell with this man. I scanned the floor, finding what I was looking for. As soon as I had the weapon once held by an enemy in my hand, Mattia jerked it away from me. “When I tell you no, I mean no. Got it?”

I glared at him then backed against the wall, trying to control my breathing. I’d never seen the powerful man in action and it was a thing of beauty. Mattia reached down, grabbing the soldier by the scruff of the neck, tossing him against the cement wall. Then he yanked a knife from his jacket, crouching down beside the broken man.

The stench of blood and urine assaulted my senses, finally becoming overwhelming. But I couldn’t take my eyes off the moment of carnage as he drove the blade under the soldier’s chin.

“Who did this?” he asked the assassin, his tone devoid of any emotion. This was just business to him.

When the soldier hurled a wad of spit against Mattia’s face, I shuddered. Suddenly, all the fire and anger I’d had inside of me faded away, replaced with raw fear. When Mattia slammed the knife into the man’s leg, I closed my eyes to keep from seeing the savagery.

Then I covered my ears as the enemy soldier began to wail.

The sound stopped abruptly a few seconds later. I took a deep breath, daring to lift my head, pulled back to the night from so many years before.

“It’s okay. You’re safe with me, princess,” he said as he wiped his knife on his pants, returning the blade to the sheath. It was far too similar to what I’d seen all those years before. I was frozen, incapable of thinking.

“Not around you,” I managed, no longer recognizing my voice. When I looked away, he laughed while I was shaken to my core.

“Hang around me long enough, princess, and you might learn a few things. This world is far too dangerous for a beautiful, yet innocent girl like you.”

I’d once used the term hero to describe Mattia. Then I’d learned better. Now I had no idea what moniker to use.

Especially since he obviously thought he was God.

CHAPTER 18

Mattia

“Go. Go. Go!” I snarled as I pushed Sophia forward, turning around the face the direction we’d come, popping off another round then immediately yanking another magazine from my pocket. At this rate, we wouldn’t have enough ammunition to get us to the fucking train station.

Vincenzo was carrying Luis, who’d been shot twice, once in the upper shoulder as well as the chest.

“Go now, Vincenzo. Get them to the truck.” The massive man had Luis pitched over his shoulder, but I wasn’t certain whatever heroic methods Sophia had insisted on would do the man any good. He was fading in and out of consciousness.

“I ain’t leaving you here, boss,” my Capo answered.

“Do it!” I snarled, the crack of limbs coming from behind us forcing me to drop to my knees. The early morning haze of light allowed me to catch sight of three motherfuckers following us. Without hesitation, I sprayed the area with bullets, pulling up the gun and taking a deep breath as I listened.

When Sophia crouched beside me, somehow managing to find a weapon, I half laughed. “What the fuck are you doing?”

“The same thing you are. I’m a soldier too.”

“Like hell you are. Go. Now!”

I’d seen the look of terror in her eyes when I’d all but gutted the soldier, the ugly yellow light unable to hide the flashback that had obviously torn through her mind.

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