Page 80 of The Don's Hidden Heir

I nod at him then look at my brother. “Don’t get hurt.”

He places a hand on my shoulder. “Make sure you find her.”

I don’t intend to come back unless I do.

Running off, I manage to evade the bullets flying around and run to the back of the warehouse where there’s a second exit. I hear footsteps in the distance and…Elena’s voice?

Fuck. I run faster until I can see Federico and his men dragging Elena to a fleet of cars up ahead. “Federico, you fucking bastard!”

My voice echoes under the pitch-black, starless sky. Some of Federico’s men stop in their tracks and begin to shoot at me. I duck behind a container beside me and shoot back until all five of them are dead.

“Dominic. No!”

Elena’s scream is like poison in my veins, driving me to a slow miserable death. Federico and his men are dragging her a prisoner of war.

I hate it.

I need to save her.

That is all I can think of as I run towards them. I shoot down the other men with Federico as I approach.

When he realizes he won’t be getting out of this alive, he wraps his arm around Elena’s neck and points a gun at me. “Move one bit and this bitch dies.”

I dare a step forward. “And then what? You’re not getting out of here alive.”

He breaks into an eerie manic laugh. “Not if I kill you first.”

Elena whimpers as he tightens his grip on her. “Dominic, please leave. Save yourself,” she pants. Her hazel eyes are filled with tears, her hair disheveled. Her skin is pale, bruised. A stabbing pain shoots through my heart as I look at her.

It’s my fault she’s in this mess.

All of this is my fault.

“Tell me, dear nephew, how does it feel seeing your loved one at my mercy?” He draws back his gun and presses it to her head. “All my life I’ve been nothing but second best. A coward like your father was never supposed to rule the Cosa Nostra. He took what was mine only because he was the first son.”

“Do you hate my father that much? Even in death? He was your brother.”

“I wish he never was and I hate him so much more now that he is dead, and I hate you even more.” There’s a psychotic gleam in his eyes when he looks at me. “I was supposed to beCapoafter your father died, but you and your brother came and took everything from me. It’s only fair I take something in return.”

My veins pulsate with anger. “You won’t be leaving here with anything tonight. Not even your life.”

He pulls his gun from Elena’s temple and shoots at me. Pain sears through my right arm like a white-hot poker and I stumble backward, my vision swimming winith a disoriented haze.

“No! Dominic!”

Elena digs her teeth in Federico’s arm, biting off a chunk of his wrinkly flesh. Federico lets out an anguished cry and loses his grip on her.

“Dominic!” Elena cries as she runs to me.

Federico points his gun at her. His fingers are about to press the trigger when I shoot his hand and the gun falls from it. He staggers backward and groans.

Elena presses my bleeding shoulder with trembling hand. “You’re hurt, Dominic. You’re bleeding.” She’s hyperventilating. “We need to take you to the hospital.”

“Elena.”

She’s not listening. She’s panicking too much to hear anything I’m saying.

“Hey.” I tuck her hair behind her ear and tilt her face to mine. “I’ll be fine. Trust me, I’ve been through a lot worse than a bullet in the shoulder.”

---