“Could it be your parents?” I refrain from chugging the wine. “Do you think Cristian called your father?”
Vinny retreats a step and eyes me suspiciously. “Did you tell Cristian this address?”
“Of course not.” My voice quivers. “This is our private place, Vinny. I’d never share that with anyone.” I sweep my hand over his shoulder. “Plus, you know how terrible I am with directions. I couldn’t tell him how to get here without a GPS even if he held a gun to my head and made me try.”
The alarm blares from his phone again.
My heart booms in my chest.
Please be Cristian.
“Someone is here.” Vinny slams his phone down, opens a cabinet, and extracts a gun.
I tiptoe away, but he stops me.
“What are you doing?”
“I …” My voice is toneless. “If I look out the window, I can see if someone is here.”
“I don’t fucking think so.”
I spin to face him, and he cups my cheeks in my hands. “It’s you and me, okay?” I run my thumb over his cheek. “We don’t need anyone else. I’ll kill Cristian myself if I have to. I’ll never let anyone hurt you.”
He bows his head and rests his forehead against mine. “I knew you still loved me.”
I have to get out of here.
Vincent said he wanted me dead, so if it’s him, I’m done for.
It’s now or never, Natalia.
I kiss him, slip the knife from my back pocket, and use all my power to impale the blade into Vinny’s chest. He groans, his body going stiff, and I jerk the knife out as fast as I can. I snap around, clutching the knife, and run.
“You stupid bitch.” Vinny tackles me to the floor and pins me down, facing him. “You think I haven’t been stabbed before?”
I struggle underneath him while crying out in hysterics.
He shifts so his knee is against my neck and wrenches the knife out of my hand. In one hand is his gun, and the other now has my knife.
He plays with both in his hand while glaring down at me. “You thought you were being so smooth, didn’t you? That you’d outsmart me?”
“Vinny,” I gasp as his knee presses harder into my throat and cuts off my air supply.
“Here I thought, you weren’t a whore.” He presses the gun against my forehead. “I’ll give you the same good-bye I gave Carmela.”
I shut my eyes and tremble while waiting for my life to end.
“Get off her before I give you that good-bye.”
Vinny’s body turns rigid at the sound of Cristian’s voice, and he laughs. “Fuck off, Marchetti. If you shoot me, I shoot her. Do you really want to hurt her?” He snorts before snatching a handful of my hair.
He returns the gun to me—this time between my eyes—and plays with the trigger with his thumb.
I squeeze my eyes shut and scream at the sound of a gunshot. Something wet splatters over my face. One by one, I open my eyes at the feel of a heavy weight collapsing on top of me.
Blood.
A dead Vinny.
There’s a bleeding dead body on top of me.
Seconds pass, as if the world stopped, and I scream before pushing at Vinny’s body. Cristian rushes to my side, shoving Vinny off, and Vinny falls with a thud next to me. I scoot back, placing as much space between his body and mine, and then scramble to my feet with Cristian’s assistance. He sweeps me into his arms, holding me tight, and repeatedly whispers that I’m safe.
When he pulls away, he tips his head down, and his stormy gaze pierces mine. He closes his strong hand around my face, cupping it like I’m a precious stone he’s been hunting for years.
His hand is rough, but his touch is gentle, calming me instantly.
My personal sedative.
With him, I’ll always feel safe.
My breaths are rushed.
His are ragged.
He rubs his thumb over my bottom lip.
I want this man so much.
Need him.
He found me, risked his life for me, killed for me.
I’m crying, nearly on the verge of hyperventilating, but I need him. My face is red and tearstained. My body weak, as if it’d been running a marathon all day.
I’m exhausted and have gone through hell, but it’s as if he hit a switch and I suddenly feel protected.
A breathless whisper of his name escapes my mouth before I press it to his. I shove my tongue into his mouth and kiss him brutally.
He kisses me back possessively, his hand moving from my face to grip the back of my head. My body throbs for him. Pictures fall from the walls, shattering, when he slams me into it. I moan as he rains kisses down my neck and unzips my shorts. My body is on fire as he slides down the zipper, and I help him shove my shorts down my legs before I kick them off.
Deviousness swirls in his eyes as a slow smirk builds along his lips. I’m catching my breath as he slips off his blazer, unbuckles his pants, and frees his cock.
My body shakes.
Waiting for him.
Needing him.
I rotate my hips, a silent beg for more.
I cry out his name when he slides his cock between my folds, feeling how wet I am, and he thrusts into me as he shoots Vinny again.
Another thrust, another shot at Vinny.
Another thrust, another gunshot.
With each stroke, he shoots my ex-boyfriend.
Over and over again.
Adrenaline pours through me as I fuck him back.
This is deranged.
Hot as fuck.
My monster is screwing me against the wall, next to my dead ex-boyfriend.
My monster, who’s become my savior.
CHAPTER 36
CRISTIAN
“Marchetti, we have a problem,” Antonio Lombardi says over the phone.
I kick my feet onto my desk while in my chair, resting the phone against my shoulder. “And what would that be?”
“Cut the shit.” I hear the snarl in his voice. “You murdered my brother.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Yes.”
I inspect my fingernails and chuckle. “You have the wrong man.”
“Christ,” he hisses. “This is why people hate talking to you.” He blows out a long breath. “We know you wanted him dead, and we also found out about his little kidnapping plan with Carmela and Rocky. We found his body, and all the cameras have been wiped clean. We’re not stupid.”
The Lombardis have no proof that we killed Vinny. Santos and his men cleared the security cameras. The place was wiped clean of prints. Not that the Lombardis would involve the police. They deal with situations like this on their own.
“My father wants you to hand Natalia over.” Antonio’s tone is controlled, but there’s a hint of wavering in his voice.
His hesitation reveals he doesn’t want Natalia dead as much as his father, but he’d never rebel against him.
I raise my voice. “No.”
“Cristian, you don’t want a war.”
“I will kill every man, including you, who tries to hurt her,” I sneer. “Do you understand me?”
“He was my brother.”
“And she is my wife. I care about her more than you did him.”
“That makes you weak.”
I scoff. “No, Antonio. That makes me crueler. Something to make sure I live for, and I’ll kill every motherfucker who threatens that.”