The Devil I Desire (Devil's Knights 4)

I pulled open the side door and heard my brother scream. It was such an unnatural, pained sound that sent a shiver down my arms.

“Put me down,” Alex yelled. “Luca’s hurt.”

I glanced over my shoulder and saw Luca clutching his shoulder, blood staining his shirt.

“Luca,” Alex screamed.

He looked in her direction. Then he staggered to the side, about to topple over, but Drake Battle caught him in time. Luca had pumped bullets into Claudio, but the fucker still wasn’t dead. Covered in blood, he moved toward Luca, a gun in his hand. He muttered something I couldn’t make out from this distance. Before he shot at my brother again, Sonny aimed at Claudio’s head and plunged a bullet into his skull.

Alex yanked on my arm. “Marcello, please.”

Some of Claudio’s men retreated from the ballroom, knowing this would not end well for them. After the gunfire ceased, I lowered Alex to the floor. She rushed across the room to get to Luca.

I couldn’t lose my father and brother on the same day. A pain, unlike anything I had ever experienced, sliced deep into my chest. I moved toward Luca, Alex, and the Knights, as if everything were happening in slow motion.

None of this felt real.

Drake laid Luca on the tile on his back, breathing heavily at the sight of my brother near death. Carl Wellington was at Drake’s side, ordering the Knights to get supplies. After Alex stabbed Luca in a fit of rage and almost killed him, my father bought enough medical equipment to create a hospital ward at the estate.

Alex sat on the floor beside Luca and squeezed his hand. “No, no, no. You’re not allowed to die on me, Luca. Not on our wedding day.”

My father was dead on the floor, his body beside Claudio. Finn Cormac winced in pain, slumped over in a chair on the right side of the aisle. Sonny and Callum were at his sides. Only a handful of the Knights looked unscathed.

With whatever energy he had left, Luca touched Alex’s cheek with his bloody hand, his voice trembling along with his body. “I’ve never loved anyone or anything as much as I love you, Drea. You saved me, baby girl.” He struggled to keep his eyes open, his breathing labored. “When I’m gone, I want you to remember me. I want you to tell our son stories about me. I hope you make me the hero in all of them, even though we both know I was the villain.”

She sobbed, tears running down her cheeks. “No, Luca. You will tell him yourself. Stay with me. Keep your eyes open for me.”

Alex had recently found out she was pregnant.

“Get our marriage annulled. Marry Marcello,” he told her. “He will take care of you, give you a better life than I ever could.”

I breathed heavier, biting the inside of my cheek. This wasn’t supposed to happen. My entire family wasn’t supposed to die. Luca was the heir to our empire, and I wanted no part of it.

“I don’t want a life without you, Luca.” Alex curled into a ball on the floor beside him and held his hand. “I need you. This baby needs you. I can’t live without you.”

“You gave me peace in times of war.” He lost his grip on her hand. “It’s okay, baby. Let go.”

As his eyes closed, my stomach twisted into knots. I wanted to puke at the sight of my entire family dead on the fucking floor. Because of Alex and our family’s twisted past, I had nothing left to lose.

My brother was one lucky bastard, my father not so much. Carl Wellington treated Luca, whose life dangled by a thread until the Medevac helicopter flew him to the nearest hospital. I waited with Alex and the Knights in a private area while Luca was in surgery.

We sat for a few hours until a nurse entered the room. She gestured for Alex and me to follow her to Luca’s room. Limited to two guests at a time, the rest of the Knights had to wait to see their leader. I held Alex’s hand as we followed the nurse down the hallway. My touch always seemed to comfort her in times of distress.

Alex gasped at the sight of Luca hooked up to monitors, his eyes closed, and his head turned toward the door. He looked like shit. I’d never seen my brother look so bad.

“Why are the monitors beeping?” Alex asked the nurse.

She smiled. “That’s normal.”

“Is he going to survive?”

“He’s not out of the woods yet, but his doctor is optimistic he will make a full recovery.”

“Thank you,” I said.

The nurse nodded, then left us alone.

Alex stood in front of me, her back ramrod straight. I tapped her back and helped her inch toward my brother’s bed.

She brushed the black hair off his forehead. “I’m here, Luca.”