Owned (Dellucci Mafia Duet)

“Watch out!”

Suddenly, two men run up to us from the sidewalk, and for a second there, I almost think they’re Molly’s secret henchmen coming to drag me right back. My body instinctively prepares for impact.

But then they whip out two guns, and my eyes widen as they point them at the guards at the fence and start to shoot.

I recognize these two men.

Mario and Claudio! Two of Marcello’s most trusted allies.

“Didn’t think you would listen,” Claudio says to Marcello as we hide behind them for cover.

“I’m surprised it took you this long,” Marcello replies.

The two men shoot some more until the guards are forced to use the doors as a blockade.

“Go,” Mario growls. “We’ll take care of them. Get her to safety.”

“Don’t die, old man,” Marcello says, and Mario nods right back at him.

Then Marcello grasps my hand and drags me along with him.

“I have a car waiting for us,” he says, briskly crossing the street and turning left.

It’s all going so fast that I barely have time to fully process what just happened.

That I was just about to get used by one of Molly’s filthy guards only to be saved by Marcello himself, who snuck into her house as though it was no big deal just to save me and bring me back with him.

Like he planned all of this just for me.

Marcello’s grasp on my arm grows weaker as he opens the door to a car parked beside us and beckons me to step in.

I do what he wants even though it pains me a little to do it.

After all, it was this man who made me run in the first place.

This man is the reason I was in that house, to begin with.

And it makes my stomach churn.

The door slams shut, and the silence that follows is deafening, especially when compared with the gunshots that flared through the neighborhood just seconds ago.

All the people walking the streets were ducking and running while screaming. Just like me, they feared for their life even though none of it was directed at them. But none of this was gentle, and this was far from an easy, quiet escape. What if the police come and arrest Mario and Claudio for trying to save Marcello and me?

The other door opens and Marcello steps inside, sitting down next to me. “Go,” he tells the driver, and the car starts to move.

My mouth opens before I realize it. “What about—?”

“Claudio and Mario have a different vehicle,” Marcello interjects. “No need to worry about them. I trust they’ll get back safely.”

A blush spreads across my cheeks. “I wasn’t—”

“Sure you were,” he says, adjusting his jacket and putting a button back into place. “But it’s okay if you don’t want to admit you were worried about them. I know you’re angry with me and my men.” He throws me a damning look. “And for the right reasons.”

I gulp. Even after all this time has passed, he still has a huge effect on me.

When he grabs my hand, electricity shoots through my veins, lighting my soul on fire. “Are you injured?”

My lips part, but I’m momentarily at a loss for words. “I … I …”

“I swear to God, if any man or woman touched you there in that fucking house, in any way that hurt you, I will storm straight back in there and cut their hand off and feed it to them.” Pure rage exudes from his eyes, and I can’t help but be enamored by his sudden need to protect me.

I place a hand on his cheek. “No, I’m fine. Please, don’t do that.”

I don’t want him going back in there to risk his life just to punish someone. And I don’t know why I care so much, but I do. Despite being upset over the way he treated me, I don’t want him to get hurt.

He covers my hand with his and gently leans into it, breathing a sigh of relief. “All this time, I was so goddamn worried about you.”

His words pull at my heartstrings. Even though I wanted nothing more than to escape his grasp, I don’t know what to feel anymore now. After learning how Molly truly felt about me, all those damn years I wasted on finding my parents felt like a lie, and I don’t know how to cope.

Maybe Marcello was right. Even though that doesn’t excuse him for not telling the truth, at least he had the right intentions. He saved me from that fire. If he had known that Igor was my father before the night of the shoot-out, maybe he would’ve tried his best to save him. Even though the man did try to sell me off at an auction…

God, it’s all so fucked up.

“I’m sorry,” Marcello says, looking away as he sighs. “And I don’t mean that lightly.” I smile as he looks back up again and pulls me closer with the other hand. “For a second there, I thought I’d lost you. And that hurt me more than anything I could bear.”