The gun.
Rushing toward her house, she pulled her keys out of her jacket and entered her house. The moment she stepped foot inside, she knew something was wrong.
Strong arms grabbed her from behind, and instinct took over. Her father’s men had been brutal. They would attack her without care. They would do everything to show her the kind of world she was fighting in. They didn’t stop. Their mission was to help her to survive.
One of the lessons they taught her was to fight dirty. He had her hands trapped, but she moved easily, grabbing the man’s junk hard and tugging. The action took her assailant by surprise, and he let her go.
The next trick they taught her. Everything was a weapon, including the vase on the table. Acting with speed, she picked it up, spun around, and hit him hard. The glass shattered. A few pieces were embedded into her hand, but she ignored the pain.
She was in the fight for her very survival. Each hit hadn’t defeated her attacker. He wasn’t down.
As she went to the kitchen, he followed her.
“You fucking bitch. I’m going to make you pay for that.”
She screamed, grabbing plates, knives, bowls, whatever she could get her hands on, and she threw it at him. It was enough to slow him down for her to charge toward her room.
Lemon heard him on the stairs, following her up.
Her heart raced.
She had never been so afraid in all her life.
Locking her bedroom door, she didn’t think, just acted. At the bed, she reached under, pulling out a gun.
Her hands shook, but all those lessons from years ago bombarded her all at once.
Locked and loaded, her door crashed open, and she fired.
The man stopped.
She fired a second time.
He fell to the floor, and when she heard another gunshot, she dropped her weapon to the floor and curled up, trying to protect herself.
“Lemon! I’ve got you. I’ve got you.”
Arms surrounded her.
Tears fell from her eyes, but she made out Nate’s form. He held her tightly. His warmth, his scent a comfort to her.
For a short minute, she rested her head on his shoulder, basking in the peace that came with his closeness, but it was all a lie.
“Lemon?”
The sound of her father’s voice was enough to snap her out of her trance.
Drawing her hand up, she brought it down hard on Nate’s cheek. “How dare you? How fucking dare you? All this time you knew. You knew everything, and you didn’t say a thing to me.”
“Lemon, let me explain.”
“What is there to explain? You work for my father. He sent you here, didn’t he? To keep an eye on me.”
Nate’s gaze went past her shoulder, and she saw her father, the feared Alessandro Rocco.
She swiped at the tears that fell down her cheeks, hating herself for being so weak. “I need to leave.”
“Lemon,” Nate said. “It wasn’t … I … this between us.”
“What is there to say, Nate? You fucked your boss’s daughter. Congratulations, but you don’t need to keep up with the pretense anymore. I told you everything, and you lied to me.” She got to her feet.
Her entire body shook as she moved toward her father. “I need a place to stay.” She never for a second thought she would ever ask her father for anything. This man she had hated for so long, but right now, all she wanted was her dad.
In the back of her mind, she knew this was what her mother would have wanted.
“The car is waiting outside. I’ll be there shortly,” he said.
She nodded.
“Lemon, damn it, please, don’t go.”
She kept on walking. Whatever Nate had to say, she didn’t want to hear it. He’d broken her heart.
Chapter Ten
Nate’s heart shattered.
Watching Lemon walk away was the hardest thing he’d ever done. Rocco stood there.
Dead bodies covered the backyard and his house. It had been a blood bath. He didn’t hear any sirens, and all he could figure out was most of their neighbors were in town.
Running fingers through his hair, he looked at Rocco. “I never meant to hurt her.”
Rocco’s lips were pursed. “You know, when I met her mother, she was a waitress. She served me breakfast, and I’d just come back from an attack similar to this one, only I was burying men I knew, men I cared about. Soldiers who had my back.” Rocco smiled. “She told me I looked rough and I shouldn’t have to pay for my breakfast, so, this poor woman probably used the tips that helped pay her rent to get me breakfast. I was married. I didn’t have any feelings for my wife. This woman though, she was … different. Sweet, young, and entirely innocent I’d later find out.” Rocco clicked his tongue. “Finding out she was pregnant with Lemon was my salvation.”
“Why are you telling me this?”