A Vow of Love and Vengeance

My brain slowly kicked back in, firing adrenaline into my bloodstream like a shot of heroin. I panicked and tried to scramble across the seat, but he grabbed me by my injured shoulder, squeezing until the pain nearly blinded me. Crying out, I kicked and screamed as he dragged me out of the car and into a war zone.

A line of men were level with the back of my car, shooting at the black SUV that had stopped about twenty yards behind. Gio’s men hunkered down behind it and in the trees to the side of the road, firing back.

Matteo strode away from the gunfire, dragging me away from the car, away from Gio. A moment of helplessness washed over me as the chances of Gio getting to me became slimmer.

I needed to calm down. Panicking wasn’t going to help me. I forced myself to suck in several deep breaths to quell my fear and focus on my anger. Matteo thought I was weak and helpless, but I realized I wasn’t. Not totally. The weight of my gun pressed into my back, the metal warm and reassuring. The urge to reach for it niggled at me, but I couldn’t shoot him right here. We were too far from Gio and surrounded by Outfit men. No, I had to time this right.

Matteo dragged me to a waiting car parked a little way from the one blocking the road. He shoved me in the back seat before getting in beside me. The driver pulled away, squealing tires ringing out over the steady pop of bullets behind us.

I could almost feel every inch of the distance he put between Gio and me. My panicked heartbeat seemed to drive the pain higher as blood soaked through the front of my tank.

Matteo smirked at me, the barely healed scar on his face a vivid reminder of the pain I was sure he’d inflict on me as payment if I allowed him to take me.

“I have waited years to have you, Emilia. And oh, how I’m going to enjoy breaking you.” He gripped my jaw and mashed his lips against mine before biting my bottom lip hard enough to make me bleed.

I fought him, beating my palms against his chest while he laughed.

“You know it was always you that I wanted. Chiara didn’t have half your fight. She broke far more easily than I know you will.”

I snatched my face away before head butting him in the nose. The blow rang through my skull and made my vision spot.

“Little bitch.” He gripped my hair and yanked my face into his lap, grinding his disgusting dick against my cheek.

Fear, disgust, and hatred blended together in a volatile mix that had me reaching behind me. My fingers gripped the gun, flipping the safety.

The panic from only seconds ago was nowhere between. I wanted pain and suffering and blood. I wanted him to die. I pulled the weapon free from the back of my jeans and rammed it against his dick before pulling the trigger. The bang exploded right next to my head, and I faintly heard him scream through the ringing in my ears. He did release me, though.

The driver glanced over his shoulder right as I lifted the gun and pulled the trigger, knowing it might spell my own death. I didn’t care. They would not take me alive. Tires squealed, and my body was thrown across the car so hard my head cracked the window. I was launched into the back of the seat in front. My nose cracked, and stars dotted my vision.

Peering around the car, I took in the dead driver through blurred vision. Matteo sprawled across the seat, his crotch covered in blood and a nasty-looking cut on his head.

I couldn’t hear through the constant low static in my ears, could barely see straight. Fumbling for the door handle, I yanked it and fell out of the car, dazed and bleeding. The only thought pounding through my head was that I had to get away, had to run. The car had come off the road and crashed into a tree.

I stumbled up the short embankment and onto the road, gun still clutched in a death grip. I didn’t even know which way to go or how far we’d driven.

I stood there for a moment, swaying on my feet, wanting to just lay the fuck down and close my eyes. A black SUV rounded the corner, taking me by surprise because I couldn’t hear shit. Reflexively, I lifted the gun, firing off one round right before it screeched to a halt a few feet in front of me. I stumbled back, convinced that Matteo’s men were about to pour out of the car and come for me.

The back door opened, and I kept the gun raised, my arm shaking from the effort. Gio stepped out. Slowly, with his hands raised. Safe. I was safe. It was like every bit of adrenaline left my body all at once. I dropped the gun and fell to my knees as the world spun around me.