Broken Beginnings (The Moretti Crime Family 3)

I sag against the wall for a moment before straightening and gathering my wits. “Have they left yet?”

“I have my men posted everywhere, and none have said anything.”

“Follow me.” I smile, knowing exactly where they are. “They most likely went to the basement. They know your men are here and that they wouldn’t be able to get away without you knowing.”

His intense stare tells me he is considering this to be a trap. Lucky for me, his concern for Elena overrides his thinking.

“Lead the way,” he orders impatiently.

My heart thunders in my chest with each step we take, each beat becoming louder, making it hard for me to hear or feel anything besides that heavy thumping. The door leading into the basement is unlocked, and as we head down into the darkness, I reach for my gun.

It’s hard to make out, but several doors lead into what I assume are rooms. I move along the wall, slowly twisting the knob of each one and shoving the door open.

Then we hear it. “Don’t cry, sugar. You have nothing to cry about… yet.”

Julian springs into action beside me. Taking a step forward, he’s ready to go in, guns blazing.

“Whoa, slow down.” I hold up my hands, hoping he is going to listen. “We need a plan.”

“We go in, kill everyone who is not Elena. Plan over.”

“That’s too risky. Think about it. Chances are she is going to get caught in that crossfire.” He knows I’m right, and he hates it too. “I need you to trust me, okay?” I whisper, knowing exactly what I’m asking him to do.

“Then what’s your plan?” he grits through his teeth.

“Be smart. We both don’t want anything to happen to Elena. You go in and assess the situation. Make sure she is out of harm’s way. I’ll come in as a surprise. We’ll take them down together.” I’m not lying. I might not love Elena like Julian does, but I don’t want anything to happen to her either. No matter what happened between Julian and me, I still see him as family, which makes Elena family as well.

“Fine, let’s do this,” he growls, knowing he’s forced to put every ounce of trust into a man that had previously betrayed him. A man that he wants to murder.

I stay back and watch Julian enter the room. Elena sees him first and mouths something I don’t catch.

“Well, look who finally made it to the party.” One of the men chuckles, while another lifts his gun and presses it against the back of Elena’s head. “Julian Moretti himself.”

“You made a lot of mistakes today. Taking my wife. Hurting her. Threatening me. You know you’re going to pay with your lives, don’t you?”

“I don’t see how you are in any position to deal out threats. I’m the one holding a loaded gun to your whore’s head, aren’t I?”

“For every word you speak, I’ll add another minute of torture before I finally kill you.”

The three men laugh, but I know Julian is deadly serious.

I plaster a smug smirk on my face and walk into the room. “See, I told you he would fall for it.”

The room erupts into more laughter.

“We figured he wouldn’t fall for it a second time. I’ll give it to you, Lucca, you must be one hell of an actor.”

“You son of a bitch,” Julian growls. His face distorts into a mask of fury as he lunges for me. Before he can even get two feet, two of the masked men tackle him to the ground. A guttural scream rips from Elena’s throat, but it’s muffled by the gag. I glance over at her just long enough to see the panic in her eyes.

Dread overtakes her features as three men drag Julian to the spot in front of her. The gun that was pressed against Elena moments ago is now pointed at Julian’s head instead.

Elena whimpers and tugs on her restraints, making the guy next to her chuckle. “Want to say something, sweetheart?”

He grabs the gag and pulls it from her mouth.

“Please…” she croaks.

She’s crying so much now that all I want to do is tell her it’s okay. I’m on your side, but I need to keep this up a little longer. Julian stares at his wife, and I can see the profuse love and guilt in his gaze. He thinks he failed her.

“Please… Don’t do this. Take me instead,” Elena begs for her husband’s life.

“How cute that you’re willing to give up your life for this piece of shit, but no can do, sweetheart,” one man replies.

“It’s time to die, Moretti—”

“Hold on. Let me do it,” I interrupt at the last second. “He’s been hunting me like an animal for two years. I want to be the one to pull the trigger.”

“I suppose we owe it to you. You led him right to us.” One of the men holding Julian chuckles. “He’s all yours. We’ll take his wife as payment.”