He had another gun in his hand.
Oh please, no.
He laughed, a laugh filled with so much madness that made my skin crawl in dread and disgust.
Alberto didn’t even appear out of breath. He looked like a man on a mission. There was something making him stronger, crazier.
Alessio slowly stepped toward me.
Alberto moved his dead eyes to mine, smiling grimly. “Did you really think you could escape? Ayla, you seem to forget. You are mine.”
He really was the Devil. For a split second, I wondered how it was possible for someone to be this cruel.
But the thought was quickly gone when he pointed the gun right in the middle of my stomach. “Say good-bye to lover boy.”
I whimpered, holding my stomach as if I was trying to hide my princess from this horror.
But the Devil had found us, and this time there was no escape.
This was it. This was my end.
My heart hammered when I saw him pull the trigger. My eyes closed as two gunshots sounded. Terror washed through me as I waited for the pain.
Seconds ticked by, and I felt nothing.
My eyes snapped open.
I gasped and cried out when I saw Alessio standing in front of me, his face a mask of shock and pain.
“No!” I screamed, moving forward. I wrapped my arms around him, moving my hands over his body, looking for where he was injured.
No. Please. This was a nightmare. This wasn’t happening. I couldn’t lose Alessio. My face contorted as wave after wave of pain crashed through me.
“Alessio,” I sobbed, running my hands over him. “No. Why, Alessio?”
Alessio grabbed my waist and pulled me to his chest. His hands went to my stomach, holding the bump. His other hand traveled the length of my body, like I was doing to his.
“Where are you hurt? Ayla, where are you hurt?” he asked urgently, his voice hoarse. “Please, say something!”
A crippling grief swept over me. I cried in his chest. “I’m not hurt. You…took…the bullet…”
“Ayla!” Alessio shook me, his face horrified. “No. You got hit! I didn’t. I was too late.”
Agonized sobs tumbled from my mouth, my lungs constricting painfully as I shook my head. My stomach started to cramp from the severity of my sobs, and I palmed Alessio’s cheeks. “You are not hurt?” I asked.
I saw confusion in his eyes, and he slightly pulled away, his eyes roaming over my body, inspecting me. I did the same for him.
“You are not hurt,” he stated.
And he wasn’t either.
My eyes widened as my blood rushed so fast through my body that I felt suddenly weak. I couldn’t hear anything but the wildly beating pulse in my ears. What was happening?
“Then…who took the bullet?” I whispered. Alessio swallowed hard, and he held me to him.
We turned around, Alessio protecting me with his body.
The sight that beheld me took my breath my away. Agony shattered my heart, and I sank to my knees, too weak to stay upright, too weak to think.
I wailed in anguish.
“NO!”
Chapter 17
Alberto
She really thought she could escape.
How naïve of her. Stupid even. I thought she had learned her lesson from way before, and even now—but it looked like she still had so much to learn.
Too bad I had reached my limit. I was no longer patient. She tested me every day. Every time she escaped. Every time she uttered his name.
Ayla was mine. Even if she didn’t want to be. It wasn’t her choice. It was never her choice.
Only because she didn’t have a choice.
How much do I have to break her until she finally understands?
I thought I had her bent to my will. She was mine. No other man would touch her.
But I had clearly assessed her wrong. That was my first mistake.
Since the first time I saw her, it was only Ayla and me. But then Alessio came and fucked everything up.
If it wasn’t for him, Ayla would have still been mine.
From my place in the shadows, I watched them. I watched him hold her, his arms around my woman.
I watched her smile—laugh with him.
My fingers tightened around my gun. Fury rolled off me in heavy waves.
This was the end.
It was time for their end.
My eyes moved to Ayla’s round stomach. His baby. Not mine. Every time I looked at her, it served as a reminder.
He touched her.
I should have gotten rid of it when I had a chance.
At the thought, my lips turned up in a small smile. It didn’t matter anymore. I would get rid of it now.
I would take everything from her until she had nothing left. Until she would have no other choice but to fall back at my feet.
I watched them.
When he kissed her, I rubbed my finger over the trigger. I was itching to pull it. To end their lives.
That would be too easy.
I wanted to see the fear in their eyes. In Alessio’s eyes. I wanted to see him helpless.