Chapter Twenty-Two

Serafino

I 'd never been so bloody terrified in all my life. The woman I adored was struggling to climb the chain-link fence in her heeled ankle boots, her injury making it ten times more difficult. That her face was bruised and swollen made my blood boil all over again.

But I had to stay cool, calm and collected as I picked off enemy soldiers one-by-one, my brothers and Valentino shooting beside me while bullets whizzed past our heads and kicked up clods of dirt and grass around us.

The ditch kept our bodies protected; it was quite literally a lifesaver.

That the Irish don, Connor, didn't give a fuck about his soldiers was obvious. He'd surrounded himself with them, their taller mass protecting him as they fired random shots our way while they chased down Delilah. My hands shook. If I wasn't careful I'd shoot her instead. But if the don got to her there would be no going back.

I'd lose her for good.

I couldn't think about what might have happened if Delilah hadn't voiced her fears about Jarrod and I hadn't acted on them. Not only had I had him investigated, I'd had Sally keep an eye on both Jarrod and Delilah at the casino. She'd informed me the moment Delilah had stepped out of the elevator and into a waiting car with Jarrod.

I'd immediately rung Delilah again. She'd finally answered before her cell had dropped from her hands and silence had met my ear. I'd known then how much I truly cared about her.

A clump of grass splattered into pieces not even three inches from my face. I fired off three more shots before a soldier grabbed Delilah's feet and dragged her off the fence.

"Don't shoot!" I bellowed at my brothers and Valentino, though I continued to watch through my firearm's sight as the Irish don jerked her to his front, his gun pointed at her head.

"If even one more shot gets fired, she's dead," he called out.

My fingers turned cold and numb, my stomach rolling as I shouted, "Let her go and there will be no more shooting."

The Irish don laughed. "What a load of bollocks. Do I look stupid to you?"

My eyes narrowed. Did he really want me to answer that?

He dug the muzzle of his gun harder into the side of her temple, and my finger automatically tightened on the trigger. His laugh turned into a sneer. "Your enforcer killed my brother."

"You hated Sean," I called out. "Seems like Valentino did you a favor."

"Sean was still my don."

I held my aim steady, though my arm was beginning to burn. "And now you're the don. Congratulations."

"Yeah, well, I'd say thank you, but it looks as though we're at a bit of a standstill," he said with a crooked smirk.

My arm twitched ever so slightly. "Let Delilah go and we'll forget this...incident ever happened."

Connor looked around him. "I might have considered that option if there weren't a whole lot more dead people on my side of the fence than yours." He stared at Delilah with a twisted grin before looking my way once again. "It seems you owe me at least one life."

Sweat beaded my brow even as chills slid down my spine. "We don't owe you anything. You took my girl; we shot some of your men. We're even now."

Connor spat on the ground. "Your whore isn't worth one of my men let alone a dozen."

I sensed my brothers' gazes on me. But then, they knew me better than anyone. Knew I was a coldblooded killer at the best of times. It probably scared them to see me care so much for anyone besides my family. They didn't know what to expect from this side of my character.

Not even I knew how far I'd go to save her life.

I was only thankful Evander wasn't using his underboss title to take away my decision making. He'd experienced love and knew this fucked-up scenario was personal for me. I had nothing but instinct to act on now.

"That's where you're wrong," I said, my voice ringing out loud and clear. "She's worth more than any of you." I stood and dropped my gun, my hands raised. "She's definitely worth more than me." I'd acknowledged long ago I deserved a death sentence. It was finally time to pay my penance. "Let her go. Take me instead."

Alessandro's breath hissed. "What the fuck, Serafino?"

I was distantly aware of Evander and Valentino echoing his words before all my focus centered on Delilah.

She gaped. "Serafino, no! Don't you dare give yourself up, not for me, not for anyone."

"Shut the fuck up," Connor growled, "or I'll put a bullet in your head right now."

"Then do it," she said.

I slowed and sucked in a breath. Was she crazy? I was trying to save her ass and she was ready to die.

"Tempting," Connor mused. "But your lover is worth more to me."

I stopped at the fence, though all I wanted was to vault over it and drag her away from the sick fuck holding her. "I'll climb over once you've let her go." I narrowed my eyes. "If even one shot goes off, you'll be the first one my brothers will shoot."

"Not before you and your whore are shot dead."

He shoved Delilah away and she cried out as she stumbled, limping heavily. I held her gaze. "Take off your shoes, then climb the fence."

She shook her head. "No, I-I can't do that. I can't let you die."

"And I can't let you die." I held her stricken gaze. "I've done a lot of bad things, if anyone deserves this, it's me."

A tear trickled down her cheek. "Don't talk like that."

My heart broke at what I understood was her emotional farewell. But I had to stay strong and distance myself. "I need you to climb the fence, little firebird."

She lifted her chin, her eyes suddenly glinting and her shoulders back as she refuted, "And I need you alive and well."

My eyes widened as she whirled around then stamped her uninjured foot hard onto Connor's nearest foot. Her boot heel went straight through his shoe and into his flesh and he shrieked bloody murder before he swung his fist at her.

She ducked, grasped his wildly waving gun then snatched it free. Yanking her heel out of his foot, she stepped behind him and held the muzzle of the gun to his head. "Surprise, mother fucker."

His shrieks quickly died off, his face red and blotchy as he snarled, "You're going to pay for that bitch."

She pressed the muzzle harder against his brow. "Tell your men to drop their guns or watch their don's brains get blown all over the yard."

He scoffed. "You wouldn't—"

"Try me," she said quietly, but with such conviction in her voice he became subdued, compliant.

He looked at his suited soldiers, all of whom looked twitchy and uncertain. "Do what she says."

I waited for them to toss their guns before I clambered up the chain-wire fence and dropped to the other side. I wasted no time in gathering up the firearms. Valentino and my brothers took perhaps a minute to scramble over the fence before joining me and relieving me of all the weapons.

I nodded at them before I stalked toward the woman who really had crushed my heart in her hands. Did she realize I wouldn't have had it any other way? She meant everything to me. She was the breath in my lungs, the blood in my veins.

Without her I was a shell. Empty. Meaningless. Irrelevant.

Connor had good reason to cower as I approached. Sending my fist flying into his meaty face, I knocked him out cold. As he crumpled to the ground, Delilah dropped the gun before I dragged her into my arms.

My pulse thundered in my ears, my chest warm and my emotions high. Only when I pulled back a little and gently cupped her bruised and bloody face did I tell her, "I love you, little firebird."

Her eyes teared up, her voice shaky. "I thought you were incapable of loving me...of loving anyone."

"You're right on the latter, but definitely not the former," I said huskily. "I think I fell for you the moment I set eyes on you...the only call girl brave enough to set foot in the Agostino home."

She managed a smile and my heart contracted. She still looked beautiful even with her bruised face and her swollen, half-closed eye as she whispered, "I've thanked God every day since that you wanted me all to yourself."

"Hey, steady on," Evander said, his gaze swinging between us and the enemy soldiers he had his gun pointed at. Valentino had gone into the warehouse and retrieved some rope and was busy tying the soldiers' hands behind their backs. "We have feelings too, you know."

Alessandro laughed. "You might, sempliciotto. It doesn't mean the rest of us do."

Delilah giggled, but she had eyes only for me when she looked up at me and finally admitted, "I love you, too."

I knew right then and there...nothing would ever keep us apart again.