21. Gabriella

21

GAbrIELLA

A fter I slip out of my car, I’m tip-toeing across the sidewalk when I hear someone hiss my name. Spinning around, I see Angelo hurrying toward me.

“Oh, thank God,” I murmur and grab onto his arm. “We need to find Enzo fast.”

He nods and lifts a finger to his lips, shushing me. “See that SUV over by the boathouse?”

“That’s Romeo’s,” I confirm softly, noticing the car.

“Yeah, I think they’re in the boathouse.” Angelo reaches behind him and removes a gun from the back of his waistband. “Stay close. If they’re in there, you need to stay out.”

“I am not staying out,” I argue.

Angelo rolls his eyes at me, but then he grins. “Enzo said you were a pain in the ass.”

“Damn straight. Now let’s go rescue my man.” I lift the knife in my hand and march across the street. His eyes momentarily widen in surprise then he hurries to catch up, snagging my elbow.

“Quietly,” he reminds me. “And let the guy with the gun go first, okay?”

Even though I don’t want to, I slow down and fall behind him. He has a point and rushing through the door waving a knife around isn’t going to accomplish a thing. When we reach the door, he peers inside. I can hear voices and I squint, cocking my head, trying to hear better. It sounds like Tommaso and then I hear Enzo.

Oh, thank God. He’s alive and so close, I swear I can smell his sandalwood cologne. I step closer and Angelo holds up an arm, blocking me. He looks at me and shakes his head. Everything in me wants to break in and stop my evil cousins, but Angelo seems to have a plan, so I relent, nodding in response.

“Stay put,” he hisses then slips inside the door, sticking to the shadows. Heart in my throat, I watch him sneak forward. But my attention immediately turns to Enzo. He’s sitting in a chair, hands tied, and I can hear them now.

“This is what you deserve,” Tommaso growls. He rips a bag open and dumps something into a bucket. “Miceli killed my brother and you fucked Gabriella. We know all about that. I’ve always questioned her decisions, so I can’t say I’m surprised. She isn’t the smartest.”

My eyes narrow and I’m one second away from marching over there and slapping his arrogant face. But I do what Angelo says and keep quiet.

Enzo looks up at Tommaso, and even from this far away, I can see my man’s dark eyes turn livid. “Don’t you dare say one bad word about her. I don’t know how you can share the last name much less have the same blood running through your veins. She is the most intelligent and amazing woman I have ever had the good fortune to meet. How you can claim her as kin blows my mind. Compared to Gabriella, you’re nothing. You’re shit.”

My chest tightens at his words and, as much as I appreciate them, I know Tommaso is going to lose his mind over the insult. And, he does, because a moment later he punches Enzo in the face. I gasp, quickly covering my mouth to stifle the sound, but I don’t think anyone hears me because a commotion breaks out.

My cousins are trying to shove Enzo’s feet into what must be a cement mixture and I feel sick. I can’t believe this is happening and they’re trying to kill the man I love. I force myself to stay where I am while my gaze desperately searches the shadows for Angelo.

Where are you? I wonder, starting to panic. Do something!

“Time to sleep with the fish, Rossi,” Tommaso says. Then he and Romeo grab the chair and start hauling Enzo toward the edge of the dock.

All rational thought leaves my head and the only thing I know is I can’t let them toss Enzo into the water or he could drown. Bursting into the boathouse, I race toward them and yell, “Leave him alone!”

All heads turn to look in my direction and I hear Angelo swear from somewhere nearby. I don’t know what he was planning, but I don’t care. He was moving too slowly and I won’t risk anything bad happening to Enzo.

“Get out of here, Gabriella,” Tommaso snaps. Beside him, Romeo curses under his breath, but I don’t care about them. All of my focus zooms straight to Enzo who looks both relieved and afraid to see me.

I’d like to believe my cousins won’t hurt me. In fact, I’m relying on that fact as I move closer to the trio, hiding the knife behind my back. Somehow, they haven’t realized Angelo is also here. Or, maybe that’s just me hoping because he’s still out of sight. “Let him go,” I say, all business.

“Go home, Gabriella,” Romeo says, dismissing me. “This doesn’t concern you.”

“Of course it concerns me!” It concerns me more than they realize but, for the moment, I’m keeping my secrets close. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Getting revenge for Rocco,” Tommaso says darkly. “We’re starting with him and we’ll work our way through the entire Rossi family. Until they’re all destroyed.”

“You’re breaking the Alliance of the Five Families,” I remind them.

Tommaso shrugs a shoulder. “So what? Miceli did, too, and he wasn’t punished for spilling Rocco’s blood. And, if I recall correctly, you were the deciding factor in that bullshit decision.”

It’s true. I cast the final vote which allowed Miceli Rossi to stay at the table after my cousins voted against him. But how could I punish him for saving the woman he loves? If anything, hearing him talk so passionately about the love he has for his wife earned him my respect that day. It also earned him my vote and I have zero regrets.

Suddenly, Tommaso releases his hold on the chair and swings his gun up at me. “You’re a traitor to your own family,” he snarls and my blood runs cold. “You should be punished just like Rossi.”

“Don’t you touch her,” Enzo growls, struggling against his ropes.

At least Tommaso let go of the chair and, because Enzo is so heavy, Romeo did, too. The moment Tommaso moves closer, I see Angelo from the corner of my eye. He slips from the shadows and wraps an arm around Romeo’s neck. He also presses his gun against Romeo’s temple.

“Put the gun down,” Angelo orders.

Tommaso whips around and when he sees Angelo has his cousin in a headlock, he grows even more furious. My heart falls when he shoves his gun beneath Enzo’s chin, forcing his head back.

We’re at a standstill and panic surges through me.

“Please, stop!” I cry. “If everyone puts his gun down, we can still just walk away from this. No one has to get hurt.”

“No one is walking away from anything,” Tommaso states darkly, and a shudder runs through my body.

Just when I think all hope is gone, a red laser dot appears on Tommaso’s forehead at the same time a loud sound comes from the corner of the dark boathouse. Tommaso loses focus, turns his head toward the commotion, and the moment his gun lowers slightly, CRACK! A bullet hits him in the center of his forehead.

Oh, my God. Suddenly, everything turns chaotic and moves faster than the speed of light. Tommaso’s heavy body falls against Enzo and the force of the impact causes the chair to tip sideways. With horrified eyes, I watch them both fall over the edge of the dock and hit the water with an ominous splash.

NO! Without thinking, I run toward the dock, ignoring the swell of voices, ignoring my name being called. All I can think of is Enzo sinking to the bottom of the harbor. If I don’t get his ropes undone, he’s going to drown.

Once I reach the edge, I dive off the end of the dock without a second thought. The water is chilly and dark. Pulling my phone out, I flip on the flashlight, grateful it’s waterproof, and shine the beam of light down. Kicking my legs, I swim straight to the bottom where Enzo is struggling to break free. Thank God, I brought the knife, and I flick it open and begin sawing on the rope around one of his wrists.

Just when I think I’m taking too long, I see two dark shadows swimming in and want to cry out in relief when Miceli and Vin take over. They’re moving much faster than I am and their muscles easily help them get the job done. As the ropes fall away, Miceli points to the surface and gives me a little push. Then they grab Enzo and kick hard, pulling him and the heavy cement bucket to the surface.

We all break through the water’s surface, gasping for breath. Angelo reaches down, grabs my arms and pulls me up out of the water. Laying on the dock, panting hard, I watch him help his brothers lift Enzo up onto the wooden planks, too.

Dragging myself up, I crawl over and wrap my arms around him. “Oh, my God, I thought I’d lost you,” I cry. His arms tighten around me and our lips crash together in a hard, grateful kiss.

“What were you thinking? Putting yourself in the line of fire like that?” he rasps, slicking my wet hair back off my face. “He would’ve killed you.”

“He would’ve killed you both,” Miceli says dryly. “Step back, Gabriella, so we can get this damn bucket off.”

I look over and see Angelo holding a sledge hammer and smiling. “This is gonna be fun.”

“Careful with that thing,” Enzo warns.

“Yeah, yeah. Just hold still.” Angelo lifts it up and brings it down just right, cracking the cement and allowing Enzo to free his feet.

Shaking the bits of concrete away, Enzo shifts and pulls me onto his lap, dropping kisses all over my face. “Don’t you ever put yourself in danger like that again. Do you hear me?”

“You would’ve done the same thing for me,” I say. In the distance, I hear sirens wail and I finally notice Romeo sitting on the ground not far away, hands and feet bound. Asshole. He’s lucky to still be alive and I’m glad he is because now he can spend a very long time in jail for kidnapping, assault and attempted murder.

“Bri,” Enzo whispers, staring into my eyes, fingers sliding through my hair, “I love you. So damn much.”

My heart soars into the stratosphere at his low words and tears prick my eyes. “I love you, too,” I whisper back then press my lips to his. My world is complete and I have never been more happy or giddy about the future.