Chapter 52

52

Massimo

Olivia's gaze widens. Her features are pale, and dried blood clings to a cut in her forehead. Every muscle in my body tenses. A hot sensation stabs my chest. The bastard hurt her. The blood punches into my temples. I am going to kill him. I take a step forward, and the cold barrel of a gun presses against my rib cage.

At the same time, Alvaro pulls out a gun and aims it at Via. She freezes, the color fading from her cheeks.

Alvaro rises slowly to his feet. He turns to me, his gun still trained on Via. "If I were you, I wouldn't do anything rash."

"Let her go," I say through gritted teeth.

"No can do, I have plans for her. As for you? I can't decide if it's stupidity that made you come through the door unarmed, or is it true love that made you walk in here? You're making my revenge plan seem ridiculously easy."

I force myself to relax. I need to keep my wits about me if I want to save her. I square my shoulders. "You have me. You can use me to get to my brothers. The Don will give you anything you ask for in exchange. I'm the one you need; she's of no value to you."

"But she is… to you."

My guts twist, and the hot sensation in my chest intensifies until it feels like it's consuming me from the inside. The muscles in my forearms spasm. I curl my fingers into fists, and the barrel of the gun in my side is shoved deeper, until pain radiates out from the point of contact.

His lips kick up, he closes the distance to her, and I growl. "Don't you fucking touch her," I say through gritted teeth.

His grin widens. He wraps his arm around her waist, yanks her to him, then places the gun at her temple.

"One wrong move, and I'll shoot her," he drawls.

Her throat moves as she swallows, her gaze locked on mine. A bead of sweat slides down her temple, but she manages to keep the terror she must be experiencing off her face.

Good girl. Hang in there, baby. Just a little while longer. I won't let anything happen to you, I promise.

With my eyes, I try to convey my thoughts to her. I must succeed, for her forehead smoothes out. She stands perfectly still.

With a last look at her, I raise my gaze to Alvaro. "Why don't you put down the gun so we can fight this out? One on one."

He tilts his head. "Not falling for that," he says in a pleasant voice.

"Scared I'll get the better of you? Clearly, I'm in better shape than you. And now that you've lost a finger, you must know that you have no chance of winning in hand-to-hand combat."

His jaw hardens. "I am well aware this is a delaying tactic. No doubt, you have reinforcements on the way? You should know that, as we speak, my men are moving in on yours. Not only do we have the element of surprise on our side, but your team is sadly outnumbered."

Motherfucker! My leg muscles tighten, my fingers tingle, and what I wouldn't give to bury my fist in his face. If only I could get him to engage with me. If I could get his attention away from her. If I could get him to agree to a fight and buy more time for our plan to be set in motion.

"In which case, you have nothing to lose by agreeing to a fight. Not only would your men overpower mine, but you'd have the satisfaction of defeating me."

"Oh, I have no doubt of that. Even injured as I am, I could defeat you, with ease," he boasts.

"Then lower your gun and let's spar. If you defeat me, I won't resist you again."

She draws in a sharp breath. Tension radiates off of her body. I avoid looking at her, because if I do, I'll be lost. If I take in the expression in those green eyes, I'll never be able to go through with what I have in mind. Worse, I won't be able to contain my anger anymore. More than likely, I'll make a move which will end with the two of us getting hurt. No, I need to steel myself and see this through.

"What do you say? If I lose, you get to keep her."

Her gaze bores into me, but I refuse to meet her eyes.

His lips curl. "I already have her."

"And you'll have the satisfaction of having beaten me, as well."

He hesitates.

"Three rounds, that's all I'm asking for."

He appears to think for a few seconds, then jerks his chin. The man behind me lowers his gun and steps back.

Alvaro releases her. He walks over to the chair where he'd been sitting, and places his gun on it.

"Ask your men to move away," I say in a casual tone.

He raises his hand, and his men comply. They step back and place themselves at the perimeter of the room with their backs to the walls.

"Ask them to lower their guns, as well."

He scowls. "Not happening."

"What are you afraid of? They're your men. One command from you and they'll train their guns on me and shoot. Unless, of course, you think I'm going to overpower you and all of them, at the same time?" I infuse a thread of smugness through my voice.

His scowl deepens, then he gestures to the men. "Lower your guns."

One of them glowers back. "But—" he begins to protest.

Alvaro points his finger at the man. "Do as you're told," he snaps.

The man firms his lips, then lowers his gun.

Alvaro turns to me "Now, where were we?"

"I want Olivia to stand back at a safe distance, too."

"Why, are you afraid I might touch her again?" He moves in her direction, and that's when I charge him.

"Get out of the way," I yell at Olivia. She jumps aside, and I lower my head and ram into his chest. The speed of my impact carries us past her, toward the wall. His men leap aside, and Alvaro crashes into the wall. The vibrations from the collision shudder through me. I rear back, then grab his head and smash my forehead into his. Pain explodes behind my eyes, and I shove it aside. He groans, and I fully expect him to slump, but he seems to recover almost instantly. He grabs my throat and begins to choke me. I dig my fingers into his upper arms, try to pull his hands off of me, but he tightens his grip on my neck and begins to squeeze. Spots of black flicker at the edges of my vision. The sounds around me begin to fade. Behind me, I'm aware of movement, of someone screaming my name.

"Massimo, fight back!" Her voice slices through the silence in my head. The room swings back into focus.

I raise my knee and bury it in his groin. He yells, and his hold loosens. I draw in a breath, and oxygen fills my lungs. I pull away, then smash my fist into his stomach, and again, then follow up with an upper cut to his chin. His head snaps back, and blood sprays from his mouth. I raise my fist again and land it at his temple. The back of his head connects with the wall. I pause, panting, my breaths coming in gasps, sweat pouring down my throat. The back of my shirt sticks to my sweat slicked skin. I weave on my feet. He straightens, and with a howl, plows into me.

He throws his arms around my waist and leans his full weight on me. I stumble back, the momentum carrying me backward until I hit the chair on which he sat earlier. The chair tumbles over. The gun hits the floor and skitters away. I crash into the floor with Alvaro on top of me. He pushes up, straddles me, and begins to pound my face. Left-right-left.

Each time he smashes his fist into my cheek, stars explode behind my eyes. I taste blood on my tongue, and my vision goes hazy. Pain sparks my nerve endings and fills my blood. My breath catches in my throat, and once again, dark spots dance across my line of sight. Fuck, fuck, fuck. I need to finish this off right now, before I lose consciousness. I reach up wrap my fingers around his throat, and squeeze and squeeze.

His next blow barely grazes my cheek. The one after that misses me completely. I grip his neck and increase the pressure until his eyes bulge, and then he overbalances and falls to the side. I follow, refusing to release him, until finally, his eyes close. I remove my fingers, before joining them together and pulling them over my head. And quickly swoop down, bringing my joined-up fists down on his forehead. His body jerks, then he slumps.

I hear the clatter of footsteps, and realize his men are approaching us. I reach over to grab the gun from where it fell earlier, cock it, and train it at them. "Back off," I growl.

They pause, then one of them begins to squeeze the trigger. I fire the gun. The bullet slams into his chest. The gun slips from his fingers, and he slumps to the floor.

In a flash, Olivia is on him. She snatches up the gun and aims it at the nearest man. "You heard Massimo, back the fuck off," she snaps.

I almost laugh with relief. That's my woman. She's badass that way. I push up to standing. My knees threaten to give way from under me, and I press the heels of my booted feet into the ground for purchase. The scene sways in front of my eyes, and I shake my head to clear it.

"Move back, right the fuck now," my voice rings out. The men hesitate, then another man takes a step forward. A gunshot rings out, and he collapses to the ground. I glance sideways to find Olivia has both of her hands on the gun and her white-knuckled finger around the trigger. The gun wavers a little as she lowers it.

I stagger forward until I'm shoulder-to-shoulder with her. "You okay, baby?" I murmur.

A shudder runs down her body and she nods. Her gaze is frozen on the man she shot.

"You did the right thing, Via. It was either him or me."

She tears her gaze from the fallen man and glances around the faces of the others. "I won't hesitate to do it again."

I grip her shoulder, my gun still trained on the men, and urge her to follow me as I begin to inch toward the door. The men stay where they are, their guns trained on us, their gazes following our every step. We're halfway to the door, when a movement catches my attention. I glance down to find Alvaro stirring. I shoot at him, but he rolls over, and I miss him.

He grabs a gun from the hip holster of one of his men and fires it at her. I step in front of her, and pain explodes at my side. Shit. I raise my gun and depress the trigger. A perfectly round hole appears between his eyes. Smoke wafts from it. His gaze widens and his arm wavers. Then, the gun slips from his fingers, and he collapses on the floor. For a second, there's silence. Then I grab her hand and pull her toward the door. The wood on the frame explodes. Fuck, they're shooting at us. I yank her through the doorway, slam the door shut behind us, and haul her to the side. Just in time, for the next second, the door explodes as bullets rain through.

Pain screeches up my side, and sparks flicker behind my eyes. I grit my teeth as I pull her up the corridor and toward the main exit.

"You're hurt," she gasps.

"Keep moving," I order. I focus on putting one foot in front of the other. I have to make it out of here. Have to. I increase my pace, break into a run, and she stumbles to keep up with me. I reach the main door, fling it open just as a bullet slams into the door frame next to my head.

"Porca miseria!" I shove her forward, then turn, depressing the trigger on my gun. The hollow click reverberates in the corridor. "Fuck!" I let the gun fall from my fingers, and hold up my arms.

The man who defied Alvaro earlier raises his gun and his lips kick up.

"How much money do you want? Name a figure and I'll double it," I snap.

He chuckles. "No amount of money can equal the respect I'll command when I kill you and take this bitch as mine."

Behind me, Olivia stiffens. I sense her moving forward. She has a gun, but if she steps around me, he's going to shoot her. He's going to hurt her, and no way can I let that happen.

"Stay back, Via," I order in a low voice. But does she obey me? Of course not. My woman tries to step around me, and I thrust out my arm to stop her.

"Let her go; it's me you want."

"On the contrary..." He walks forward. "It's she who cost Alvaro his life. It makes her much more valuable right now."

More men appear, guns raised as they follow him. Shit, this is not good, not good at all.

"Run, Olivia, I'll hold them back."

"And die in the process, no doubt? You think I'm going to let that happen?" she shoots back.

"Leave, Olivia. If they get their hands on you, I'll never forgive myself."

"And if I leave you behind, I'll never forgive myself."

"Give me the gun and get out of here, woman," I say impatiently.

"No way am I going to let you pull this macho shit on me anymore. If you die, I die with you."

"This isn't one of your movies. This is real life, baby. You need to leave while you still can."

"Don't you know? Real life is often stranger than reel life, baby." She begins to step around me, gun aimed at the advancing men. I snatch the gun from her, and shove her out the front door. "Sorry, Stellina , I can't let anything happen to you."

"What the—? Massimo, you—" I slam the door in her face, then turn and fire.