He turned and walked out of the awful room, leaving me caged and cold. Ice encased my bones, and I drew my knees up to my chest, hugging them tight.

I didn’t want Dante to come back. The only man I wanted to come for me was Luca, my real husband.

17. Luca

Chapter 17

Luca

The bastard had taken my wife. He would suffer before he died.

Fear for her clawed at my insides, digging in deeper than ever. It’d torn me apart for the day that’d passed since her father had betrayed me and given Nora to my enemy.

Giuseppe would pay for that soon. But my first priority was getting her safely away from the sadistic madman. Cold sweat beaded on the back of my neck at the thought of what he might’ve done to her already, in the time it’d taken me to gather my allies and make our way to his remote estate.

She’s not dead, I reminded myself. He wouldn’t have killed her. She was a valuable hostage.

As long as she was still breathing, I’d heal her from whatever he’d put her through. In the short time I’d been married to her, I’d developed a soft spot for my pretty, spirited wife. The humiliation of Dante stealing my bride chafed at me, but the fear of failing her was equal to it.

I took a breath and hefted the semiautomatic in my hands, comforted by its weight.

“Brace,” the driver warned as he accelerated the armored SUV, heading straight for the gates that guarded Dante’s home.

Gunfire ricocheted off the bulletproof car, Torrio’s men trying to take us out before we could breach the property. Our SUV was at the head of the convoy: ten armored cars filled with men who were fiercely loyal to me. I’d selected only the ones I trusted most, not daring to risk Nora’s safety by relying on someone with questionable loyalties. I was paranoid after Giuseppe’s brazen betrayal. I wouldn’t repeat the mistake and end up with a bullet in the back of my head.

The SUV punched through the gates with a terrible grating sound, the entire car lurching at the impact. The barrier gave way, and we tore down the drive, past the men who were shooting at us from the guard towers set into the imposing stone wall that surrounded the entire estate.

Dante had been ready for an assault, but he hadn’t counted on the resources I had at my disposal. The arrogant bastard probably thought everyone in the organization would turn on me when my father died and he took my wife: a symbolic seizure of my power.

But his arrogance would be his downfall. He would die screaming, and I’d have Nora back, safe in my arms.