Mia gasped, her gaze finding Shane’s before raking over him. He was pale and seemed unsteady. A new bloodstain marred his shirt and his arm was still in the sling to keep his chest immobilized for healing. He couldn’t have recovered enough from his gunshot wound, let alone the newest injury, to face Aldo. In top form, her stepbrother would probably not be a match for Shane, but with her lover so weakened, she didn’t think he could beat the other man.
“Nonno, you can’t be serious.” There was an edge of panic to Aldo’s voice.
Sal lifted a shoulder. “I have questions about your loyalty now. Kill the mick to get your whore, and we will speak no more about this. Die at his hands, and it solves the quandary as well.” He seemed not to care which way the scenario played out for Aldo.
Patrick cleared his throat. “If you prefer not to fight, Aldo, we could all walk away from this.”
“No,” Sal said decisively before his grandson could answer. “This must be settled tonight.”
Mia was certain he didn’t give a fuck about what happened to her, or who won her. Sal simply wanted Aldo to either prove his loyalty in some confusing honor-code way that made no sense to her, or get himself killed and take care of any coups in the planning stage.
Aldo looked nervous but nodded. He still wore the white scrubs, now adorned with traces of her blood. “Fine, if that’s your preference, Nonno, I shall do as you ask.” His icy gaze chilled her when he looked down at her. “You will belong to me for the rest of your life in a few minutes, dear sister.” Speaking only so she and Shane could hear, he added, “It will be a short and pain-filled life at that. I practiced on Spare last night while waiting for you to wake up, and her final screams of agony were music, but yours will be a concerto.”
Sickened, Mia looked away from him. Her eyes burned as she imagined the suffering that poor girl had undergone at Aldo’s hands throughout the time he had “owned” her. Had she still been giving him that look of slavish love when he’d killed her?
Shane growled, but didn’t respond to Aldo. Instead, he leaned down slightly to speak against Mia’s ear. “Cormac and Bruno are going to get you out of here no matter what. They’re both watching, and they won’t let Aldo take you.”
“I’d rather die first,” she whispered, “But you can’t do this. You’re too weak.” She glanced at the wound stuffed with something lacy that was probably once white. “What happened?”
“Aunt Sofia is a psycho bitch. I’ll tell you all about it after I kill him.”
She lifted one of her heavy arms to grasp his hand. “He’s going to kill you. I can’t let that happen.”
Shane touched her cheek. “You have no choice. No more interference, baby girl. This is how it has to play out. I promise you, I won’t let that fucker beat me, and I know how you feel about promises. I won’t make one I can’t keep. Okay?”
Tentatively, she nodded. Mia didn’t really believe he could defeat Aldo in his current state, but she knew her lack of confidence wouldn’t help matters. “I’ll hold your sling,” she said, trying to sound strong.
“Maybe you should wear it. When this is over, I think we should spend our honeymoon in the hospital.”
She took the sling as he eased it off and handed it to her. Freezing, she stared at him. “Wait? Did you just give me the most fucked-up marriage proposal ever?”
Shane gave her a familiar cocky grin. “Nah, I just told you we’re getting married. I’m not giving you a chance to say no.”
She managed a small smile. “Why would that be any different than anything else with you, love?” Casting a quick glance at Aldo, who was glaring daggers at their cozy position, she said, “Kill him, and I’ll marry you anytime, anywhere.”
He pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. “You know how to motivate a man to win, babe.” And then he was walking away, knife in hand.
She painfully angled her chair to see them as they squared off in a spot of the room that had no trappings of civilization—just concrete to meet any falling bodies. She curled her hands into fists and had to force herself to breathe.
The men circled each other for a short time, as though gauging the other’s strengths—or weaknesses in Shane’s case, with his injuries. Aldo seemed to hang back, poised as though to flee at any moment, so it was a surprise when he suddenly lunged forward and slashed at Shane with his knife.
She cried out, further wounding her sore throat, when the knife encountered his arm, and blood flowed from the cut. Mia clamped her lips together, not wanting to distract him with her sounds of distress.
Aldo moved again, slamming his fist into Shane’s face when her lover blocked the knife he also stabbed toward his chest. His grunt, and the sickening sound of flesh against flesh, made Mia’s stomach churn.
As Aldo kicked at his knee, Shane got the upper hand, dropping down with a surprisingly lithe motion in his currently weakened state to grasp Aldo’s ankle. Her stepbrother screamed when Shane twisted as hard as he could. A snapping sound was barely audible over his expression of agony.
Shane took advantage of his vulnerability to jerk him to the ground. Unfortunately, Aldo didn’t smash his head on the concrete, and he was still reacting quickly enough to drag Shane down with him. They exchanged blows and curses before Aldo managed to free his knife hand and slash Shane across the forehead.
Mia wanted to close her eyes, but she couldn’t look away as her stepbrother twisted and pinned her lover to the floor. His arm was heavy against Shane’s throat as he leaned on him with all his strength.
“She’s mine, O’Mara, and has been since she was twelve. You tainted her, but I fixed that. I’m going to fuck her to death with your blood on my hands.” His cold laugh made her shiver. “Maybe you’ll both be together soon, if there’s an afterlife.”
His face was bright red, and Shane was obviously struggling to stay conscious. Mia couldn’t hold in her cry of alarm when Aldo let up on his throat only to grasp a handful of his hair and slam his head onto the concrete. A second blow was more than she could stand and tears scalded her cheeks as Shane lay lifeless on the hard ground.
With a mad cackle of delight, Aldo got to his feet, clearly favoring his broken ankle. “Are you satisfied now, Nonno? I’ve killed that piece of shit.” Her stepbrother drew back his injured foot as though to kick at Shane’s still form, and then screamed when Shane suddenly grabbed him and flipped him back onto the floor. This time, Aldo’s head made a satisfying sound as it collided with the concrete.
Shane didn’t waste time with words. He let his fists do all the speaking as they pummeled Aldo over and over. He was the personification of wrath and should have been terrifying with his dark expression and lethal intentions.
