I should’ve known he would be here.I should’ve expected him to be involved in this, but for the sake of our parents and his daughter, I gave him the benefit of the doubt.
I was a fool.
Valentina is in danger because of me.I’ll never forgive myself.
The depth of my brother’s involvement doesn’t matter.My failure is why we’re in this situation.
“Look at you, big brother.Not looking so strong now, are you?You should’ve just died in that alley like I’d planned,” Alessio says.
Fury flashes across Pietro’s features.My brother and ex-best-friend never got along well, but Alessio was the strongest man we had and Pietro loved exploiting other people’s strengths.
“That’s right.Iplanned,” my brother says.“I overheard Valentina telling Sierra her secret crush was you, so I stole the journal and gave it to Pietro.The rest, well…” Valentina gasps, but when I don’t react, he scowls, jerks his muzzle toward me, and addresses Noah.“Flip his pockets.”
Noah strides to me, digs his hand into my jeans pocket, and tugs the lining out.Coins scatter over the floor.He moves around behind me and sticks his hand in my other pocket.
Valentina’s eyes drift to the counter.When I realize what sits on top, I capture her gaze and glare.
No, she will not reach for the knife.I don’t care if it’s the one I gave her.The one Pietro used to stab me in the back a decade ago.The one I told her I wanted her to bury into her father at our wedding.The one she said she’d love to see in Pietro’s flesh.
She can’t risk getting hurt.
My stubborn woman glares right back at me.
Noah turns my other pocket inside out.Nothing but lint drifts down to the floor.The kid wedges his hand behind my butt to grab my wallet.
“What the fuck are you doing?Move away from him,” Pietro demands.
Alessio scowls.
Noah lifts his hand.Alessio stiffens and Pietro jerks his barrel toward the kid’s head when they realize his hand isn’t empty.
Valentina lunges forward.
Chaos erupts.Bullets fly.White-hot agony streaks across my ribs as I catch Pietro’s first shot.
I accept the pain without regret.If he’s shooting me, he’s not hurting Valentina.
Noah tilts my chair sideways with a shove and dives for his pistol.
Wood splinters.I wrench my arms and roll free of the broken chair and toward the kitchen.
With my arms still cuffed behind my back, I get my legs under me and lunge across the room.
Pietro’s gun retorts again, but I slam into him, knocking him backward.My heart skips a beat as he drags Valentina down with us.
My head slams into the front of the fridge.The world blips white, but I force my eyes open and will them to work.
Wet squishes, gurgling, and a muffled feminine scream filter in through the ringing in my ears.
My senses return in a painful rush.
Valentina straddles Pietro and stabs him over and over again, lifting the knife above her head and throwing her entire body into burying the blade into his torso with her bound wrists.
I can’t take my eyes off her.She’s a gorgeous, vicious goddess striking down the idiot who dared harm her.She’s the feminine version of the monster inside me.With blood dripping from her hair and vengeance sparkling in her bright blue eyes, she’s the redemption I never thought I could have.
She completes my revenge with a dazzling savageness I could have never obtained.
Noah curses and kicks something in the bedroom before rushing back to us.
