“Enjoying the view?” Molly muses at me.
“I’ll kill you!” I roar, and then I direct my attention to the guard. “Get your hands off her!”
He ignores my every word and reaches for her outfit, his hand sliding up the dress like her skin doesn’t solely belong to me and me alone, and it makes my blood boil.
But I am fucking helpless against three fucking guards all on top of me, binding my wrists and legs like they’re trying to get me right back into that cell.
“You know what?” Molly approaches me step by step. “I think I’m going to let you enjoy this for a little while longer…”
“You’re a monster,” I spit.
She leans over to grab my chin and make me look at her. “You destroyed the love of my life. So let me destroy yours.” She throws me back on the ground harshly and snaps her fingers. “I’m going to get Frank.” She marches off behind me. “And take care of those rats downstairs. I don’t want the Polish to take all the credits for squashing a revolt.”
“Got it, ma’am,” the Irish men respond as her click-clacking heels leave the area.
If only I could reach my fucking gun, maybe I could sniper her in the back of the head, and this would all be over. I can’t bear to watch my Kitten be used by some motherfucking Polish dog who can’t keep his dick in his pants. And these fuckers holding me down are making me watch the entire thing as the guard keeps jerking himself off right in front of her like he intends to cover her in his semen.
But I will fucking cut his dick off and feed it to him before that ever happens.
BANG!
A flash of light disorientates me, and I close my eyes. I lower my head just in time as rubble flies over and lands everywhere, even on top of the men holding me down. Another loud bang follows, and the sound of more men storming in makes me lift my head. Not Irish, not Polish … Italians.
The side entrance of the building has been blown to smithereens, and men I recognize as my own come rushing in like a tsunami washing over the land. Renewed vigor entices me to get up and punch my attackers in the face and gut, and I steal my gun away from the first guy’s grip, shooting him between the eyes.
“Marcello!”
The sound of my father’s voice makes me turn my head in his direction. He’s right there in the hole with a confident smile on his face, and he throws me a machine gun. How the fuck did he pull this off?
That’s when I spot the Russians behind him, storming into the building. Not to fight the Italians … but to fight the Irish and the Polish.
What the fuck?
Did I just end up in a reversed world where the Russians and the Italians are allies?
“How the fuck did you get them to rally for you?” I ask Mario.
“Frank put a bullet through their leader’s head. Is it really a surprise they want revenge?” Mario responds. “Now go save Harper.”
I nod and don’t think twice before I head toward the door in front of me, where Harper is begging me with her eyes to save her from the mobster who’s trying to have his way with her just for fun.
He doesn’t even notice that I got loose and am on the way. Not until I have my gun pointed straight at his dick.
I shoot.
BANG!
Blood sprays all over the floor, the walls, even Harper, who just stares in disbelief as the guy flops down onto the ground, flailing around as he grabs what’s left of his crotch. Within a second, I’ve gunned down the one who was filming too, blasting through his fingers to get to his heart, and he falls down dead.
“You shot my dick!” the other one screams, crying and bleeding all over.
“You fuck with my girl, then you pay the price,” I growl back.
I quickly work to undo the straps around her wrists, and when I’ve released her, she immediately gets up to hug me tight.
“Are you okay, Kitten?” I wipe the blood off her cheek.
Her lips quiver, probably from the shock of what almost happened to her just now, as she struggles not to look at the man perishing right next to her on the floor. “I just wanted to help free you and—”
“Shhh …” I silence her. “Don’t apologize. If anything, I am the one who should be apologizing. That fucker should never have even had the chance to lay a finger on you. But we’ll talk later after we get out of this mess.”
She nods, and I grab her hand and pull her along with me into the main hall, shielding her body with mine as I shoot down our opponents one by one. But even if the exit is right in front of us, I know I cannot leave … yet.
One more thing must be done first.
Finding Molly, Frank, and Stefan and destroying them once and for all.
“MARCELLO!” Frank’s enraged voice echoes through the halls, and I find him rolling in from a door at the top of a walkway high above the hallway. Molly is right behind him, staring at the scene with a gaping mouth and wide-open eyes. Until she spots me, and rage becomes her, practically oozing out of her eyes like blood.
I hold up my gun and pinpoint it on her face.
BANG!
Molly ducks, and the bullet ricochets into the wall, grazing her by a hair.
When she gets up, she squeals, completely out of her mind from her own rage. “Get them!” She points at us, and her guards all turn to focus on us, practically ignoring the Italians storming the building. There may be fewer of us, but we’ve got an actual fucking goal and spirit on our side, and Italians will never fucking give up their family. Ever.
“Run!” I yell at Harper as I hold her hand and run across the hallway. Bullets fly past us, and I’m having trouble finding a way through the maze of people fighting each other. Italians and Russians against Irish and Polish, everybody’s throwing fists left and right, guns going off from everywhere. It’s a fucking messy showdown, and I need to get Harper to safety fast.
“Through there,” I say, pointing at the hole in the wall, where Mario is beckoning her to come to him.
I push her toward him and then aim my gun at Frank, who is trying to shoot at Harper all the way from the top part. I can’t let them get away with this. Not this time.
Harper runs but stops midway when she notices I’m not coming with her.
“Marcello! What are you doing?!” she yells as Mario holds out his hand.
“Go ahead. I’ll catch up,” I reply, and I fire off another shot, which misses.
I duck when he shoots back.
“Marcello! I’m not leaving without you!” Harper yells, not even flinching at the sound of gunfire even though she’s not as used to it as I am. But this world has already hardened her beyond reparation, and I am the one to blame, so I should be the one to fix it. I have to make this world safer for her, even if only a little. Maybe then we can have a life together in peace … or at least a haven for our child.
But before I can answer, Frank has already aimed and shot me … straight in the calf.
“Marcello!” Harper comes running toward me, but I hold up my hand and shoot at him with the other.
“STOP!” I yell back, regaining my footing while trying to ignore the stabbing pain in my leg. “Get to safety! For our child.”
I plead with her with my eyes to go to Mario so he can take her to safety, but I know in my heart she won’t listen. Because she is my fiery Kitten, and defiance is what makes her who she is.
“Don’t be so melodramatic,” she growls back. “I don’t want you to sacrifice yourself just to kill Frank and Molly.”
“After what they did to me, to you, they deserve death,” I respond, and I fire another shot in Frank’s direction to make sure he doesn’t surprise me again. “And I’m going to get my revenge.”
“Marcello!” Harper calls out, but I ignore her.
I must do this. I must claim their lives so they will never claim more. Enough is enough.
Limping, I make my way to the staircase, determined to make it up there, even with Molly protecting Frank’s rear by shooting anyone who dares to come close. When she’s got me on her radar, she fires off several shots at the staircase, but she has a lousy aim.
“You were never as good at wielding a gun as you were at wielding that man’s dick. But I guess all good things must come to an end,” I spit at her.
“Just like your tiny little heart when I’m done crushing it,” she quips back.
I expect another shot in my direction.
Instead, she aims for someone downstairs in the crowd. My eyes follow her target to a woman helping wounded Italians in the midst of the fight, her nun’s outfit giving her away.
Andrea.
No.
What the fuck is she doing here?
“It’s about time I eradicated everything you hold dear off the face of this earth,” Molly hisses at me.
And she takes aim.
My eyes widen.
In a split second, I make the decision to jump away from the staircase, and I run, biting through the pain to get to her in time.
Right before the…
BANG!
