2

Luciano pulled me closer to him and all thoughts of my family evaporated. Bending his head, he

showered kisses against my neck, whispering the naughty things we would do the moment we got back home. Shivers of delight ran through my spine and desire pooled between my thighs. My body burned with an inferno only he knew how to set off. He knew it would be on my mind throughout dinner. We hadn't even gotten to the restaurant, and I was ready to go back home.

We were on our way to Maurizio’s. It has become our default restaurant date. There was nervous energy pumping through my veins. Everything between us had happened so fast, and truthfully, our whole marriage started as leverage against my family. I had been his willing victim, seeing a way out for me and my best friend. Yes, he forced me down the aisle, but I wasn’t blind to the benefits in taking that walk. Protection from my uncle and grandmother.

And somehow, we ended up here. We never talked about the future or our plans. Hopefully, he would be happy about our future together as much as I was.

Luciano swept me up from his night club and straight down the altar. It sounded so much better than labeling it as a kidnapping. Three months ago, I would have preached caution to any girlfriend that acted like this. I would have called it Stockholm Syndrome and the start of a very unhealthy relationship. But now, I could understand falling head over heels for someone. Besides, unintentionally and unbeknownst to him, he saved me. If he hadn’t taken me when he did, the fate my uncle had prepared for me was horrid. And now, I could help my best friend Gabriella too. Things were finally looking up.

The driver pulled up in the back of the restaurant, which was reserved only for the restaurant owner and Luciano’s team. After the car was parked, Luciano stepped out and held his inked hand to help me out. I took it with a smile.

“You look beautiful,” he murmured, his eyes mesmerizing me.

“You don’t look too shabby yourself.” Truth was, he looked so handsome. Women always gawked after him, and today, I was sure it would be no different. But it wasn’t his good looks that captivated me. It was his over-the-top possessive and protective personality. Since my parents died, I had not had that. My best friend and I pretty much had to look out for each other. Nobody else cared what happened to us, and if my uncle’s plan had succeeded, both she and I would have been sold.

The back door of the restaurant flew open, and Maurizio’s son Mauro stormed out frantically. His disheveled hair was the first thing I noticed. Roberto’s and Massimo’s furious expressions were the next. They were right behind him.

“We were hit.”

The words slashed the cold January air, but it didn’t compare to the way my blood froze as I watched Luciano spin around and push me up against the car. Before I could even process what happened, Roberto and Massimo had their guns aimed at my head.

“You betrayed me,” Luciano spat at me, the affection dissipating from his hazel eyes, and now all I saw in them was hate.

“W-what?” My heart thundered, every fiber in my body was drenched in fear. His burning gaze turned into one of frigid fury, matching the cold, grey day around us and flurries coming down.

Cold fear gripped me. How did he go from his hot, hungry gaze to this cold rage? I struggled to process it all. Luciano’s hard, towering body locked me against the car, the freezing metal of the barrel of his own gun pressed hard against my temple.

“You betrayed me!” he shouted.

“I-I didn’t.” My voice shook, my words fumbling in a stutter.

“You are the only one who knew besides my men. I fucking trusted you.”

My vision blurred, my breathing heavy. I stared at him, praying he’d see the truth in my eyes.

“Please, Luciano!” I whispered as a snowflake landed on my eyelash. It felt heavy, my face frozen from the cold and terror. “I didn’t betray you.” I breathed in, my lungs hurting from the frigid cold air.

“I’ve had shipments coming here for weeks. We were never hit. The week I tell you, we are hit.” “Luciano, please listen,” I begged in a small voice. “I didn’t betray you. I love you!”

He laughed, his face twisted in disgust at my words. At me. At my declaration of love. It was the first time I spoke those words to my husband.

The barrel of his gun pressed harder against my temple and my whole body shook. From fear.

From the cold. And the look of disgust in his eyes.

“Let’s play a little game,” he growled, a menacing smile on his face. Slowly he pulled the gun from my temple while Roberto and Massimo held their aim on me. He opened the cylinder of the revolver, eyeing it, counting the number of bullets before spinning the cylinder and flicking it closed. “Russian roulette. Shall we?” He pressed the barrel of the revolver back to my temple.

The whole scene played out like it was happening to someone else; like it was a bad movie. “Should I kill you now?” he bellowed, rage clear on his face. “I should have expected something

like that from someone of your caliber. After all, the Romano family excels at backstabbing.”

I stared at him in confusion and hurt. How could he think that of me? Less than an hour ago, he was inside me and made love to me.

“Luciano-” Massimo cut in.

“Shut the fuck up!” he roared at him. His gaze never wavered from me and those words almost felt aimed at me. “Any last words, wife?”

I watched those eyes that I loved so much, my heart shredding into tiny pieces. It felt like shards of glass tearing at my skin, except the pain tore through me, inside me, leaving invisible scars in its wake. A tear rolled down my face, its trail turning to frost almost immediately. Just as I felt my heart freeze with each of Luciano’s harsh words. I was too scared to move, to wipe it clean.

Despite my shattering heart, and suddenly bleak future, I felt anger rise within me. It was better that way, it kept my walls up that I should have never lowered for him. I wanted to tell him to go fuck himself; he wasn’t worth my love. He wasn’t worthy of me. But the words got stuck in my throat.

Then he pulled a trigger.

Click.