Chapter 4

DANI

It happened so fast. 

I froze in terror, completely paralyzed. My entire body had locked up as I watched the man, Terzo, as something resembling pain across his face– pain. He was shocked, too. 

The gun, a pistol I found in the drawer earlier, dropped from my hand after a single gunshot was fired. It thudded against the floor, echoing in the entire apartment. I could still see the smoke curled from the barrel and smelled the acrid scent of the gunpowder mingled in the air. 

I wasn’t a violent person. In fact, I never kicked or punched anyone in my entire life, but I guess, knowing who my father was, violence might just run in the DNA. Maybe I was truly my father’s daughter. 

The men with guns who just barged into my door caught me off guard, and I didn’t realize I was already pulling the trigger. 

Oh, God. I blinked rapidly. My body violently tremored. What have I done? I watched Terzo clutch his bleeding shoulder. Was he going to die? Was I going to prison? Of course, I was going to prison or worse, they would just shoot me to avenge him because it was crystal clear that this man was the boss who called the shots.

“You!” The tall, dark-haired man, a little older than Terzo, aimed his gun at me. His dark eyes gleamed with rage.

I sucked in a breath. My lungs ceased to function. My eyes went wide, knowing this was how my life would end.

“I-I—” I choked out. I felt like my tongue was stuck in my mouth. I swallowed hard to form thoughts, but nothing emerged. I couldn’t think of anything. I couldn’t say a word. 

“Don’t,” Terzo grunted as the other guy around his age tried to help him. “Don’t touch her.”

“But she just shot you. This bitch is gonna die!” said the dark-haired man through gritted teeth.

“I’m—” I sucked another breath. Tears sprang from my eyes as I tried hard to apologize. 

This man, Terzo, didn’t have to shoot me. I could die easily with one hand. He was taller, bulkier, and there was no emotion left in his eyes but anger and pure rage. He looked gorgeous and dangerous. 

Terzo was obviously their boss with the way he commanded orders, his posture, and his laser-focused attention, and that was why I was still alive. One word from him, the guy who was still pointing a gun at me, hadn’t moved a muscle, except for the ticking of his jaw.

“Danielle, get out of here. Stay in a hotel. You’ll be safe there.” He was really struggling as the pain intensified and the blood was dripping from his wound.

“But—” the man resisted, clearly wanting revenge.

“And don’t fucking call her bitch again, Marco, or I will take you with me to my grave. Puttana,” he cursed in Italian before he grimaced. When the man, Marco didn’t move, “What the fuck are you still waiting for? Help her before the polisi arrive.”

Marco growled before he picked up the gun on the floor and slid it to the other man. When he lifted his gaze at me, I flinched. “Get your things, little girl. My patience is running thin.”

“Boss, you’re losing a lot of blood.” The other man knelt before him.

“I-I think there’s an emergency kit in the bathroom.” I pointed at the door behind them. My hand was still shaking.

The way Terzo grunted every time he moved, he was in great pain. I wanted to offer my help, but I was sure he’d rather not see my face again than help him patch up. Since it was a gunshot wound, they couldn’t bring him to the hospital without getting the authorities involved.

When the other man went to the bathroom, Marco left me and went to the bedroom. He came back with my suitcase and grabbed me by my arm, literally dragging me out of the apartment.

“Hey. Wait.” I pulled my hand from his grip.

“You’re coming with me, or I will bring you to the police station for shooting my boss. Do you know who he is, little girl?” He tightened the grip around my arm as he punched the elevator button with one hand.

My breathing caught. “No.”

“You’re a dead girl if he didn’t stop me. I’d sworn to protect him, and I just failed. If he died, little girl, my head will be stuck on the pole as an example of failure to his father’s hundreds of men. I’m glad I don’t have any more family to burden than him, otherwise, they’ll be dead too.”

I swallowed hard without a word as he pushed me inside the elevator. I stumbled, almost hit my face on the wall. 

We reached the lobby, and people were somewhat murmuring. They probably heard the gunshot. I tried to hide my face and not draw any more attention. 

Thankfully, they didn’t even notice us leaving. We managed to get out of the building as he dragged me and my suitcase to the sidewalk. 

“Don’t worry, little girl. No one will talk. Those people are under his father’s payroll.”

His words made me realize something. I stopped and faced him. What the hell? “The apartment is his father’s?”

His dark eyes proved into my skull as he glared at me. “Oh, so you talk. How many people have you killed? Did Vasilyev teach you how to shoot? He wouldn’t just protect you without offering him something in return? What is it? Did he make you one of his whores?”

Before I even realized I slapped him, he had my wrist in his grip, and I thought he might break it. His grip was like a melting iron around my skin.

“You’re so tiny but feisty and violent. You’re your father’s daughter, after all.”

“I’m nothing like my father, asshole, but Mr. Vasilyev never touched me. I worked for him as a makeup artist in his club. I did my best to be a good employee and never created problems. You should do that sometimes, follow your boss’s command. It should do the tricks.” I jerked and pulled my wrist out of his grip.

He literally let me go, otherwise, I couldn’t get off him with his large hand and big physique.

I drew a deep breath as my heart still beat so fast. “I didn’t mean to shoot him. I swear. I just found a gun earlier. I thought Mr. Vasilyev was helping me escape from whoever my father ordered to take me home. Now, I realize this is all a trick. Terzo trapped me and used my ex-boss.”

“He wasn’t planning on taking you to your father, little girl. If you only listened to him, none of this would have happened. And you shot him. He’s not gonna let you go this time.”

My eyes started to sting again. With everything I heard, surely, he was powerful than my father or Ilya. If his father had hundreds of men at his disposal, and I just shot his son, then my life is over. Unless this guy was trying to scare me. 

I should have just run to the street and let myself get hit by the car. At least, I wouldn’t suffer years of my life paying for what I did.

We hired a cab. The ride was awkward, but I kept my mouth shut until we reached the hotel. 

Marco booked a double-bed hotel room. Of course, he would keep an eye on me. He would probably watch me pee because right now, he has made sure the windows were locked and put the curtain in place. 

“So, I’m your prisoner now. I might just turn myself in to the Istanbul Police. That way, the US Embassy can help me.”

“I highly doubt that. You’re involved with the Russian Bratva, your father is an Italian Mafia, and you just shot a Siciliano. You’re as good as a dead woman.”

I didn’t know how fast I got to him at the window. I gripped his arm and stared at him in shock. “He’s a Siciliano?” Oh, fuck! 

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Words went around about the notorious Siciliano Crime Family. 

Marco barked out laughing instead of answering my question. It pissed me off and frightened me at the same time. 

“Terzo. Terzo Siciliano.”