All Chapters of Saved a Stranger, Now The Bride of the Mafia Devil : Chapter 21 - Chapter 23

Dante POV BANG!The kitchen window exploded inward as a bullet tore through the room, showering them with shattered glass. I dropped my voice into a tone I hadn’t used in months.“Stay down.”Ava stared at me, heart pounding so hard I could almost hear it. She stammered a question—what was happening—but I didn’t answer because there was no time. I crouched low and moved toward the old wooden drawer beneath the kitchen counter where I had hidden the pistol weeks ago.Then, another shot exploded and wood splintered from the wall above the sink, sharp fragments flying. Ava gasped and curled into a tight ball on the floor, arms over her head, whispering my name. I reached the drawer, pulled it open, and grabbed the pistol. The motions came back smooth and practiced as the calm of the battlefield settled over me like an old coat. I racked the slide, then crawled back to her.She looked up at me and I immediately knew what she saw—the warm husband who had teased her in the clothing store,

The city lights blurred past the window, tall buildings stretching higher than anything I'd ever seen in Willow Creek. I pressed closer to the glass, watching the streets fill with people who moved like they had somewhere urgent to be, even this late at night."You've never been to a city before," Dante said. It wasn't quite a question."Not one like this." I turned to look at him. "The biggest town I've been to had one traffic light."Something flickered across his face —amusement, maybe, softened by the exhaustion still etched around his eyes. "It'll take some time getting used to."The car slowed and turned into a private drive, and I sat up straighter as a hotel came into view, the kind with a doorman in white gloves and a lobby that looked like it belonged in a magazine, all marble floors and gold light fixtures."Dan, this is…" I didn't even know the word for what this was."It's secure," he said simply, like that explained the chandeliers. "Marco arranged it."The car stopped