Page 9 of Vows of Blood

Someone just tried to kill me at my own fucking engagement party.

Ears still ringing from the gunfire, I ease my body off Sienna, making sure she’s not badly injured as she climbs to her hands and knees, and scans the wreckage of what was, five minutes ago, the most exclusive restaurant in the city.

My restaurant.

Now, instead of a celebration, there’s broken glass everywhere, tables overturned, and blood spilling on marble. The air smells of gunpowder and copper, and somewhere behind me, a woman is wailing way too fucking loudly.

Directing my men to help everyone up and out, I do a quick assessment of the damage. There don’t appear to be any fatalities, but as I rush into the kitchen, there’s Kate, my soon-to-be bride, bleeding out on the floor.

“Stay with me.” I drop to my knees beside her, pressing my hand over hers where she’s clutching her side, eyes scrunched up in pain.

Kate’s warm blood spills through my fingers, and when I lock eyes with Corso, my most trusted lieutenant, I know we’re both thinking the same thing.

There’s too much of it.

I’m no doctor, but I’ve seen enough gunshots to know that. “Paramedics have to be on their way. Where the fuck are they?”

Corso’s gone before I finish shouting.

“Luca?” Kate’s green eyes are already glazing over and losing focus, yet somehow, she still finds the strength to chastise me for being too harsh. “You know how this goes. The police won’t let them inside until they’ve cleared the building and made sure it’s safe.”

Given who’s been shot at, they’ll probably take their sweet time.

“Don’t talk. Just stay still.”

The bodyguard I shoved toward her is on the ground nearby, cursing through gritted teeth as he clutches his leg, bleeding heavily, but conscious and alert.

“Sit the fuck down, Roman,” I tell him as he attempts to struggle to his feet, eyeing the exit. “There’s no getting past the police outside.”

With a reluctant groan, he slumps back down, too weak from blood loss to fight. He’s a good soldier, experienced enough to keep his mouth shut when inevitably questioned by the authorities. I’ll reward him handsomely for this.

If he hadn’t taken that bullet, Kate would surely be dead.

My fiancé’s lips move infinitesimally as her fingers brush my arm. “Tell him… Luca, please, tell him… ” she croaks out, barely a whisper, then pauses, but no more words come out as her hand slips back to her side, limp now, and her eyelids flutter closed.

“Tell him yourself,” I growl, worry giving way to frustration. Her pulse is still there, weak, but there. Not for long, though, if we don’t get her some help. “Stay with me, Kate. Shit.”

“Move over.” Those sharply whispered words are accompanied by the nudge of a knee to my back, and I look up, ready to unleash my anger on whoever dares to give me an order, to fucking touch me, as I tend to my dying fiance.

Sienna drops to her knees on Kate’s other side, a thick wad of napkins and a stack of clean towels already in her hands.

“What do you think you’re doing? Get the fuck out of here, Sienna. You shouldn’t be here.”

Any sane person would be long gone. Pointing to the door, I expect her to flee, but instead, without even looking at me, she hooks her fingers into the hole in Kate’s expensive gown and tugs, ripping the fabric and widening the tear.

“Helping.” She doesn’t wait for permission, just pushes my hands aside and presses a folded towel firmly against Kate’s wound. “You need to apply more pressure than that.”

I should tell her to back off or have one of my men drag her away, but her hands are steady, her actions calm and confident, and Kate needs help.

“You.” She glances down at my crotch, keeping her hands over Kate’s abdomen. “Take off your belt.”

“What?” I snap.

“Come on, Luca. Hurry up.”

In my world, as the soon-to-be head of the Calvano family, only my closest friends get to call me Luca. And nobody tells me what to do.

So I’m very aware of Roman watching this tiny woman casually boss me around and call me by my first name. He’s worked for me for years, knows everyone who enters my world.