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I bit my cheeks so hard to keep my mouth shut as my father waved his guards to bring Nico forward into the center of the room.
Deep breaths, Ari.
I repeated as I felt myself start to panic. If my father killed Nico right in front of me, I’d never recover.
But it was all part of the plan, which brought me back to that.
Part four of the plan.
Trust Molly’s knack for finding her way through dark secret passages.
Nico’s bloody face stared right at me as he was shoved to the ground again and forced to face my father.
“You’ve outgrown your place, boy,” My father sneered from above me like he was casting down judgment upon Nico like a king in olden times. “You had the whole world at your fingertips when you took over as Don, but you just couldn’t fucking follow the path your father laid out for you.”
“My father was a coward.” Nico growled, “Much like you.”
My dad’s body vibrated with anger, tightening his hold on my hair until I winced before schooling my features. “You’ll see what a coward really is when I make you watch these men have their way with your wife!” My father shoved me down the stairs, catching me off guard as I tried to protect my head and my stomach the best I could. “Perhaps I’ll allow your brother first crack at her.” My father said, and I whipped my head up from where I landed on the floor, finding Diego’s cruel smile aimed my way as he stalked toward me.
Nico lunged, fighting the binds that held him, as did my brothers from their spot against the wall. But none of them could get to me in time.
Diego’s hand wrapped around my throat as he pushed me onto my back, looming over me while I punched, kicked, and clawed at him. His hand tightened around my throat, cutting off all the airflow, and memories of my childhood assaulted me, tormenting me with the panic I had felt the last time this man had tried to suffocate me.
I kept fighting him, even as he overpowered me and my vision darkened at the edges.
No.
I screamed inside, where was Molly?
Part five of the plan.
Try not to die.
Chapter 26 – Nico
Myshoulderdislocatedfromthe force I pulled on my wrist, trying to dislodge the chains. Diego crawled on top of my pregnant wife and strangled her, but not once did she stop fighting him off. Agonizing pain tried to blur the things happening around me as I fought to get to her, but I wouldn’t let it blind me.
I had to get to her.
Before I could get free though, the wall behind Emilio exploded open, raining down shards of wood and plaster over the entire room. The gunfire cut through the ringing noise in my ears from the initial blast and I screamed Ari’s name as smoke filled the room, blurring my view of her twenty feet away.
I coughed, fighting with the binds again, roaring as my shoulder tore even further out of the socket, desperate to get to her. The sounds were deafening but I never stopped yelling for her. It went on and on; gunfire, explosions, screams. Never relenting for what felt like ages, as I stayed chained to the floor, unable to move or fight.
“Stop.” Cold hands pushed through the smoke as they slid up my neck and into my hair. “Stop fighting.”
“Ari!” I coughed around the smoke, dipping my head slightly as a bullet whizzed past my ear. Shouts filled the room, followed by screams of men who were dying and falling onto the marble floor all around us.
“I’m here, baby,” she said, finally getting close enough for me to see as the smoke from the explosion started clearing. “I’ve got the key, stay still.” She hurriedly worked the lock free around my neck and then off each wrist, releasing me and jumping into my arms, clinging to me like a koala. “Oh, my God.” She cried. “Are you okay?”
“Get down,” I growled, throwing us to the floor and shielding her body with mine as more bullets whizzed past. “Are you fucking insane?” I snapped at her, angry for her risking her own life and that of our babies to show up here.
“Yes.” She yelled back, glaring at me angrily when I peeked down at her. “Fucking insanely in love with you, you big jerk.”
“Capa!” Dio’s voice rang out and I looked up, seeing him and Saul flanked by no less than fifty armed men standing around the room. “Where’s Ari?” He yelled when he found me.
“Here.” I sat up, getting my weight off of her and pulling her to her knees. I ran my hands over her entire body, noticing the purple handprints already blooming around her throat and the cut on her lip. But other than that, she was okay.
Alive.
