Callum threw up his hands. “She left you. She disappeared from all of us because ofyou.”
With a shake of my head, I replied, “She left because we couldn’t be together. You’d made that abundantly clear to her.” I then glowered at Edoardo. “And because you bombed the club and killed her dog.”
He shrugged apathetically. “I had to get your attention.”
With a disgusted growl, I turned my attention back to Callum. “I’ll find her. I’ll search the ends of the world until I find her.”
“This is insanity,” Callum grunted, but his expression had begun to soften.
“It’s true love,” Caterina replied beside him.
“ENOUGH!” Edoardo blared. He then cocked the gun at my head. “Youwillmarry Andrea as promised. Wewilljoin our families together as promised. Iwill notbe made a weak fool.”
He then jerked his hand to train the gun on the priest. “Get on with it.”
“For the last time, I’mnotmarrying her,” I pronounced.
When I turned to leave the altar, a pop went off and then piercing pain ripped through my shoulder. Drea screamed behind Leo while shouts and cries went up among the remaining crowd.
In a stupor, I brought my hand to my shoulder. As I felt the throbbing agony, a metallic smell entered my nose as a sticky wetness coated my fingers. “You fucking shot me?”
A triumphant gleam shone in Edoardo’s eyes. “It barely grazed you.”
Thrusting my blood-stained hand in front of him, I demanded, “Does this look like a graze?”
Edoardo had the nerve to shrug. “I had to do what was necessary for you to take me seriously.”
“Quinn, go check him out,” Callum instructed.
Edoardo warily eyed Quinn as he came out of his pew and up to the altar. “Let’s take off your suit jacket,” Quinn instructed.
Sucking in a harsh breath, I let him help me slide the jacket from my arms. As much as I hated to agree with Edoardo, it truly only felt like a graze. I’d been shot before in the arm and leg, and my current pain level was nothing to that extent.
Quinn surveyed the bloody spot between my bicep and my shoulder. “There’s no exit wound, so it must’ve just grazed you.” He leaned in closer. “Doesn’t look like you’ll need any stitches.”
“Like I said. I wanted to get it through your thick skull that I was serious about not letting you out of here alive if you refuse this marriage,” Edoardo said.
“Then I guess you’re going to kill me because I’m not marrying her!” I shouted while wincing from the pain in my shoulder.
“Rafe no!” Caterina cried.
“So be it,” Edoardo growled as he brought the gun up from his side.
“Stop, wait!” Leo shouted. With his hands up in surrender, he stepped towards Edoardo. “Is it Rafe you want, or will anyone with a Neretti name be good enough?”
I blinked at him in shock. “What the fuck are you saying?”
Ignoring me, Leo continued talking to Eduardo. “There’s a way out of this where the two of you can both get what you want.”
Edoardo narrowed his eyes at Leandro. “You’re suggesting someone take Rafe’s place.”
“I am.”
A mirthless laugh escaped Edoardo’s lips. “Marrying my daughter to anyone but the capo is an insult.”
“What if it’s the capo’s second in command?” Leandro countered.
I sucked in a harsh breath. “Leo, what the fuck are you doing?”