Page 77 of Forsaken Promises

Luca turns at the sound, his eyes widening as he sees me get closer. But I’m too fast as I shove him off Dom and hit him over the head with the concrete. Luca goes sprawling onto the ground as the concrete falls from my hands, my arms shaking.

Before I can even think, I’m knocked to the ground, Luca’s hands wrapped around my throat as blood pours from the open wound in his head.

“I’ve changed my mind,” he snarls, his fingers pressing painfully into my throat. “Dom’s proper punishment is watching me kill you.”

My body seizes as it fights for oxygen, my hands scrabbling against his as I buck against him, trying to get him off me, trying to breathe.

But Luca is too heavy. His eyes gleam with triumph as black spots float over my vision. “Buona notte, bellissima.”

BANG.

Luca’s eyes widen in horror as he straightens up and looks down. Blood blooms from his chest, and he gasps before his eyes roll into the back of his head and he slumps sideways.

Precious air fills my lungs as I gasp and cough painfully, my throat smarting. But when I look up, my heart stops.

Dom stands with a smoking gun extended in his hand, eyes wild with rage and hatred. He looks down at Luca’s corpse, his expression a blend of disgust and grim satisfaction.

“It’s over,” he says, his voice rough and ragged with pain and exhaustion. “He’s dead, and he’s never going to hurt you again.”

He turns to me then, his eyes softening with a tenderness that takes my breath away. He reaches for me, his arms coming around me like a shield.

I cling to him, my face buried in his chest as I breathe in the scent of him. “Dom,” I whisper, my voice small and broken. “I thought… I thought I was going to lose you.”

He presses a kiss to the top of my head, his lips lingering against my head. “Never,” he murmurs. “I will always come for you, Sofia. I will never let you go.”

I look up at him, my eyes shimmering with tears of relief and joy and sheer, overwhelming love. "I know," I whisper, my hand coming up to cup his cheek. “Thank you.”

He smiles then, a real smile that lights up his whole face and makes my heart skip a beat. “Let’s go home, baby,” he says, his arms tightening around me as he lifts me off my feet.

“Yes,” I breathe, snuggling into him. “Let’s go home.”

37

DOMINICO

As we speed away from Luca’s estate, the car’s engine humming and the city lights blurring past the windows, I can feel the adrenaline starting to drain from my body. The pain in my shoulder, the dull, throbbing ache that I’ve been ignoring, begins to make itself known with a vengeance.

I grit my teeth, trying to push past the discomfort and focus on the woman in my arms. Sofia is alive, she’s safe, and she’s here. With me. That’s all that matters.

I pull her closer, burying my face in her hair and breathing in the scent of her. The sweet, intoxicating essence that is pure Sofia, untainted by the stench of blood and sweat and fear that clings to my own skin.

“I thought I was never going to see you again,” I murmur, my voice rough with emotion. “When I saw you in that chapel, in that fucking dress, with Luca’s hands on you… I–I thought I was too late. That I’d failed you. I thought I'd pushed you away so badly that you would rather be withhimthan me.”

Sofia shifts in my arms, her head tilting up to look at me with those big, beautiful eyes that always seem to see straight into my soul. “You could never fail me, Dom,” she whispers, her hand coming up to cup my cheek. “You saved me. You saved me from a fate worse than death. Luca… he?—”

Rage rises within me. “What did he do, Sofia?” I rasp, my heart thundering.

She bites her lip and looks away, and for a heart-stopping moment, I think the worst. That he’s forced himself on her, made her do something horrible…

“He–he told me that he was planning on getting me pregnant,” she murmurs, her blue eyes glassy with tears. “So then you could really see the depths of your failure.”

My ears ring and my blood pressure rises at the thought of Luca having sex with Sofia, of her becoming swollen with his child, bearing his baby…

“Breathe, Dom,” Sofia whispers.

I exhale, my heart racing as I finally allow fresh air to circulate in my lungs. “He’s lucky he’s dead,” I growl. “Because for him to do that—to evenwantto do that… Did he touch you?”

I don’t care if he is dead. I’ll go back, resurrect him, and kill him again if I find out that he did something to Sofia.

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