Page 206 of Salvatore

“No. That’s not what I mean. What happens toyou?”

My heart drops like a body off a rooftop—sudden, violent, and impossible to stop. “Then know that falling for you wasn’t a choice,mi reina. It was an instinct. I had no will to stop it and no desire to.”

She whimpers. “We can both hide in here.Please, Salvatore. I can’t lose you.”

“You’re not going to lose?—”

“Please.” Her eyes fill with tears. “I love you.”

Her words are a benediction and a curse, tearing me open and stitching me back together. “Then say you’ll marry me. Give me one more thing to fight for.”

“I will.” She nods. “I promise. Just don’t let them take you from me.”

Her acquiescence isn’t the victory I’d thought it would be. I’d expected a sense of invincibility. Even euphoria. But the opposite consumes me, the weight of everything I could lose threatening to choke the breath from my lungs.

“I’m not going anywhere.” I grasp her hands in mine. “I’m going to stay in the penthouse. All I’m doing is checking on Lorenzo’s guards. I bet they’ve got this all under control.”

“Don’t make me raise this child on my own, Salvatore.”

Another sucker punch hits me fair in the throat. “I’ll do everything in my power to come back to you.”

Her lower lip trembles as I retreat, pressing the button on the wall.

I get a brief second to watch her expression crumple to devastation while she releases a guttural sob, then the door slides shut between us with a finality that feels like a death sentence.

My heart is a fist in my chest, slamming against my ribs.

I can’t fucking leave her. Not like this.

But more gunshots echo from outside Lorenzo’s front door, and I can’t afford to fall into weakness.

I shove the leather-bound ledger back into place, the bookcase sliding into position with a mechanical hiss as I palm my gun and stride for the hall. I’m barely a few feet from the open living area when a sharp crack splits the air, followed by the thud of the front door crashing open.

I sprint down the hall and squeeze my trigger on the men rushing in, Ivy’s brother the last of five intruders to dive behind the nearest sofa.

I skid on my knees into the kitchen, taking cover behind the island as they return fire, their bullets smashing through glass cabinets and thwacking into plaster.

“Where is she?” Alonso shouts.

“Where’s who?” I level my gun above the counter and start eating through my weapon’s magazine.

A male cry rings out before anarchic rounds slam back, punching the fridge, ricocheting off the stove.

Alonso laughs. “Come on,pendejo.Don’t insult me.”

“She’s not here, asshole.”

“Nice try, but my men saw her get off the helicopter with you.”

Boots scuffle forward. I take aim around the corner of the island, narrowly missing the two motherfuckers as they fan out.

“Did you also see a guard take her away once we arrived in the parking garage?” I creep around the counter, eyes tracking one of them as they edge nearer.

I squeeze the trigger. A single bullet. Right through the side of his skull.

He drops like dead weight, gun clattering to the floor.

“It’s a big fucking building,cucaracha.” I shift position, keeping low. “I suggest you pick a floor and start searching. Or better yet, maybe check the underground tunnel that leads to the apartment complex next door. I think you’ll find she’s long gone.”

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