Page 95 of Forbidden Sins

“We have to go.” I help her up from the bed, one arm supporting her as we hurry toward the door. She seems to be walking without trouble, and I motion for her to get behind me. “Stay back,” I remind her, and then we push forward, out into the hall.

We move down the stairs as I hear the sound of gunshots, shouts from the direction of what I think is the living room. Two men stay with Estella while the other and I push forward, weapons ready.

We’re surprised by two of Vito’s guards coming around the corner. We take them down fast, silenced shots dropping them before they know what hit them. I hear Estella’s gasp, and I want to go to her. But we have to keep moving.

I hear Antony’s raised voice as we reach the living room. I see bodies littering the floor—and then I see Vito, standing in the center of the room, one hand at his side holding a gun while Antony aims one at his face.

Vito’s head snaps up as we enter, and his face hardens when he sees Estella. Faster than a striking snake, his hand shoots up, his gun aimed at her.

“Now’s the time to come to your senses, Gallo,” he sneers. “Or I shoot her.”

Antony’s head whips around, and his face drains of blood when he sees his daughter. “Cara mia,” he whispers, the first time I’ve ever heard him speak tenderly toward her. The fact that it took him seeing her broken for it to happen infuriates me—but I can see the truth in the expression on his face. He does care for her. Loves her, even, in his own misguided way.

I have to hope that will be enough to keep her safe, when I can’t any longer. That Antony will have learned a lesson from this.

"Put down your weapon, Bianchi," Antony commands. "And give back my daughter.Now."

“I can shoot faster than you can.” Vito’s mouth spreads in a vicious smile. “I might die, but so will?—”

A gunshot cracks through the air. Blood begins to spread over Vito’s shirt, in the space just over his heart. Antony’s head whips toward me, and the gun I’m holding outstretched, my bullet lodged in Vito’s chest.

His body drops to the floor. Dead for good, this time.

“I told you—” Antony snaps, but I cut him off.

“I knew I could shoot faster than him. Wasn’t sure if you could.” I hold his gaze evenly. “Estella’s safety is all that matters. Always.”

“This changes nothing.” Antony’s voice is hard. “Men? Grab him.”

“Sebastian!” Estella cries out my name, rushing to put herself between me and her father, her broken hand still cradled to her chest. “Papa,no.”

“He kidnapped you.” Antony’s voice is hard. “He can’t be trusted. He claims?—”

“I left with him.” Estella’s chin tips up, her eyes defiant. “I wanted to go. Vito tried to force

me in my room. Again, in the garden, when Sebastian took me away. He would have hurt me, if I was his. He would have hurt mebeforeI was really his. I refuse to marry a man like that. I refuse to go back to that life.”

Antony looks at her appraisingly. “Is that why you ran?”

“I ran because I refuse to be sold like cattle,” Estella spits. “I refuse to be controlled for the rest of my life, to spend it as someone’s possession.”

“It’s not about possession.” Antony regards his daughter calmly. “It’s about duty. About family?—”

“Family?” Estella’s expression twists. “Luis wouldhateyou for what you’ve done. For what you’ve put me through?—”

Antony goes very still, his face white as bone. “Careful, daughter,” he warns.

“Or what?” Estella glares at him. “You can’t hurt me any more than I’ve already been hurt. You can’t do anything worse than taking Sebastian away from me.”

She grabs for my hand with her uninjured one, staring her father down. “I love him,” Estella whispers, looking at her father defiantly. “And he loves me. I’ve given himeverything,” shesays emphatically, not breaking her father’s gaze for a moment. “Everything. And I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

Antony’s mouth tightens. “Vito hurt you.” He looks at her hand. “We need to get you home, daughter. You need a doctor, and?—”

“Not without Sebastian.” Estella’s voice is unwavering. “I can’t live without him,papa. And I won’t. You can’t watch me every moment, forever. If you kill him?—”

Antony’s eyebrows rise.He turns to look at me. “What about you, Sinclair?” he says, turning to look at me, something that almost sounds like genuine curiosity in his voice. “Was it worth dying for?”

He says it as calmly as if he’s asking me my preference in the weather, or what I want for dinner. My heart pounds behind my ribs, but my voice is calm, too, when I respond. Calm and utterly certain.

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