Page 11 of The Lies We Tell

Seizing on Matteo’s momentary distraction with her, Drago surged forward, but Matteo was faster, pivoting in the nick of time and wrapping his arm around Drago’s shoulders to hold him in place. When Drago squirmed, Matteo pressed two fingers into Drago’s wound, and Drago gritted his teeth and went still.

“This is the price you pay for fucking with me,” Matteo said.

Eyes never leaving hers, Matteo brought the knife to the side of Drago’s neck and shoved it in to the hilt, pulling it out rapidly. Blood splattered both men as Drago’s mouth opened in a silent scream. Matteo released him, and Drago sank to his knees, gripping his neck in a useless attempt to stop the bleeding.

When Drago finally collapsed to the floor in a widening pool of blood, Matteo crouched down to make sure he was dead, wiping off the flat of his blade on the back of Drago’s shirt. Bringing his eyes up to meet hers again, he raised a finger to his lips to indicate she should be quiet and moved to the door again, preparing to slip out.

“Wait!”

He stilled with his hand on the knob, looking back at her over his shoulder. Her pulse pounded in her ears as she stared at Drago’s lifeless body on the floor. This would be her only opportunity.

“Take me with you,” Tessa said, unable to keep the tremor from her voice.

Matteo studied her for a long moment, ignoring the crackling of what sounded like a walkie-talkie in his pocket. He didn’t move, didn’t speak, just watched her with an intensity that sent an unfamiliar tingle racing down her spine.

“I just killed a man.”

“I know. I was there.”

At the sound of footsteps in the hall, he eased the door shut and again indicated she should be quiet. When the steps receded, he turned toward her, stepping over Drago’s body and crossing the room to stand in front of her.

“Please,” she said, voice breaking on the word as his eyes took her in. His gaze caught on the cut on her cheek, and he took a step closer. “I can’t stay here,” she added when he still didn’t speak. “If you don’t take me with you, my father will—”

Eyes darkening, he gripped her chin, tilting her head to study the deep purple bruises on her neck from her father’s fingers.

“Is that who gave you these?” he demanded, voice dark and deadly.

She nodded, curious about the way her skin warmed under his touch. She needed to focus. He was her escape, not her savior. Finding her mother was the only thing she cared about.

Releasing her chin, he traced a fingertip over the outline of one of the bruises on her neck, pausing when she swallowed at the contact. Inhaling deeply, he took a step back, and her heart sank. He was going to leave her here at her father’s mercy.

“You have thirty seconds to pack a bag, and then I’m leaving.”

She stood rooted in place, wondering if he was serious or just waiting for her back to be turned to stab her with the knife still in his hand. As if reading her mind, he flipped the blade closed with a flick of his wrist and slipped it into his pocket.

“Twenty-eight seconds,” he said, a smile teasing the corner of his mouth. “Better hurry, piccola.”

Sucking in a sharp breath, Tessa ducked into the closet, grabbing a bag and shoving clothes into it. She barely registered what she tossed in, taking whatever her hand touched next. Just enough to last her a few days. Assuming she lived that long.

Rifling through her jewelry box, she pulled out her mother’s pearl necklace and matching earrings, something that had been passed from mother to oldest daughter for generations. Tucking them safely into the outer pocket of her bag and zipping it shut, she stepped back into the bedroom with it slung over her shoulder.

Matteo reached for it, easing it down her arm and ignoring the way she flinched. He took her hand, squeezing it tight when she tried to wrench it from his grip.

“Down the back stairs at the end of this hallway.” He quietly pulled the door open and peeked out. “Across the lawn and through the side gate. There are three SUVs parked there. You’ll get in the back of the second one.” He looked at her sharply over his shoulder. “You do not stop for anyone’s command but mine.”

She nodded, breath sawing in and out of her lungs as she followed him out of the bedroom and quickly down the hall. There were more bodies littering the floor outside Drago’s room. Clearly the Bianchis made quick work of the men ordered to guard him.

The stairs were empty and quiet, and she wondered if her father even knew his walls had been breached yet. His room was in the wing on the opposite end of the compound, but the alarm should have woken him. It should have woken everyone.

Dew clung to her feet as they raced across the back lawn, keeping to the shadows the climbing sun threw over the grass. Matteo felt along the ivy-covered stone wall for the wrought iron gate she knew was just beyond the red flowers her mother had loved so much.

Finding it, he shoved at the latch, and the gate swung open on creaking hinges. He pulled her through behind him, but she stopped short, her hand falling from his. Over a dozen men stood around the SUVs, all of them imposing and deadly. Most of them covered in blood.

“It’s about fucking time,” a man who could have been Matteo’s twin said. “What took you so lo—” His brow pinched into a frown when he saw her, and he took a menacing step forward.

Matteo stepped into the man’s path, shoving his shoulder. “She’s mine,” he growled. “And she’s coming with us.”

The word mine whispered across her skin and settled in her chest, and Tessa shook her head to clear it. This whole fucking thing was a means to an end. Her mother. She had to do everything in her power to get her mother back.

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