Page 38 of Wanton

"And that's the kind of man you want to spend your life with, Callie? One willing to destroy your family?" Marcello asks, watching me from a leather wingback chair across the room, a gun on his lap.

"You mean one trying to protect me from the people determined to hurt me?" I ask, pacing in circles around the living room. It's odd. I spent my whole life in this house, but it's never felt as much like home to me as Luca's does after a matter of days. Every piece of furniture in it is worth a small fortune, but it's all cold and unwelcoming, especially now. I want to be back at Luca's in his arms so badly. There's warmth there, and laughter.

Please, survive. Please, don't let this be the end,I pray, fighting the hopelessness beating in my chest. I can't give up. Luca wouldn't. He'd fight until the end. He'd fight for me.

"Cristo, Callie," Marcello says, staring at me likes he's never seen me before. "What happened to you?"

"What happened to me?" I laugh abruptly, a sharp, abrasive sound I hardly recognize. "I grew up in this house, Marcello! At thirteen, I told my father I wanted to go to college someday. He laughed in my face and told me that I'd never do that. That I was marrying Andrea Maceo on my twenty-first birthday and I didn't have a choice. That it was what wasrequiredof me as aprincipessa. When I pleaded, he sent me to my room for a week! Princesses smile and serve the family with pride. They don't act like selfish brats, he said. I've spent every day since dreading my twenty-first birthday! That's what happened to me!"

"Dio," Marcello mutters.

"And then I finally find a way out. I'm finally free. I find a way to protect our family and forge an alliance while snatching a little bit of happiness for myself, and you drag me right back to my own personal hell," I cry. "You act like Luca is a monster, but he's the only person who hasevercared what I want."

"Callie, that's not true."

"Yes, it is," I sob. "He could have forced me to his bed, Marcello. He could have taken what he wanted. He didn't. He's been nothing but good to me. He's treated me like family. And he's done everything possible to make sure no one else pays for what our grandfather did. He doesn't want a war. He doesn't want the Genovese territory. He just wants me! It's my own family who want to use me, even when they know that doing it is killing me."

My brother is silent for a moment and then he shoves a hand through his dark hair, ruffling it. "You really believe that, don't you?"

"I don't believe it," I whisper, wiping my eyes. "I know it. I think about marrying Andrea Maceo, and I would rather die. If that's what the future holds for me, just end it now, Marcello. Don't drag out my death. Kill me now."

I don't love Andrea Maceo. I don't even like him. My skin crawls when I think about him touching me or sharing my bed. He's a monster just like his father. He takes and takes and takes until there's nothing left.

"Luca loves me, Marcello. So much he'll risk everything to set me free, even his own life. That's the future I choose. That's the man I choose." I swallow, trembling. "And if you love me at all, you'll let me go. Please."

If Luca's alive right now, he's on his way here. He'll kill everyone to get to me or die trying. Marcello has to let me go before that happens.

"Fuck," Marcello mutters, striding across the room toward me. He snatches me into his arms, pulling me into a fierce hug. "You better not be wrong about him,sorella. If he hurts you, I'll tear their empire down with my bare hands."

I sob, my knees threatening to buckle as relief crashes through me. He's letting me go.Dio Santo, he's letting me—

Pow. Pow. Pow.

I scream as gunfire erupts outside, so close it sounds as if it's right on top of us.

"Cazzo!" Marcello shouts, dragging me to the floor as chaos erupts outside.

Enforcers shout, a mix of Italian and English that makes it clear they're under attack. Another gunshot rings out.

"Luca," I sob, fighting to get free of Marcello's embrace. "Luca!"

"Calmati! Calmati!" Marcello growls, shaking me gently. "I'll handle it. You stay here. Don't move from this spot, Callie."

I sob again, nodding as he pulls away and scrambles toward the door. More guards pour out of the back of the house, rushing toward the patio doors with guns drawn.

I bite my lip, holding back a scream of fury. This is my worst nightmare in the flesh, and Marcello expects me to just sit here and wait. No. I won't.

I push myself to my feet and race toward the front door. Marcello left it standing open. It's eerily quiet outside now. Too quiet.

My feet fly down the steps.

I shudder in horror at the bodies of my father's guards littering the ground. How did Luca kill so many so quickly?Dio. He's truly on the warpath.

I race around the corner of the house to see a vision that rivals my worst nightmares. Luca is alive, but my father's guards have half a dozen guns pointed at his back. And he has his aimed at Marcello's head.

"You took her from me," Luca snarls, his expression thunderous. Murderous fury dancing like lightning in his eyes. "You tried to give her to another man."

"She's inside, Valentino," Marcello says, speaking softly. He has his hands raised. "She's safe."