Alpha Luciano’s POV
The first thing I did after seeing the warehouse was to mind-link my men. It was on the outskirts of the city. By the time they got here, the fight would be almost over but I wanted them here anyway in case Uncle Tommaso decided to play a fast one on me. That way Arabella would be safe.
The limo zoomed off behind us and we entered the building. The moment we entered, gunshots went off. I dropped to the ground and rolled. Before they could begin shooting on the ground, I was already hiding behind some boxes.
I pulled out my gun. Vitalio Bianchi did not follow the unspoken terms for the meeting. He had brought in his men. It wasn’t like I hadn’t expected it. It was Vitalio after all. It was just that I was having a problem connecting someone who was as despicable as him to someone like Arabella.
The shots continued to go off but I didn’t scent Uncle Tommaso’s blood so I knew he was alright.
I followed the trajectory of where the gunshots were coming from. One, two, three. There were three shooters. I doubted any of them was Vitalio. I raised my gun and aimed. Three shots later, the men were down. Two dead, one injured.
I inhaled deeply and located Uncle Tommaso directly opposite me behind some boxes. He was moving slowly but surely towards a direction. I knew he was armed so I wasn’t too bothered. I moved, scenting the direction he was going.
I smelt Vitalio. I paused looking at the space between two boxes. They were right in front of each other separated by the boxes.
Before I could intercede, however, someone jumped me. Dropping my gun, I freed my hands to grab the person by the arm and flip them over on the ground so hard that I heard their spine crack. I took my gun and shot the man through his head.
When I looked at Uncle Tommaso and Vitalio, both of them were disarmed and were fighting in partial shifts. It would be so easy for me to jump in now and deal Vitalio a killing blow but somewhere in this warehouse, Arabella was tied down with a bomb strapped to her. Uncle Tommaso could take care of himself.
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Arabella’s POV
The shots started up minutes ago and my pulse had thundered away. Do you know how it feels to hear gunshots and be unable to put yourself flat on the ground? To just stay strapped to the chair like a sacrificial offering. Open to any attack or bullet that could stray. I had never felt so open, unguarded and helpless in my life.
I couldn’t run away nor could I do anything else but be a sitting duck.
“The shooting started too quickly. Should we go and help?”
My captors were no longer spread out and half asleep but in a circle discussing whether or not to interfere in the ongoing fight.
“The Elder didn’t tell us to join the fight. We were ordered to stay here with her. We can’t go against our orders.” Said the one who had been asleep in front of me.
The third nodded while the first didn’t seem too convinced about waiting and playing it all by the ear but nodded accepting the majority decision.
The circle was just breaking up when there was the first man was hit by a gunshot to his leg. Screaming, he fell over. The other two reached for their guns but they moved too slowly. The shooter got them as well. Injuring rather than killing them.
I tensed wondering if I was next only for me to inhale Luciano’s scent as he rounded the corner. My eyes widened in shock.
“Luciano!”
“Arabella.”
He closed the distance between us hugging me carefully, being mindful of the bomb.
I found myself sobbing into his shirt. He rubbed my back comforting me.
“I was so scared.”
“Shh, it’s okay. I’m here. Let’s get this off you.”
I nodded and Luciano took out a knife and slowly cut me free. In minutes, he had disabled it and I was free. He was on his knees after cutting my wrists free, he took my hands and kissed my bleeding wrists.
“I’m sorry that I keep failing you, Arabella. Please forgive me.”
I shook my head. It hadn’t been his fault. If it had been anyone’s fault, it had been mine. I needed to stop being the victim and take charge of my life.
I went on my knees and embraced him. “You saved my life again Luciano. You have nothing to apologise for. Thank you for always being there for me.”
We hugged for some seconds and when we pulled apart, I had tears on my cheeks that Luciano wiped off.
“Let’s get you out of here.”
The fighting was still ongoing. Which was strange because Luciano was right in front of me.
“Are your men here?” I asked looking around for his backup.
Luciano put an arm around me and lifted me up shaking his head. “They aren’t here yet. Your father is fighting against Uncle Tommaso. Their fight is long overdue and not even I can go between them. The best we can do is to get out of their way.”
I had wanted an opportunity to speak with my fad even once before anything happened to him but with Uncle Tommaso being who he was fighting, someone who couldn’t even see eye to eye with me much less let me talk to him, it would seem that the ship had already sailed.
Luciano went over to the shot-up men and knocked them out before disarming them. He passed one of the guns to me and I held it for a minute before clicking on the safety and tucking it into the waistband of my trousers and covering it with my shirt.
As we began to walk stealthily towards the exit with Luciano leading the way holding his gun in front of him, we heard a crash.
We paused and from our vantage, we could see that Elder Tommaso was losing against my dad. My dad had scored a hit on his high inner thigh. He was bleeding and losing strength but he continued to fight normally exerting himself. He would be unable to keep up that speed, he was one wrong move away from getting himself killed.
If it was this obvious to my untrained eye then it was more than obvious to my father who seemed to be playing with him to tire him out faster.
Luciano looked torn between leading me to escape and going to save his uncle. He couldn’t fire a shot with the way the two men were tangled up without risking shooting his uncle.
He had to go in person and help him out with hand-to-hand combat. So what if that uncle had kidnapped me? I wasn’t doing it for him, I was doing it for Luciano. He’d lost his parents because of my dad. I wouldn’t let him lose his uncle the same way.
“Go ahead. I’ll be fine.”
Luciano hesitated then kissed my forehead and he was gone. Jumping right into the fray, my father turned sensing him, he caught sight of me, his eyes widening briefly, and then Luciano was on him.
After catching my father’s gaze, I couldn’t look away if I wanted to. The fight became bloody and intense. The three men moved so fast that I couldn’t register who was hit and who was doing the hitting. They slashed, kicked and played dirty with no move too much. Fighting with Luciano and dodging a hit or two from Elder Tommaso tired out my father.
It was only a matter of seconds before he lost the fight. My father must have realized it because he slowly began to back away with each move. Elder Tommaso and Luciano pushed their advantage and I watched heart in my mouth wondering if this was where my father would die.
It happened so quickly. One minute my father was backing away, the next he was behind me, holding me like a body shield while his gun that he must have retrieved along the way was trained on my head.
“If either of you moves, she dies.”
What?