Page 87 of Bound in Vengeance
My head snaps in the direction of the sound anyway, and my heart completely stops. It is her. Through the smoke, I watch in horror as one of Luca's surviving men corners her, throwing a heavy kick that knocks her brutally to the concrete floor.
What the fuck is she doing here?!
In a fraction of a second, my entire world narrows. My brain short-circuits and all I see is a blinding, apocalyptic red. My hands instantly drop from Luca’s neck, completely forgetting about his existence as I launch myself across the warehouse. Iam racing toward Sienna, my gaze locked entirely on the bastard standing over my wife. I will tear him apart limb from limb.
I don't even make it halfway across the room before a sudden, searing pain explodes through my shoulder. The force of the bullet hits like a sledgehammer, nearly sending me down to my knees.
I stumble, my teeth grinding together as I force myself to turn. Luca is standing by the window, lowering a smoking pistol, a devilish, triumphant grin twisting his bloody face.
"I won't stop, Alessandro!" he shouts over the roar of the fire, his voice dripping with malice. "I won't stop until the Gallo business is mine!"
With that, he turns on his heel and dives headfirst out the shattered window, fleeing into the night.
I don’t pay him any fucking mind. I don't care that he's running. Ignoring the white-hot agony radiating through my shoulder, I push off the ground and head straight for Sienna.
The man standing over her raises his weapon, but he's not fast enough. I raise my gun with my good arm and fire three continuous rounds, blowing his chest open and dropping him instantly to the floor.
The second he hits the ground, I collapse beside her, dropping my weapon to gather Sienna tightly into my arms.
Sienna gasps, her hands instantly flying to my blood-soaked jacket, her eyes wide with panic. "Alessandro... oh my god, you’re bleeding!"
"You're goddamn right I'm bleeding, because you're supposed to be in the fucking car!" I roar, a toxic mix of white-hot fury and blinding terror making my voice shake. My shoulder is screaming in agony, but the pain is nothing compared to the rage burning in my chest. "You disobeyed me! You put yourself right in the middle of a fucking crossfire! You’re going to the hospital right now."
Before she can even protest, I ignore the fierce protest of my torn shoulder muscles and hoist her securely into my arms. I stand up, stepping over the dead bodies, and storm out of the blazing warehouse into the cool night air.
Valerio catches up with us halfway to the SUV, his weapon drawn and his face grim. "You're hit?—"
"I don't give a shit," I bark, my pace never slowing. "Stay here and make sure the men hunt down and kill every single one of Luca's remaining bastards. Wipe them all out."
"Alessandro, Luca's men are already dead," Valerio counters swiftly, rushing to open the back door of the SUV for me. "I’ve already given the men strict instructions on the perimeter cleanup. My only priority right now is you and Sienna. Let's move."
I don’t have the energy to argue with him. I slide into the backseat, still refusing to let go of Sienna, and pull her tightly against my good side as the SUV screeches away from the burning hideout.
The moment we're moving, Sienna tries to squirm, her hands pressing against my chest to inspect my shoulder. "Alessandro, stop being so stubborn! You're the main priority here! You've been shot, you're the one who is seriously wounded!"
"Shut up, Sienna," I snap, my grip tightening around her waist. "I watched that bastard kick you straight to the concrete. You could have internal bleeding, a ruptured spleen, a concussion—I don't fucking know. You're getting scanned top to bottom."
"I am fine, I swear! It is just a bruise!" she insists, her voice thick with emotion.
"I said shut up! I'm not risking your life because you wanted to play hero! I told you to stay in the car.”
The drive is a blur of high speeds and tense silence. We pull up to the secure underground entrance of the Gallo family's private wing at the hospital. The medical team is already waiting with gurneys, tipped off by Valerio on the drive over.
The moment the doors open, a team of doctors and nurses rushes toward my side of the vehicle, hands reaching in to assist the bleeding Don.
"Get your fucking hands off me!" I snarl, shoving a resident away with my good arm as I slide out, keeping Sienna tucked against my side. I force her down onto the nearest examination table, crowding the medical staff with a lethal, predatory glare.
"Examine her first," I order the lead physician, my voice a dangerous, razor-sharp whisper that makes the entire room freeze. "You touch her, you scan her, and you make sure she doesn't have a single internal scratch before you even think about looking at my shoulder."
The doctor swallows hard, looking between my bleeding wound and Sienna's pale face. "But, Don Alessandro, your hemorrhaging?—"
I step closer, my bloody hand gripping the doctor's coat, pulling his face inches from mine. "Listen to me very carefully. If she has so much as a hairline fracture that you miss, or if anything happens to her because you were wasting time on me, I will personally line every single one of you up against the wall and put a bullet through your skulls. Do you understand me? Work on my wife. Now."
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
SIENNA
The doctors abandon Alessandro instantly, thoroughly terrified by the lethal threat he just delivered. They rush toward me like a flock of panicked birds, frantically wheeling my gurney down the pristine, white hallway of the Gallo family's private wing and into a secure, luxury examination suite.
