Page 51 of Sacred Vow

“I’m sorry,” I sobbed. “I didn’t know. I’m so sorry, Romeo.”

“Shh, Principessa, it’s okay now. I got you. Can you tell me what to expect?”

I quickly filled him in on Leo and my father and the lack of men in the back of the slaughterhouse, but how I may have ruined any chance of surprising them by escaping and putting everyone’s guard up.

“Romeo, please be careful. He’s obsessed with killing all the Vitale men. You’re his biggest target, husband.”

“Rom, we gotta deal with this before they find out we’re here,” Tony said.

Romeo’s eyes went black and his expression cold. He transformed before my eyes from the loving husband to the cold mafia Don. “Tano, take Vittoria home and guard her with your damn life,” he said, passing me into his brother’s arms.

“I love you, Romeo. Come back to me,” I begged as Tano carried me away. The last thing I saw was the Vitale men fanning out into the darkness, swallowed up into the silent night.

Chapter Seventeen

Romeo

I thought I was imagining things when I heard her whisper in the darkness, a figment born of desperation. But Tano had stiffened beside me, indicating he’d heard her too. “Vittoria?” I dared speak aloud, and held my breath.

“Oh, thank God!” She rose out of the tall grass, limping as she ran as fast as she could right into my arms.

Thank fuck!

She was shaking, terrified, and covered in cuts and bruises. Whatever she’d endured, escaping hadn’t been easy. Blood stained her clothing in a dozen places, and all I could see was red.

For one terrifying second, I couldn’t breathe.

All the anger, the planning, the need for revenge vanished beneath a single crushing realization.

She was alive.

Not a body in a shallow grave.

Not another name on a list of people I had failed to protect.

Alive and trembling in my arms. Breathing. Mine. I buried my face in her hair and closed my eyes.

I had been seconds away from losing the only thing in my life that truly mattered. Reluctantly, I handed her over to Tano, unwilling to let her go so soon. I wanted to carry her home and show her how much she meant to me. But now was not the time. Later, after I exterminated the vermin who questioned my rule and stole my woman.

A small group of us would go through the back and eliminate our enemies in silence. The rest would sneak around and wait for our signal before they opened fire on those posted outside waiting to pick us off, one by one.

Paulo cut off the padlock and pushed the door open. The stench of old blood hit us immediately. I hated that Vittoria had been stuck here, alone and afraid.

The six of us split into two groups of three, one on either side of the building. It was dark and too quiet. Stealthily, we moved forward. I went first while they covered my back, then once they fell in behind me again, I moved forward, and on it went until we made it through the maze of rooms and halls and into a wide-open space.

I heard the sounds of chuckling up ahead and scraping like someone was pulling metal across the concrete. I held up my hand and we moved into position, but before we could advance, there was a loud bang from the opposite side of the structure.

Cazzo!

We moved back into the shadows as seven men raced past us in the direction of the noise, but came back after just a glance and some low muttering. Clearly, they wanted no part of what was happening in that room, but at least some of them found it amusing. As they passed us for a second time, we took them down with our knives. So swift and silent that the last man was in Hell before he realized the others were dead. One of them was Carlo, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t take particular pleasure in killing the man who had so betrayed my family.

Peering around the doorway from where they’d exited. I saw a man beaten and secured with chains. The sounds we’d heard were from a winch pulling the man along the floor. It was Don Calogerà.

His eyes found mine, filled with hate.

“You,” he sneered. “Why am I not surprised?”

I pressed the button on the winch and Santo was pulled into the air where he dangled looking like food for the machine. “Your daughter is safe. She managed to outmaneuver that animal you call a son.”