Page 2 of Unchained

Enzo is the only man powerful enough to decide our family's fate. If I can get on his good side, that means the Milano family survives. If I don’t, then I’m pretty sure we will all be dead by the end of the year.

I turn the radio up as we hit the highway, opening the window, letting the wind blow through my hair. I can hear the cogs in Dom’s brain ticking, and that’s dangerous for us both. Because Dom is always searching for a way out, that usually involves killing our entire family. And I can’t do that. Because for all of our father’s faults, without him, we wouldn’t exist. I am loyal to my family name.

“I murdered his son, Dom. I drove my blade through his chest and told him I’d see him in hell. Dad was never going to let that go lightly. I thought, perhaps, over the years, I’d done enough for him.”

Dom takes a breath, tipping his head back against the headrest. “He’s not going to⁠—”

I hold up my hand to cut him off. “He won’t. Not after last time.”

A sharp pain radiates in my stomach, a reminder of my past. Of the things I’ve had to endure to survive the Milano family name. To prove a woman deserves her place at the head of the family.

That I am not weak.

“Where are we going?” Dom asks.

“You, my last living brother, are going to help me pick out a dress for my wedding day,” I say with a grin, changing the subject.

When there is death, there is a new hope. In my case, a wedding on a ranch in two weeks' time.

“Don’t you take girlfriends to that kind of thing?”

I slow for the red light and turn to face him. His jet-black hair slicked back, his bright blue eyes on me.

“You know I don’t have any friends here right now, except you. All I have are enemies. So, Dominic, my favorite brother, will you help me find a wedding dress that is going to save our future?”

He grins. “Gianna, you’re the only one in this family who has ever looked out for me, so yes, let's go pick a dress. One that a cowboy is going to die over.”

I bark out a laugh. I’ve met my future husband once, at a hostile meeting with his brothers on their ranch. Colten Sterling.

His dark eyes have the same turmoil I see in my own reflection. He challenged me, even in front of his family. He made my heart race, and I saw him grab his thigh under the table when I put him in his place.

Our wedding could have been entertaining. That was until my twat of a brother, Fabio, kidnapped Colten's brother, Ace, and nearly killed him and his pregnant girlfriend.

Now, I’m going to pay the price.

If the Sterlings didn’t like me before, they sure as hell are going to hate me now. And quite simply, I don’t care.

I’m Gianna Milano, and I’m going to forge my empire, and I don’t care who I have to burn in my wake. That’s what I’ve always been taught.

CHAPTER TWO

Colten

Song- Send For Me, Liam St. John

I let the whiskey burn on the way down as I stare at the gravestones for my parents. I laid some blue forget-me-nots for my mom and cleaned their headstones because I had a dream, and they were nagging me to do it. So I did.

I pour the whiskey over the dirt on top of Dad’s grave. “That better, old man?” I say.

I never expect a response; I know I’ll never get to hear his voice again. But I still like to talk to them. Makes me feel better.

Taking off my hat, I sit on the dirt, resting the hat next to me, taking another mouthful of the whiskey.

In the last year, I lost one brother, Beau, which, frankly, I don’t give a fuck about; that asshole deserved it. He betrayed our family, so fuck him.

I nearly lost Hunter, my eldest brother, the head of the Sterling family, and then a couple of weeks ago, Ace, our baby brother, was kidnapped in LA. I held him in my arms when he was bleeding out.

I still wake up sweating when I remember the moment I was scrubbing my own brother's blood off me.