I say so.” Matteo’s venomous voice carries into my ears, and terror trickles down my spine. We never should’ve run. Looking back at Zane, something shiny catches my eye. A gun or knife. I don’t know. All I know is I can’t lose him. I can’t risk him dying, not after I’ve just found him again.
My heart lurches into my throat, and even though I shouldn’t, I run toward him, instead of remaining hidden.
“No! Please, don’t shoot him. I’m right here,” I yell over the chaos that’s surrounding us.
“No! Run, Dove,” Zane yells, but I refuse to escape this place without him. Matteo will kill him in an instant.
“Please, please…” I beg as one of Matteo’s men points the gun at Zane while two others hold him to the ground.
I reach them at the same time my father does, the look of disappointment in his eyes would leave me feeling guilty as hell if I actually gave a shit about what he wanted or thought. Another man comes out of nowhere and circles my wrist with his hand like a shackle.
“Don’t fucking touch her,” Zane grits out. Even with a gun pointed at his head, his biggest concern is me. “I swear to god if you don’t remove your fingers, I will cut off every fucking one of them and feed them to you.”
“I think that’s the least of your worries right now,” Matteo sneers, frustration overtaking his features. It’s hard to believe a man so cunning, so violent is my father.
“I’m sorry,” I tell him, knowing and feeling that something bad is going to happen, deep down in my gut. We aren’t going to get away with trying to escape. There will be consequences, grave ones. I just don’t know how badly they will be yet.
“No, you’re not. But you will be shortly.” Matteo doesn’t even look at me as he speaks. “Take them downstairs,” he orders his men before turning around and walking back inside.
The men holding down Zane grab him and pull him up off the ground. While another comes and grabs me by the other arm, now I’m held on each side. They drag us back toward the house, and I’ve never felt more like a prisoner in my life. Fingers dig into my biceps, and I want to struggle—to kick and scream, but it would do me no good.
I’m a bird caught in a cage, my wings clipped, my spirit gone. Directing us around the side of the house, the men open a side door. They enter with Zane first and then me. Sweat beads against my forehead, and my body feels like a knot tied into a pretzel. They release both of us, and instantly, Zane is off the floor and rushing toward me. His hands move over my face, down my shoulders and arms like he’s searching for injuries.
“I’m okay,” I say when I see the panicky look in his chocolate brown eyes. His only fear is losing me, or someone hurting me, and my only fear is the same happening to him.
“Who will be taking the punishment for disobeying me?” My father’s deep unapologetic voice pierces my ears, and in a second, Zane turns from the comforting boyfriend into a vicious guard dog. Turning to face my father, he shields my body with his.
“Hurt her, and I will kill you in the most painful of ways you can imagine.” The rage and anger. It erupts out of Zane like a volcano exploding. The burning hot lava licking at my heels.
“You’re talking a lot of shit for someone that’s alive because I’m allowing him to be.”
“You aren’t allowing shit,” Zane spits.
The tension grows thicker with each word that’s spoken, and I have to try and diffuse the situation before Zane gets hurt or worse killed.
“Please,” I beg, stepping from behind my guard dog, and instead, to the spot beside him. Matteo turns his hardened gaze to me.
“The first thing you’ll learn about us Castro’s is that we don’t beg, not for mercy, and definitely not for forgiveness. Now, tell me, will it be you, my sweet daughter, or will it be your junkyard dog of a boyfriend that takes the punishment.”
“Me!” Zane and I both say in unison. I can feel his eyes shooting daggers into me.
“How cute, you’re trying to protect each other. Funny, neither of you know what you’re protecting the other from.”
“Whatever punishment it is, I’ll take it.” The words rush out of Zane’s mouth, and Matteo lets out a