SWNOVELS Luciano: Chapter 27
It took us two fucking hours to get out of the damn city. I checked on my father and son, they were safe.
“Bring her home, son.” My father loved Grace as his own daughter. We have been family all along, but I was too blinded by rage to see it. Now I knew and I wanted to make it all better, enjoy the rest of my life with her. Have more babies, see Matteo grow up to be a good man. And he would, because he had his mother in him.
“I’ll bring her home, Pa,” I promised. “Stay safe and inside with your grandson.” It still felt surreal. “Lorenzo will keep the compound safe. As soon as I have her, I’ll bring her home. She’ll want to see our son safe and happy.”
And I’d make her happy. Like I was supposed to be making her happy from the moment we met.
Once we got to the old Astor beach house, I waited for our men to gather. It took another two hours for everything to be put in place. We surveyed the house, found the best angle for the attack and armed up to our teeth. We didn’t know how many men were inside, we were going in blind.
From the outside, there were no signs of life, but I had no doubt they were all there. How in the fuck did her beach house from the Astor side of her family become an auctioning place was beyond me! It didn’t matter, because it ended right here and right now. Tonight!
Heading towards the house, using the shadows of the night as our disguise, I spotted a figure of a woman stumbling, running through the sand.
I realized who it was the same moment Massimo shouted. “Ella!”
All of us picked up the pace, running towards her form. My eyes scanned the area. Where was Grace? Where was my wife? Those two always stuck together.
She threw herself into Massimo’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
“G-Grace,” she tried to get her words out, her tear stained face causing dread in my stomach. Where is my wife? “Help her. Roberto has her.”
“Where is she?” I demanded. She immediately turned around and started running in the same direction. Without another word, we followed.
And that’s when I saw her, laid out onto the ground, fighting that fucking bastard. Roberto had his hands on my wife. Rage shot through me, giving me added adrenaline and fury.
We arrived not a moment too soon.
The terror of my wife’s screams chilled me to the bones. The rage shot through my brain and seeing her small form kick and thrash down the beach, Roberto’s fist connecting with her face. My feet kicked harder, ran faster. My hand was raised, the gun pointed at Roberto, but I couldn’t pull the trigger. Grace fought him and the thought of shooting her by accident terrified me.
Fear is part of us, I heard my father’s voice. It means we have something valuable.
I roared in rage, seeing Roberto unbuckle his pants, trying to rape my wife. Only the blind fury and love for my woman pushed me forward. Before he could thrust inside her, I grabbed him by his neck and lifted him off her small body.
“You are dead!” I shouted a promise, dangling him up in the air.
Grace scurried backwards, her knees coming up to her chest, covering herself up. My eyes locked with her violet gaze, taking her state in. A purple bruise forming on her eye, her cheek colored black and blue, blood running down her nose.
“Did he rape you?” I rasped, my chest squeezing in pain seeing her small body shake.
“N-no,” she stuttered, tears streaming down her face.
“Here, take my jacket.” Cassio offered. She shook her head, scooting away from him.
She sobbed, and my fucking chest hurt. It physically hurt to see my strong woman like this. Cassio remained at a distance, but extended his jacket to her again. Her hands shook as she took it.
I turned my furious gaze at Roberto. “She is your fucking cousin,” I growled.
“Still a piece of ass,” he spat. My fist connected with his face and a cowardly yelp escaped him.
“Kill him, Luciano,” she muttered, her gaze locked with mine. “And make it hurt.”
I looked at Alexei and Luca, “Go see if you can find any of those bastards left.” My voice was hoarse, shaking from the rage. “And kill them all, any of them.”
The two took off, ready to start the massacre of those bastards.
My eyes shifted back to Roberto and dropped him down, letting him fall down onto his knees like a dog he was. My fist connected with his face, over and over again, till my knuckles were raw.
“I’ll kill you slowly,” I promised darkly, holding his stare. There was so much adrenaline pumping through my veins, I could dish out punches all night. “I’ll cut you into the tiniest of pieces and scatter you all over this bloody planet. A saint won’t be able to put you together.”
I drove my knee into his stomach, pulling out my knife. He bowled over with the impact into his gut and it gave me a perfect angle to grab his hair and shove his face into the sand. I pressed it hard against the granular material. Hearing him choke on it as he struggled unsuccessfully against me had me grinning with satisfaction.
“Nobody touches my woman,” I hissed, cutting his cheek open. “Nobody touches my family.”
Blood gushed out of it, smearing all over his face, mixing with sand grains. His arms flailed, reaching for anything to grab ahold of but there was nothing. Only sand grains.
“You fucked up,” I growled, my murderous rage blinding me. I shoved my knife into his neck, where his main artery kept him alive and watched him gurgle, choking on his blood and I never delighted more in the sound of a man dying.
“My. Woman.” I let go of his body, and he collapsed sideways into the sand, the blood soaking into it.
“Luciano.” My wife’s soft voice snapped me out of my rage, and I turned to find her watching me.
Fuck, I kept showing my ruthless side to my wife. It wasn’t exactly a way to get her to stay with me.
I had to take care of her first. She didn’t need to see all my cruelty and ruthlessness. At least not now. But with our gazes locked, instead of fear, her eyes glimmered with something else. She raised her hand, reaching out for me, and I rushed to her side, wrapping my arms around her.
And then sobs won out and her small body shook as she buried her face into my chest.
“It’s okay, Tesoro,” I murmured. “I’m here. I’ll always be here.”
My hand clumsily rubbed her back, staining her dress with blood. They killed for her. But right now, nothing mattered more than making her feel better. I’d clean her up later. I’d give her anything and everything she needed. Right now, I’d comfort her.
I raised my head and met Cassio’s eyes. He shook his head. Benito and Marco King were still on the loose. His eyes traveled to my wife’s shaking form, worry edged on his face. He was familiar with the gut wrenching pain of watching your woman almost getting raped.
My gaze shifted to Luca and Alexei. Massimo already took Ella back to the car. She was barely holding herself together. I couldn’t fault him for taking care of his woman.
“Thank you,” I told them all.
All three of them nodded in silence, watching my brave, strong wife fall apart in my arms.
“Shhhh,” I murmured. “I got you.”