Page 128 of In My Heart
“From whom would you know? Your men are gone. Your locations are ash,” Dio cut in.
“Cara…” I turned at the sound of Dante’s voice behind me and saw him struggling to drag himself closer to me. I went to him, scared he’d hurt himself and crouched down.
“Stop moving, Dante, please,” I squeaked as tears formed at just looking at him in that state again.
“Give me the gun….” he gasped. “That fucker…hands on y-you. He dies…give me…” he was straining to get the words out. I didn’t even know how he was conscious. He had to have lost so much blood and be in so much pain.
“Did he do this?” I asked. “Hurt you? T-torture you? Was…was it him?” I whimpered.
“Give me…gun…” He looked up at me with so much pain and anger, and I knew the answer. I knew he had at least ordered Dante to be torn to pieces, even if he hadn’t done it himself.
“No,” I swiped my arm across my eyes to clear the tears. “This is my fight. I’m ending it.”
“Cara…” He looked to me with panic and I leaned in and pressed my lips to his.
“I’ve got this. Believe in me,” I whispered, then I rose to my feet and stepped forward, the gun steadied in my hands and raised,pointed right at Daniel. Rafe was talking, but I couldn’t hear the words over the ringing in my ears.
“You killed my Mum!” I announced loudly. Bitterly. Silence descended around me. “She wasn’t a good person, but no one deserved the death she got. You had me attacked, multiple times. You kidnapped a man I love, and tortured him for weeks. You had my brother shot, and your men shot Cal. You hurt me. You planned to hold me prisoner and use me as you saw fit,” I explained calmly, coldly, determined. “You are even more of a monster than Adamian and I’ll sleep a fuck of a lot better knowing you no longer walk this Earth.”
“Have you got this little girl doing your dirty work, De Santis?” Daniel sneered.
“I’m no little girl,” I told him firmly, then I squeezed the trigger without a moment of fear or hesitation. I didn’t close my eyes, braced for the recoil, determined to hit that bastard right and end him for good.
This blood line I came from, this sick twisted family who had broken me in so many ways, they ended that day. They didn’t get to live another day, to pose a threat to me or to people I loved. I had never been surer of any decision I made in my life than I was when I fired that bullet.
It hit Daniel in the neck and he slammed his hand over the wound as blood poured and spurted from it. He dropped to his knees, his shocked eyes on me.
“Where’s that trademark calm now, Daniel?” I asked as I stepped toward him with a smile on my face that might have been partly hysteria. In that moment though, all I felt was rightness and calm.
Daniel’s men reached for their weapons as they moved in fast, but they stood no chance. Rafe’s men were ready and they took them out in seconds.
Daniel fell backwards to the ground, blood still spurting, gurgling sounds coming from him as he choked on his own blood.
“I told you you’d die bloody,” I reminded him, then I turned and walked away. It was over.
“Cara!”
Dio immediately crossed the room toward me while Rafe nearly stumbled trying to do the same. His breathing sounded awful now—ragged and uneven from overexertion. I turned towards him and met him halfway.
“Easy,” I whispered as I caught him before he lost balance. His hand gripped my arm hard enough to hurt, my shoulder and wrist screaming at me in agony, but I kept my mouth shut. Rafe needed me.
He looked me over frantically as he pushed himself to standing again and took his weight from me. He studied me like he couldn’t believe I was standing there.
“You’re hurt!”
“I’ll live,” I shrugged. “We need to get Dante to the hospital. His injuries…they’re bad.”
I looked over and was relieved to see Dio was there with Dante, wrapping a coat around him and talking. He’d cut the rope free from his wrists.
“We will,” Rafe agreed easily.
Behind us, Arran was helping Cal sit upright while yelling at Dom and Joey for medical supplies. Cal looked pale but conscious, his hand locked tightly around Arran’s wrist.
“You shot Daniel,” Rafe said, like he was in shock, not me.
“I wanted him dead.”
“You were so strong,Tesorino. I am so proud of you, but from now on, how about you leave the bloody parts to me, okay?”
