Page 139 of I Will Revel in Glory (Death by Daybreak MC 3)
She rolls immediately away from me, reaching for the weapon, but I’m on her back, wrapping an arm around her neck. Our scrabbling sends the pistol spinning underneath the nearest counter. Meanwhile, I can feel the cool metal of the Magnum on my left side, but I don’t dare reach back for it and unsettle my own balance.
Giulia digs her now bare feet—she was wearing heels—into the floor and then kicks violently, spinning our bodies to the side and then sliding right back between my legs. She’s up, and I’m rolling over just in time to see her snatch a knife from the counter.
Without a word, she drops down, driving the knife toward me, and I just barely manage to roll to one side. The Magnum is right there, but as I go for it, Giulia slashes at me with her newfound weapon, drawing blood all down my right hip.
I stumble a bit and my hand hits the gun, knocking it even further out of reach. I’m forced to engage Giulia as she comes at me with the knife again. I end up kicking her in the chest and sending her back several feet.
I’m barely able to find mine before she’s coming at me again. There’s no time to bend down and grab the gun, so I grab a knife of my own off the counter and hold it the way Grainger showed me, all of my fingers nice and tight around the grip.
We’re both panting now, covered in blood that mostly isn’t ours. I ignore the fire of agony in my right hip, more concerned with keeping my attention on Giulia. My eyes flick toward the Magnum. It’s right fucking there on the floor, but if I go for it, she’ll come for me, and she’s fast.
Just like a viper. Ready to strike.
“You,” she says again, with a small laugh. I’m surprised nobody’s come in here yet—mafia or club or otherwise. It’s just us. Just me and my almost mother-in-law.
“Me,” I agree, smiling prettily at her. It must look hideous, with her lover’s blood all over my face. “How was it, by the way? To have your man start to die while he was still inside of you? Must’ve been traumatic.”
Giulia’s dark eyes narrow, her carefully coiffed hair coming loose to tumble in straight dark hanks around her shoulders. She’s pushed her dress back down, but we both know she’s commando under there.
What she doesn’t do is rush me in anger. I’d been hoping for that, a messy, wild thrust of her knife that I could sidestep and then grab the Magnum. Instead, she goes to circle me, but I won’t let her. I don’t need her moving closer to the gun while I’m pushed farther away. Instead, I hold my ground until she’s bold enough to try for an attack.
She thrusts the knife toward me, and I decide to drop my own, using my right forearm to slam into hers as I spin my body to the side and then grab her wrist with both hands. Giulia jerks back from me, but I don’t release my grip and we stumble together into a nearby counter.
I can still taste her blood in my mouth as I throw my head back and slam my skull into her face. She grunts, and I do it again. Her grip on the knife loosens slightly, and I’m able to slam her hands on the edge of the counter, dislodging the weapon.
I turn before she can react and throw a hard punch that hits her right in the throat. Giulia’s clever as fuck though because she drops down to the floor and hits it hard, lunging forward to grab the knife and then turning to swing it at the backs of my legs.
Sharp pain lances across my calves as I throw my own body forward, hating that she’s closer to the gun than I am, but desperate to keep myself out of her reach. I spin around and grab my own knife, rising to my feet and brandishing it at her once again.
She very carefully gets up. Giulia might not be looking at the gun, but we both know exactly where it is. First person there will likely win this fight.
“Did you love him?” I taunt, and she just laughs at me.
“Love him? He was a hot fuck and that’s it. Don’t kid yourself.” Giulia says the words, but I don’t believe them. Because I saw the way she looked at the rose he gave her—like it truly meant something. I might not understand a lot in life, but what I do know is this: love and heartbreak. Give me a PHD in that shit because I know all there is to know. “We used to talk about how tight and hot your sister, Posey, was, how good it felt for Cosimo to sink his cock into her while she screamed. It got us both off.”
