My ears ring, and I groan, looking down at the cuts and gashes on my hands and arms. A shrill command is the first thing I hear when the ringing ends. I grab Daddy’s gun just as one goes off, hitting the floor beside me. I roll the other way, hiding behind a wall.

Boots thump, and someone appears with their back to me, stepping around the corner. Lifting my gun, I shoot him in the back of the head before he can see me and his body hits the ground.

I wince, dropping my arm, focusing on the sharp crystal sticking out of my forearm. It’s a small piece. I don’t think it’s caused much damage, but it fucking hurts.

I grit my teeth, holding back on a scream as I slowly pull the piece out, tossing the bloody glass on the floor.

Another gun goes off, shattering the window beside me. Close. Too close.

I run to the next opening, and it’s the front of the boat. There is a man steering the boat. He spots me and tries pulling his gun on me, but I shoot him first, and he buckles forward.

The steering wheel snags, his arm getting caught on it when he starts to fall, making the boat jerk and knocking my body sideways.

I get back up and push him away, straightening the wheel.

I look around. It’s darker now. Quieter. They’re looking for me. The boat is only so big. Eventually they’ll find me. I’m assuming there is only one guard left on this boat. I saw several of them out there, dead or about to die.

I press my back to the wall when I hear laughter.

“Oh, Gia. Gia, Gia, Gia.” Yessica’s heels click on the floor. I think she realizes they’re giving her location away, because after several seconds, I don’t hear them anymore. I look out to the left, seeing a slice of the marina. We’re not too far away from it.

“Just give it up, will you! Draco is going down! He can’t defeat me!”

I grip my gun tighter, pressing my back to the wall.

“You could be my colleague, join my side,” she says, sweetening her tone. “Together, we can rise! Become the best bitches and bosses in the world. Untouchable. Irresistible.” I hear the smile in her voice. “We can get whatever we want.”

Glass crunches, and I look to my left, holding my breath. I lift my gun, pointing it ahead, a trail of dark-red blood leaking down my forearm. I can’t see a damn thing now. They’ve shut all lights off on the boat.

The footsteps get closer and then I see a large body in dark clothing. His pistol is high in the air, his shoulders hunched, and when the person spots me, he picks his head up, eyes growing wide.

“Draco,” I whisper as quietly as I can. I realize now he’s soaking wet from waist to toe.

He holds a finger up to his lips, gestures for me to be quiet, but as soon he lowers that finger, glass shatters again, and he falls to the ground, body slamming down and rocking the boat.

Heavier footsteps start up and a large body comes charging toward him, scooping him up by the back of his shirt, his hand immediately wrapping around Draco’s throat.

“Who’s the Jefe now, motherfucker!” the guard laughs, and from this angle, I know exactly who he is.

The big man with the blind eye that abducted me. The one who thought he was intimidating me. Fucking Alonso.

I lift my gun, but I don’t have a chance to pull the trigger. Someone knocks it out of my hand with all their might and then shoves me forward, my chest slamming into wall.

I turn around and look up. Yessica stands in front of me with a gun in hand, pointing it directly at me.

“Maybe you’re just as stupid as he is,” she murmurs.

I look to the left, and Draco can’t get even. The man is dragging him around, tossing his body, throwing him through the glass windows and then charging him again like some kind of raging bull.

“He won’t survive this.” She laughs. “Look at him. Being tossed around like a cheap, worthless dog toy.”

I glare at her.

“Join me, Gia. Become my colleague. Stop giving the men the glory and become a truly powerful woman on your own. You don’t need him. You never have.”

I clench my jaw, baring my teeth. “Fuck you. I’ll never partner up with a psychotic bitch like you. Henry. What about him, huh? He was trapped for months, and you didn’t do shit to find him. Trigger Toni? Huh? Who had his back then? You’re not loyal. You’re desperate. Stupid. A fucking psycho.”

I hear Draco holler out in pain and then roar. Bones crack. More glass shatters. All of it makes my blood run cold and my belly clench tighter.

Yessica’s face pales, her eyes becoming harder. She wraps her finger tighter around the trigger.

“You know what I remember most? How he used to pet me when I sucked his cock? How he ran his fingers through my hair and told me I was so good at what I do to him—how I made him feel.”

My nostrils flare up, my heart catching speed again.

“His eyes would roll so far to the back of his head. God, I loved seeing him like that. It was the only time he made himself vulnerable for me. Especially when I rode his cock after a long, hard day. He would grab my ass and squeeze it. He would tell me what to do—like go faster, or slower. To grab his balls and fondle them. He’d pull my hair while I rode him in reverse, suck on my neck…”

She keeps talking, every word narrowing my vision, making her the only target. I’m seeing nothing but red now.

If there is one thing I know, it’s that I’m a jealous woman, and when some other woman talks about what is mine like it is still hers? I. Get. Pissed.

Call it a Nicotera thing—or call it a Gianna thing. Whatever it is, I won’t fucking have it.

So, no. I don’t think about what I do next.

I don’t care that it doesn’t make sense, or that it could damn well kill me. I can’t stand to think of him with anyone else.

Draco is mine.

Only mine.

My rage has blinded me tenfold, and I charge ahead.

I rush for her, tackling her to the ground, and her gun goes off, but the bullet doesn’t hit me.

Her eyes are wide as she tries to shoot again, but the gun clicks this time. No bullets.

I snatch the gun out of her hand and toss it, bringing my arm in the air and dropping my fist, slamming it across her jaw. She groans, but I punch her again. And again. And several more times.

I punch until her face is bloodied, and then I yank her up, dragging her useless body off the boat and throwing her into the shallow water.

I jump off the boat and grab her by the hair before she can get away, pushing her under the water, my hands closing around her throat as I stare down at her. Her eyes stretch, mouth wide open, gurgling.

“He will never love you. He calls me his reina, something I know he never in his entire life called you. You’re a worthless, stupid bitch.”

I squeeze even tighter, wanting to end her right now. Desperate to see her take her last breath—but a deep voice calls my name.

His voice.

“GIANNA!” Draco barks, and I look back. He walks toward me, the water splashing around him. “She. Is. Mine,” he fumes.

I let up, yanking her out of the water by the front of her shirt. She coughs hard, gasping even harder when she’s finally claimed oxygen.

But it doesn’t last long, because as soon as Draco reaches us, he wraps one large hand around her throat and squeezes it so tight, her eyes bulge right out of their sockets.

Her face turns red, then purple, then blue.

He’s panting hard, growling as he lifts her up and stares at her. He’s been shot in his left arm. It’s leaking blood, but it doesn’t seem to bother him one bit right now.

“I told you I would find you,” he rasps. “I told you this wouldn’t be pretty.”

He finally lets her go, and she falls into the water, landing on her back. We both glare down at her, and she looks right back up at us, only this time, when she looks at us, there isn’t power or authority in her eyes.

There is fear. Ultimate fear.

She’s afraid for her life.

Good.

She should be.

Sebastien, Diego, and Guillermo come to us, pushing their legs through the water, pointing their guns at her.

“Yes! Finally got the stupid bitch,” Sebastien says in Spanish with a grin, licking his lips.

“Ahora que, Jefe?” Guillermo asks, peering up at a battered Draco. What now? Draco’s right eye is bruised, his bottom lip busted, and some of his face is scraped and scratched. He was shot, but he’s alive.

He’s alive.

“Drag her ass,” he demands. “All the way to the tunnel. By her hair.”

Guillermo wastes no time following orders. He pushes his AK behind him and grabs Yessica’s wet, red hair. She screams for him to let go, but Guillermo and Sebastien get a kick out of it, sneering down at her, dragging her through the water and up the steps that lead up the wooden walkway.

“Where’s Patanza?” Draco asks Diego, fully concerned.

“Clark took her back to the hideout. She was shot in the shoulder. He got the bullet out. She’ll be okay, but we have to find a doctor quick to get her stitched up.”

“Oh, thank God,” I sigh. Patanza is a hard-ass, but she doesn’t deserve to die. She deserves to live again. She needs another chance.

Diego looks at Draco’s bloody arm and then mine. Mine is not nearly as bad as his. “Both of you need to see a doctor, too.”

Draco nods, shutting his eyes for a brief moment. His knees buckle, but I catch him, wrapping my arm around his waist.

“We need to get you to a doctor,” I say hurriedly. Diego starts to help, but I hold my hand up, letting him know I’ve got it.

“I’m fine,” Draco rasps. “Motherfucker was strong. Took everything in me to get him down with one good arm.” He looks down at me, gripping my chin, fixing my gaze on his. “I told you to stay hidden. To run. She could have killed you.”

I press my lips, walking toward the shore with him, Diego leading the way. “I didn’t want to run away.”

He delivers a ragged sigh, bringing me closer. “Fuck,” he murmurs.

“What?”

“We got her.”

I nod. “We did.”

“It’s still not over. I won’t be killing her right away, like I had planned.” He looks over at Guillermo and Sebastien, who are taking turns dragging Yessica across the wooden beams and then disappearing through the tall grass with her.

“Where do we go from here?”

He runs his tongue over his lips, exhaling. “To the one place I love.” He sighs. “Lantía. Home.”

Before we go, we hear a bell chime and look to our left, at the boat coming to dock. Ruben appears and steps off the boat, coming our way.

“Glad to see you alive, Jefe!” Ruben says boastfully, lightly clapping Draco on his good shoulder.

Draco chuckles. “Thank you, Ruben. For what you did. I will never be able to repay you.”

“Hey, now. You can repay me by remaining my best buyer!”

Draco gives him a light smile, bringing a hand up and squeezing his shoulder. “You have my word.”

Ruben nods and then looks down at me. “La Patrona,” he sings with a full smile on his lips. “Quite the beauty. And one hell of a fighter. I saw the way you got to her boat.” He looks up at Draco. “You’ve got yourself a keeper, Jefe. Don’t lose this one.”

“Trust me,” Draco murmurs, his eyes shifting down to bolt with mine. “I won’t. Not ever again.”

My heart flutters deep in my chest, my cheeks blazing red.

“I will have my men take care of these bodies for you. Clean up the area. Safe travels, Jefe.” He looks at me again. “Patrona.” Ruben steps back, tipping his fedora and slightly bowing his head before putting the hat back on and jogging back to his boat.

We make it back to the hideout, battered and exhausted, taking the tunnel and going through the same building.

Most of us are injured, but no one is complaining—no one but Yessica. It gets to a point where she’s so uncooperative that they have to knock her out with a hard blow to the face just to get her to be quiet.

When we reach the exit of the building, I spot the three BMWs. Beside one of them is a black plastic bag with what looks like a body inside it.

As if Draco sees it at the same time as me, he tenses up, but keeps walking, though his breathing is a little heavier now. My eyes fill with tears in an instant.

Emilio…

Damn it, Emilio.

Emilio risked his life for me and then gave it for him.

From what I was told, Emilio didn’t have many people that knew him other than us. He had no friends. He has a grandpa in a nursing home with dementia. A part of me wonders if his grandpa will even remember him—or miss him.

It breaks my heart.

As we climb into the backseat of the car, I know one thing for sure.

I will remember him forever.

He respected me, and I respected him just the same. He took care of me when he didn’t even have to.

He was good to me…a good man, gone way too soon.

In this business, there must be devotion and sacrifice. He delivered both for our sakes.

For him, for Thiago, for Mom and Daddy, I will live on.

I will conquer. I will rise.

I will be what I need to be in order for their legacy to live on.

For Draco’s legacy to live on.