My hands are tied in front of my body, and my mouth is taped shut as I sit in the passenger seat of Enrico’s car. He had one of his men throw me in the car so he could drive off alone with me.

He talks nonsense as he drives. Things about honor and what it means to be a man. How his sons have both disappointed him and just want him dead. But now that he has me, he will destroy Matteo, and then go back to obliterate Arlo by killing Nina.

I can’t listen.

I feel sick, and not just because he’s speeding around turns far too quickly. I’m sick that I left Matteo and didn’t have confidence in his love for me. He was trying to protect me in his own way. I’m sick he doesn’t understand that I trust him. I’m sick I’m going to die, along with our baby. I should have been thinking about our baby first, instead of trying to play the hero.

Enrico finally stops in front of an old cabin. I glance in the side mirror to see if there are any other cars behind us. There aren’t. There will be soon though. I have one shot.

My hands grab the door, and I jump out, running down the gravel road toward the street. A street we only passed one car during the entire ten plus miles we drove down it. The odds aren’t great that a car will pass when I reach the road, but it’s my only shot.

Enrico chases after me, and as much as I beg my legs to move faster, he catches me. He grabs my arms and jerks me backward, lifting my legs off the ground.

I try to beg through the duct tape, but it comes out mumbled. I can move my hands up enough to reach the duct tape, barely. So that’s what I do. I focus on getting the tape off. I can’t fight him physically, but I can fight with my words. I can hope that this man has a heart or soul in there somewhere. He might show some compassion if I could only speak to him.

He drags me away from the street and into the cabin, which isn’t much more than a fridge, couch, and bed. My eyes widen when I see the bed already set up with ropes to tie me down. He will not rape me. He might kill me, but he will not rape me. I won’t let him. I will fight to the death.

I finally rip the tape off my mouth.

“Please don’t do this,” I beg.

He tosses me to the ground, and I’m barely able to catch myself with my hands before hitting the floor.

“I’m pregnant!” I shout, pissed he just risked my baby’s life. Again.

He freezes, staring at me, finally seeing the small bump beneath my T-shirt.

“It’s Matteo’s. He’s going to be a father. You are going to be a grandfather. You can be in this child’s life. But you have to stop hurting your family. Stop. Ask for forgiveness and let’s move past this.”

He continues to stand over me, speechless, while I take several deep breaths, glancing around me for the nearest escape. There isn’t one. Unless breaking a window counts. The only door is the front door he carried me through.

He squats down to look me in the eye. This is it. My last shot.

I hold his gaze, trying to get him to see my humanity. He doesn’t need to hurt the baby or me. He can change.

If Matteo can change, so can he.

He cocks his head to the side and grins. “You’re not going to be pregnant for long. Not when you’re dead.”

I scramble to my feet to run, but he grabs my hair, jerking me backward.

He yanks me toward the bed, but I dig my feet in, making it as hard as possible for him.

He punches me hard in the stomach.

I see stars. I can’t feel anything. I’m dizzy, and sick, and pissed off. If he hurt my baby in any way, death will be his preferred option when I get through with him.

He grabs my hair again and starts dragging me to the bed. My eyes are barely open, but I see the shiny object sticking out of his shoe.

He’s not paying attention to me, so I quickly and quietly snatch the knife and hide it in my hands. I could stab him in the leg, but then he’d just shoot me. I have to wait for the right moment.

We get to the bed, and he scoops me up, tossing me to the bed.

His body crashes down on top of me. His weight feels like an elephant sitting on my chest. I can’t breathe. If I’m lucky, he might suffocate me before he has a chance to rape me.

His tongue licks my face, and I scream, “No.”

He pauses a second at my unexpected outburst. He laughs and does it again.

I scream again.

If he touches me, it won’t be enjoyable for him. I’m going to scream and yell and bite and fight. Do anything I can to try and stop him.

“I like fighters. This is going to be more enjoyable than I thought.” He sits back. “I’ll rape you here on this white bed. Then I’ll cut out your baby and let you bleed to death, before Matteo finally arrives, too late to save his one true love. It’s perfect.”

“You disgusting bastard! You won’t touch me.”

He licks my face again, simply to show his dominance. As his body presses in again, I remember the knife in my hand, the metal cutting into my grip. Somehow I must have grabbed the blade instead of the handle.

I need to turn the knife around. I need to stab him in the chest. Before he ties me to the bed.

I try to keep my pain focused on Enrico, as he continues to slobber all over my face, down my neck to my breasts. He rips my shirt open, giving him access, as his disgusting cock presses into my belly. I try to ignore him as I slowly turn the knife around, cutting my hands and side in the process.

“Your breasts are going to taste delicious in my mouth,” he says, lowering his mouth.

I jab the knife as hard as I can into his stomach. He cries out, but grabs my neck, tightening around me, trying to suck the oxygen out of me. I have limited mobility, but I jab the knife into his stomach again and again, until finally, he releases me.

I roll out from underneath him as he grasps his stomach, lying on his back, holding his wounds.

He thinks I’m done. That I will try to run off and his guards will capture me. But I can’t let him live.

Matteo and Arlo made that mistake before. Enrico threatened everyone I love: Matteo, Arlo, Nina, and even my baby. I gave him the chance to change, but he didn’t take it. He has to die.

I don’t think twice. I take the knife and jab it into his throat will all my might.

Blood spurts out and his body jerks. I pull out the knife and stab him again, blood spraying everywhere. I stab him one more time until the blood slowly stops pouring out and his body is lifeless. I stare at him a few minutes, ensuring there is no way he is still alive. Finally, I get off the bed and head to the door, still holding the knife with my bound hands.

I don’t have time to untie my hands. I need to get out of here.

I throw the door open, and I’m met with gunfire.

I know I should slam the door shut, run back inside, and wait for the winner to emerge, but then I see Matteo. He sees me, and I see the pain in his eyes. I can’t lose him. I can’t risk his death without telling him I love him and I trust him.

So instead, I stupidly run toward him. He runs toward me with a pissed off expression on his face.

I don’t see the bullets. I don’t see the men dying. Only Matteo.

He catches me in his arms, wrapping them around me tightly, and dives us down to the ground as he takes a bullet in the back.

“Oh my god! Matteo!” I cry, needing him to live.

He strokes my face, and I know he’s going to be okay.

“Are you hurt?” he looks down, seeing the blood covering my body. His hands start searching for my wounds, but other than the small ones on my hands and stomach, he’ll find none.

“I’m fine. But…” I pause, not sure how Matteo will take my news. He was trying to protect us all from Enrico, but he was still his father. I’m not sure if he would have killed Enrico if it came down to it. “I killed Enrico.”

Matteo’s eyes widen. “You’re sure?”

“I stabbed him three times in the neck and waited until blood stopped spewing out of his neck.”

Matteo grins. “That’s my baby,” he says, kissing me firmly on the lips.

“I’m so sorry. I should have trusted you. I love you. I want to spend forever with you,” I say.

He grins. “That’s my line. I’m sorry. I should have trusted you with the plan. I should have told you.”

I shake my head. “I don’t care. I just want you safe.”

Matteo kisses me as men continue to fight around us. We should move somewhere safer, but we can’t. So instead, we lie on the ground making out, tongues swirling together as we wait for it to be over.

“I think we need to get you two to the hospital,” Arlo says over us.

Matteo looks over his shoulder. “Nah, I’ll have you stitch it up, and Eden is fine.”

Matteo helps me up, and I hold my shirt closed, Matteo wrapping his arms around me.

“I just checked the cabin. Enrico’s dead. I made sure this time. He’s really gone,” Arlo says.

“Eden killed him.”

“Thank you,” Arlo says.

I smile.

“You’re safe!” Nina cries when she finally gets to me.

We throw our arms around each other, hugging tightly as tears stream down our cheeks.

“You’re pregnant! And happy?” she asks, eyeing Matteo behind me.

I glance behind me to Matteo with a grin. “Very happy. Or at least we will be.”

Matteo pulls me back to him. “We need to talk,” he says, pulling me away from Arlo and Nina.

“Okay,” I say, not liking his tone.

“We haven’t talked much about our future. Whether we will be together or separate. Whether I will get to be part of our child’s life or not. And how to keep our family safe, while still doing what we want.”

I nod. “I don’t know the answers to most of those except that I want us to be together.”

“I have answers for a few.”

I raise an eyebrow.

“I made a deal with Clive and Erick.”

“They are still alive?” I ask.

He nods. “I needed help to try and take out Enrico. Although, apparently, I just needed you.”

I smirk.

He holds me tighter against his body. “I gave up everything.”

“What?”

“I gave up everything. The house. My job. The weapons. I gave up being a monster.”

My eyes widen and my pulse freezes, not understanding. “But it was your whole life. You loved being a Carini, ruler of Italy, and weapons trader. What will you do if you don’t do that?”

He smiles. “I’ll love you, and I’ll love this baby. We can live in America, or in Italy. I don’t care. Although, you might have to work and I’ll be a stay home dad for a while, until I figure out what I’m good at, other than killing people.”

I laugh.

“I love you, Matteo, but you will always be a bit of a monster to me. The kind with a big heart.”

He kisses me. “A monster that gave up everything for love.”