He gave her a smile that chilled. “I’m not the one in danger. Your lover and his cronies are. I’ve rigged this place to blow sky-high as soon as I hit the detonator in my pocket.”

Oh, God. She swallowed, stricken to hear him admit what she’d already guessed. He was here to kill Vito Massioni.

And she could not let that happen.

Because if Massioni died, he had promised that she and her remaining family would die too.

A muffled rumble of laughter carried from the salon downstairs. Massioni and his guests would be growing restless soon. She’d already been gone too long. She couldn’t risk anyone coming to look for her.

No more than she could risk allowing Ettore the chance to carry out what he’d come here tonight to do.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured, shaking her head as she took a step away from him. “I’m sorry… Ettore, I have no choice.”

Before he could stop her—before he probably even guessed what she was about to do—Bella screamed at the top of her lungs.

 

 

Chapter 3

 

There was barely a second of silence between the sound of Bella’s scream and the pandemonium that followed.

Male voices shouted from the salon below. Heavy boot falls began to thunder from all directions, while outside, perimeter floodlights blinked on, illuminating the villa and its surrounding grounds in a blinding daylight glow.

Holy shit.

He couldn’t believe she’d done it—betrayed his presence to the entire mansion.

Then again, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. He had certainly earned her scorn. Arabella Genova owed him nothing anymore, not even an explanation for how she’d ended up on the arm—and possibly in the bed—of a criminal scum like Massioni.

No choice, she’d said.

What the hell did she mean by that?

“Bella—” He reached for her, but she jerked out of his grasp, putting several paces between them.

“Get out, Ettore.” Her soft brown eyes were desperate beneath her furrowed brows. And outside the closed door of her quarters, it sounded as though several of Massioni’s men were already rushing up the stairs to the second floor. She threw an anxious glance over her shoulder at the pounding of approaching feet in the hallway. Her voice was a tight, fearful whisper. “Please, go. Get out of here while you still have a chance!”

Jesus, she was terrified.

And it wasn’t directed at him.

What the hell had that bastard done to her?

Savage ground out a curse, feeling precious seconds tick by. He had a mission to carry out tonight—and he would—but not until Bella was safe and secured. Whether or not she intended to cooperate with that plan.

“Come with me.” He grabbed for her again, this time snagging her wrist.

“No. Let go of me!” she cried, projecting her voice louder than necessary. For who? Massioni and his goons? “I said stay away from me!”

“Listen to me, damn it.” Savage took hold of her shoulders and forced her to meet his gaze. “I’m trying to save you, Bella.”

She scoffed brittly. “You can’t save me. No one can.”

Christ, she really believed that. He knew her too well to think otherwise. He’d always been able to read her emotions in her eyes, in that lovely face that had haunted his dreams for longer than he cared to admit.

When she tried to break loose from his hold, he realized there was only one way he would be able to get her out of the villa without fighting her every step of the way.

She might hate him even more for this, but he had no choice either. He wasn’t about to leave her behind.

Laying his palm against her forehead, he tranced her into an immediate and deep sleep.

She no sooner sagged into his arms than the door to her quarters burst open and two armed guards filled the space.

Savage was crouched low, having just guided Bella’s limp body to rest on the rug. His weapon was already drawn and ready as the pair of Breed males crashed into the room. He dropped them both with sniper precision, squeezing off two headshots that nailed each guard between the eyes.

There would be more behind them. By the sound of the chaos unraveling all around the villa now, Savage expected he’d have to take on Massioni’s entire army of thugs as soon as he stepped out of the room.

Fortunately, he had another plan.

Lifting Bella over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry, he dashed to the other side of her suite where a large window overlooked the circular driveway below. A handful of armed guards scurried across the cobbled bricks, some heading into the mansion as backup while others fanned out to patrol the surrounding grounds.

The odds of getting past the security detail down there weren’t great, but they were a hell of a lot better than charging into the fray inside the villa.

Lifting the glass with a mental command, he swung his legs over the sill, then dropped to the ground with Bella held securely in his arms.

He threw another psychic order at the nearest vehicle, smiling to himself when the V12 engine of the blue Pagani rumbled to life. The gullwing doors lifted and Savage hurried over to slip Bella into the passenger seat and fasten her in.

One of the perimeter patrol guards spotted him and shouted the alarm to the others. Bullets rang out from all directions. Savage dodged the incoming fire, diving into the driver’s seat of the sleek sports car and dropping the doors. Throwing the vehicle into gear, he sped away from the villa just as Massioni and several of his lieutenants came pouring out behind him.

Savage already had the detonator in hand, the safety switched off.

He pushed the trigger on it, watching in the rearview mirror as a sudden fireball ignited and the whole place exploded against the night sky. The percussion made the Pagani jump on the pavement, but he held the wheel and pushed the pedal to the floor.

He couldn’t deny his satisfaction at seeing the fiery plume and cloud of black, roiling smoke behind him. He only hoped the explosives did the job as intended. Ordinarily, he’d stick around to make sure his target was neutralized, but not tonight.

Not with precious cargo in tow.

His gaze strayed to Bella. Slumped in her red silk gown on the seat beside him, she slept as peacefully as a kitten, her mind still caught in the web of the trance he’d placed on her. The urge to touch her was too much to resist. Reaching over, he smoothed an errant blonde tendril from her cheek.