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“Take your hands off her. She’s mine.”
He takes one look at me and the gleam of metal, then releases her. There’s a small skirmish off to the side, behind the curtain. Someone’s holding back security.
Valentina stumbles toward me as a second voice rises from the stunned audience.
“Sale’s contested.”
Giuseppe Esposito comes up the aisle with his hands loose at his sides and his coat open so everyone can see he isn’t carrying.
“Giuseppe Esposito,” he says, loud and deliberate. “That’s my sister. She’s not a lot, and she’s not for sale. Not to you, McCarthy. Not to anyone.”
The auctioneer reaches for Valentina. She steps in and drives the heel of her hand under his jaw, her whole weight behind it. His head snaps back, and the tablet falls off the lectern.
I’ve got my gun trained on him before he can make another move.
It’s not until he’s out of sight and Giuseppe reaches the stage that Lorenzo Esposito makes his appearance. Ginger’s heading toward us now that security’s useless, but he’s facing two Espositos in the light and a McCarthy who spent years behind bars and isn’t afraid to go back.
Chapter Thirty-Three
VALENTINA
I’m ready to bring justice down on the head of every single bastard who put their hands on me, but nothing’s like seeing my brothers and Torin breathing fire.
I’m breathing hard, my eyes scanning the room to note anything and everything. Where are the feds? Did they disappear with the other cowards? Where's Shannon O'Brien? Ginger’s on the floor, Torin's gun trained on his temple.
“Torin, please.” I put my hand out to him, and I don't know how to say everything at once.
You're in danger. I want you to stay safe. I can handle myself. There are so many other women who need to be released, not just me.
Something catches my attention from the corner of my eye: a flash of green and creamy white skin.
“Grab her! She killed Father!”
Giuseppe stares at me, but Lorenzo moves immediately into action. He leaps three feet off the stage and tackles Shannon O'Brien to the ground, one knee on her back, his hand at her neck.
“Is that true?” he says in a deadly voice.
“Hold her there,” Torin growls.
Are Torin and my brother on the same side now?
“Tell me, Valentina, right now. Is this one of the men who assaulted you?”
Torin’s gun is at Ginger’s temple, and the man starts pleading for his life.
“The feds are after you,” I say to Torin, my voice shaking.
He shakes his head, and something softens in his gaze. “Don't worry about that right now. I'll explain later.”
Lorenzo speaks in a deadly voice. “Who else is here?” he growls at Shannon.
“I don't know. I'll tell you everything,” Shannon says from the floor. “Just let me go.”
I nod to Lorenzo. All of them are looking at me. “Let's hear what she has to say.”
She lists names one after the other, sobbing on the floor until Lorenzo shakes his head.
“We have what we need,” he says, then cocks his gun.
