"The Vow He Denied"

Chapter 3

"Shadows in the Firelight"

Isabella's POV

Tension was released by a piercing noise beyond the door. Alessandro immediately stood up, his body as rigid as a coiled spring and his revolver poised. With his palm reached as though to protect me, he signaled for me to step back.

Footsteps, deliberate and unhurried, accompanied the slight creak of old wood as the sound got louder. With each second, the air in the room grew colder; my heart thundered in my chest.

Alessandro said, "Stay quiet," his voice so low I hardly heard it. His eyes fixed on the door, he calculated dangerously.

The footsteps came to a stop just beyond. I exhaled while my nails dug into my palms.

The door burst inward after that.

Gun lifted, a masked man rushed in; Alessandro was faster. He fired once, the sound terrible in the little area. Blood pooling beneath him, the man sank to the floor with a terrible thud.

"Alessandro" My voice quivered, I began, but he stopped me with a violent motion.

"There's more," he muttered despondently, moving forward to examine the body. But his attitude changed as he bent down: perplexity, then shock.

My stomach twisting, I moved a reluctant step closer to see what he held. Alessandro obviously recognized a black card with a crimson crest imprinted on its surface, but I did not.

"What is it?" I spoke a murmur.

He stood slowly, his fingers clutching closely the card. "This is a message," he said, his voice low and lethal. And it is not only for me.

The lights flashed, and a weak beeping sound permeated the room before I could inquire what he intended. Alessandro's eyes opened, and he grabbed my arm to drag me toward the door.

"Run!" he yelled, his desperation driving my heart into hyperactivity.

"What's happening??" As he pulled me along the dark corridor, I started to cry and battled to keep up.

"It's a trap," he continued, his tone darkening. They have rigged the room to explode.

The corridor appeared to go on forever, the beeping louder and quicker. Panic threatened to seize, and my chest contracted. Everything went dark as an explosion tore across the air just as I thought we would have made it.

Like a tidal wave, the explosion crashed against us and hurtled me skyward. My ears ringing with the thunderous sound of devastation as heat scorched my skin. I landed hard, the force wiping out the wind from me. Dazed and confused, I battled to open my eyes and felt the caustic smoke filling my lungs.

"Isabella!..." Alessandro's voice was clear, gruff but forceful among the tumult. His hands on me, forceful and eager, felt like they were dragging me to my feet.

Though the throbbing in my head screamed to change, I gasped, "I'm okay." My vision whirled, and I grabbed his arm to ground me. "What just happened?"

"Not here.," His voice was sharp, his grip strong as he drove me along. The corridor was a disaster; black burned walls surrounded trash on the floor. Though it was not enough to silence the pounding of my heart, the far faint sound of sirens screamed.

"Alessandro, wait!" I tried to get free, but he continued unhappily. His jaw was firm, his gray eyes sharp as steel as he looked across the wrecked hall.

"Keep on moving," he said. "We are not in danger now."

I froze automatically when a shadow passed in the corner of my eye. "Alessandro, behind you!!"

His rifle raised as another person emerged from the haze, this one unmasked, spinning precisely in time. Fury contorted the man's face, leaving a deep cut running down his cheek.

"DeLuca!" the guy growled, his voice laden with poison. You are not leaving this alive.

Alessandro shot back, his voice icy: "Neither are you." He fired right away without thinking. The man dropped it, but not before throwing a little object—a grenade—directly toward us.

Alessandro cried, "Run!" and grabbed me then started down the hall. The explosive exploded seconds later, sending the blast ahead. We fell to the ground, and for a horrific instant I was unsure whether either of us was still alive.

"Alessandro... " Panic stinging in my throat, my voice was only a whisper. "Are you?"

He rasped, coughing, pushing himself up, and said, "I'm fine." Blood oozing from a wound on his temple, his shirt was ripped. But we really have to relocate. Currently.

More footsteps sounded in the distance, accompanied by yells in a language I couldn't comprehend. With a nasty look, Alessandro dragged me to my feet.

He said, his voice low and frantic, "They're coming." They won't stop till we die as well.

"Why?" I asked, anxiety and resentment pouring over. "What do they demand?"

"You," he stated simply, staring squarely at me. "They want you."

The words knock me like a physical blow. Me, then? Why would I?

"I don't know yet," he said with a harsh tone. But I will die before I let them accompany you.

The sound of shooting, bullets ricocheting off the walls, filled the hall before I could answer. Alessandro locked the door behind us and pushed me into a side room.

He said, "Stay here," his voice devoid of any space for debate.

"Are you insane?" I snipped and grabbed his arm. "You cannot take them all on your own!"

Watch me. Though his smile was incredibly arrogant, one could not confuse the flutter of dread in his eyes with anything. I will come back for you. Just stay under cover.

"No," I answered with a forceful voice that shook with both dread and will. I'm not hiding while you get yourself dead.

"Isabella"

"Don't bother coming back if you walk out that door alone," I said, my voice quivering. "Because I will not be waiting."

His eyes changed, the steel in them momentarily melting. "You are infuriating; you know that?"

"I've received instructions," I said, grabbing a piece of trash that appeared to be a weapon. "Let's now go."

He nodded briefly, and then together we broke through the door into the turmoil there waiting for us. Around us swirled the sounds of shouting, gunshots, and destruction; however, Alessandro's voice pierced through it all, sharp and uncompromising.

"This ends now."

I couldn't get rid of the sense that this was only the start of something far more dangerous—and far more personal—as we charged ahead.

Tension in the room surged as Alessandro slammed the door shut behind us, barbing it with a thick iron bar. One flickering bulb's little illumination created shadows on the walls that moved menacingly. I leaned against the wall to calm myself; my chest heaved, and the adrenaline still flowed through my veins.

Alessandro, this isn't sustainable. I snapped, my voice shaking with terror and wrath. "You are going to kill us both!!"

He turned to me, his eyes blazing like molten silver, but his face darkened. Would you rather I leave you for them? His voice was low, menacing, the words wrapping about me like smoke.

"I never asked for any of this!," I turned back, hands closed at my sides. "Until you pulled me back into your mess, I was fine—safe."

"Safe? " He laughed sharply and ran a hand through his dark hair. Do you consider yourself to be safe? Do you even realize how many viewers you have had since your departure? Whether you realized it or not, Isabella, you were in a vulnerable position.

His words sank in my heart, a chilly fear slinking through my gut. "What are you referencing?"

"They weren't after me tonight," he added, getting closer and his tone softening but not less forceful. "They were after you."