The silence in the Atrium was broken only by Sofia’s muffled, hysterical sobbing.
Dante backed slowly toward the shattered remains of the oak doors, his arm wrapped tightly around Sofia’s neck in a brutal chokehold. The barrel of his Beretta was pressed so hard against her temple that it dug into her skin, leaving a deep red crescent.
"I'll do it, Elara!" Dante screamed, his voice raw with a desperate, animalistic panic. He swept his wild gaze over the Capos and then locked eyes with Kael. "Tell the Fed to drop his rifle! Tell them to let me walk out of here, or I paint this floor with her brains!"
Sofia clawed at his arm, her eyes pleading with me through a veil of tears and smeared mascara.
I looked at them. The man who had vowed before God to love and protect me, and the woman I had
