by Portia Moore
I grab her, pulling her into the shadowed area by the fountain. There are more gunshots, shouts in Italian from the house, bangs, and the sound of shattering glass. The music has stopped. Only the sounds can only be described as the sounds of war, and I hope the shouts are coming from the security that they’re stopping whatever horrible thing is happening inside the mansion.
It feels as if it goes on forever before it finally goes quiet. There’s still shouting, but the gunfire has stopped, and when a few more minutes pass with no more of it, I grab Erin’s hand. “Come on,” I tell her, unable to wait any longer. “Be careful.”
For once, she doesn’t argue with me.
When we step into the house, I can’t breathe. The ballroom is a disaster zone, the doors to the rest of the house flung open, tables overturned, and food spilled everywhere. There’s blood on the floor, streaked across it, and as I step through the doors to the main living room where some of the guests have spilled out, I catch a glimpse of security wrestling three men into zip-tie cuffs.
I’m so flooded with terror I can’t think straight. There are a few bodies on the floor, very still, two on couches, and I believe they are dead. I’m afraid to ask, but they’re grey and unmoving, and I realize I’m shaking so hard I feel like I might fall down.
Vincent comes back inside, the doors wide open, but I can’t speak. He doesn’t even look at me, walking straight towards his parents. Gianna is pale, collapsed on the couch, and Ezio looks as if he’s struggling to stand when suddenly he lets out a loud groan, his hand going to his chest as his face turns grey and he falls to the floor.
“Call for help!” Gianna screams. “Vincent, help him!”
I’ve only seen Vincent move so fast earlier in the garden. He rushes towards his father, that very real fear on his face again as he leans over him, murmuring in Italian. Out of nowhere, Sonya appears, leaning over her uncle with the same fright written across her features, and I watch them numbly, too shell-shocked to even respond. Next to me, Erin is the same way, completely motionless.
All I can think, looking around at the kind of carnage I could have never imagined, antique couches stained with blood and floors covered in broken glass and the bodies of the guests who were shot still lying there, is the same thing, over and over and over until I think I might start screaming it, here in the middle of everyone.
What the hell is happening? What have I gotten myself into?
The room tilts. All the blood is leaving my head at once. I catch one glimpse of Erin, reaching out for me and mouthing my name, and what I think is Zach’s face a little further off as my world narrows and goes dark.
I’m unable to stand as everything goes black.
Thank you for reading! The next installment in the claimed series releases 7/9. Join my Facebook Group here to be informed first.
About the Author
Portia Moore is an Amazon and iBooks bestselling author of romantic suspense, including the popular If I Break series, the Her series, and the Collided series, which combined have sold over one million copies across all platforms. Located in the chilly Midwest, her favorite vacations are anywhere that’s hot and sunny with a beach, reading the same kind of heart-pounding, twisty, edge-of-your seat romantic thrillers that she loves to write. When that’s not possible, she loves drinking wine, cooking (also with wine) and spending time with her little family of one human child and two furbabies, one that barks and one that meows.
Find all her books at http://portiamoore.com.
Join her Facebook fan group at facebook.com/groups/Portiaspartyposse.
Also by Portia Moore
If I Break Series
#1Before Him
#2 If I Break
#3Before I Break
#4Almost Broken
#5 Beautifully Broken
#6 Shattered Pieces
Time Duet
#1 What Happens After
#2 The Trouble With Before
Her Series
Her
Mine
Them
Us
Stand Alones
He Lived Next Door *A Clean Romance
Collided Series
Collided Book 1
Crushed Book 2
Committed Book 3
Claimed
Claimed Book 1
