Chapter 2

The border safehouse is nowhere near the compound. Before the sun even comes up, I'm supposed to be back at the estate making Sienna's breakfast.

I don't make it to the kitchen.

The second I step through the door, Lorenzo's men jump me. They zip-tie my wrists, shove a bag over my head, throw me in the back of an SUV like a body.

The blindfold and gag come off rough. My knees hit dirt. I look up.

Lorenzo is standing over me. Sienna is at his side, bouncing on her toes.

He points across the field. Paper targets. Fifty yards out.

"Go stand over there. Sienna wants to practice."

My head snaps up.

"She's never held a gun in her life. She'll kill me."

Sienna's face falls on cue. She tugs his sleeve, pouting.

"Enzo, baby, she's right. I'm so useless. Maybe we shouldn't."

"Bullshit."

He yanks her into his side and presses the gun into her palm himself.

"You're a natural, princess. You're gonna be a hell of a shot."

Then he looks at me. Cold.

"Move. Since when do you say no to me?"

I stare at the pistol in her hand. The bullet holes still healing under my dress start to burn. Every single one.

I don't move.

He grabs my jaw so hard my teeth click.

"You wanna sit this one out? Fine. I'll pull Nina out of her bed. She owes me a life too."

Lorenzo doesn't bluff. Ever.

One more word out of me and my ten-year-old sister takes the bullets instead.

I close my eyes. I curl my lip into something like a smile.

"She's just a kid. I'll go."

"Bigger target anyway. More fun for Miss Vale."

He lets go. Satisfied. He turns to load Sienna's revolver himself.

"Enzo, what if I miss? I mean, she is your—"

He slides in six rounds. Spins the cylinder.

"She won't die, baby. She's taken a couple hundred bullets for me over the years. This is just a mosquito bite."

The gun goes off.

The round tears through my knee.

I hit the ground. Hard. Through the fog I see Sienna spinning in a circle, squealing.

The man who used to see me bleed and lose his mind now says two words.

"Keep going."

Second shot. Through my left shoulder.

I slam back onto the concrete. The soldiers around us shift on their feet. Nobody knows what to do.

Lorenzo just nods.

Two of his guys grab me under the arms and hold me up like a marionette.

Third round through my left side. Fourth through my right arm. I choke up blood. My white dress goes red.

Sienna cocks the hammer for round five.

Lorenzo catches her wrist.

"Enough. Take her to the medic."

Sienna stomps her foot. Actually stomps it.

"Enzo! I was just getting good! Why are you ending it so soon?"

And just like that, he softens. He hesitates. He turns to his men.

"Bring me Nina."

"No—"

The word rips out of me before I can stop it.

"No. Please. She's ten. She's still sick—"

Lorenzo's head turns. Slow. He looks at me for one long second.

Then he goes back to tapping Sienna's nose.

The last thing I see before the black takes me is my baby sister. Tied to that target. Screaming.

Screaming for me.

"Luna! Luna, help me!"

"Please—somebody—help me—"