Eighty Nine

Isabella

I am screaming.

They are dragging me away from him and I can't stop screaming. I claw and dive, struggling as hard as I can to get back to him, my entire world laying there on the ground, his blood seeping out onto the cement.

No, this isn't happening. They can't take him from me.

"Dante!" I cry. And cry and cry, his name a refrain on my lips, my only thought to be with him. "No, please! I have to be there!"

They don't listen. Three soldiers pack me into the Range Rover and shout at me to stay low. I am hysterical, crying and shaking. Gabrielle is with Dante, pressing on his side, and my man—oh, God. His eyes are closed and he is as pale as death. No, please. Don't take him from me.