Beth's thrashing was pitiful. Physically, she was no match for a full-grown man, even if she spent her free time surfing and marching up and down the hills of her little town. Gideon was larger, stronger, and far angrier than she was.

She didn't stand a chance against him.

It didn't stop her from clawing at his arm and hand. His fingers flexed around her jaw and he warned menacingly, 'Don't think I won't break your teeth. One of you is going to pay for what she did to me. I'd rather it was her, but I'll settle for you.'

I supposed that settled the argument of who'd hit him in the head. Although I was always pleased to see Gideon getting what he deserved, I wished Lisa had left him alone and just returned to the hotel without getting into a fight. Now, he was out for blood, and he didn't care who he got it from.

'Leave her out of this, Gideon!' I demanded as I advanced on them.

'One more step, Darcy,' Gideon warned. His hand moved to Beth's throat where he squeezed until she choked. Panicked, Beth clawed at his fingers once more. 'See what happens to her.'

I came to a halt almost halfway between Mandy and Gideon. As soon as I stopped, Gideon relaxed his hand. It still rested on Beth's throat, lingering just as the threat did, but he wasn't hurting her and I considered that progress. If he'd wanted to, he could have throttled her or broken her neck before I'd have been able to remove him from Beth's person. Gideon was older and stronger than I was. I'd have handled myself better in a fistfight with him than Beth might, but I didn't trust that I would be able to save her life if he was truly determined to kill her.

Mandy held Lisa against her side, ensuring that the girl wouldn't race into danger herself and leave Gideon with two hostages instead of just the one. 'You don't need her,' she implored on Beth's behalf. 'You can let her go and leave quietly. Please, Gideon, just walk away before this gets any worse.'

'You really think I'll believe that the moment I'm out of here you won't call the police?' he asked. 'I'm not stupid, Mandy. I know the sort of woman your mother is. Who that little bitch's parents are. You won't stop until I'm behind bars.'

Gideon wasn't wrong. The moment he'd placed his hands on Beth he'd sealed his fate, as far as I was concerned. No matter what happened in the piazza, I wouldn't stop trying to find him. I'd force him to face justice for all that he'd done to Beth, to my sister, and to Lisa. Even if it cost my family every penny that they had, I'd see Gideon behind bars where he'd never hurt another soul.

'So, what will taking her accomplish?' Mandy persisted. 'You're making this worse for yourself!'

'Taking her will get me what I'm due,' Gideon said. 'You should have married me and given me the money your idiot father left. That was my right! I should have been in that will! Me! Instead, I got pathetic little handouts while the rest of you lived off his fortune.'

'You won't get anything by taking me,' Beth choked out around his grasping fingers. 'My family has nothing!'

'Your family might have nothing,' Gideon said. The twisted smile upon his lips told of a plan that had long since formed in his mind, no doubt ever since he'd gained some inkling of my feelings toward Beth. He raked his disgusting tongue from the corner of her mouth to her cheek, his gaze locked with mine the entire time like he was getting off on my building rage. 'But I imagine dear William will want to pay up before I take my frustrations out on you.'

The very idea of Gideon being with Beth intimately made that beast deep in the pit of my stomach roar with white-hot fury. It burned like fire through my veins. Every part of my being wanted to hurt him. I wanted my foot in his gut, my fists breaking his bones. I wanted to tear the man apart until there was nothing left of Gideon in this world for daring to so much as think about touching her with his filthy hands.

'He won't – '

'Whatever it is, I'll pay it,' I said. 'Just take your hands off her!'

If Beth thought that money was more important to me than her safety, then she didn't know me at all. I'd have given my own life in exchange for hers if Gideon had asked.

Gideon leaned in and whispered against her ear. I had no idea what sort of venom he was spewing, but I hoped that she wouldn't pay any attention to it. She had to know that she was better than him, that their lives would lead down very different paths. His fate was not hers, and he wouldn't take her bright future from her.

I wouldn't allow it.

'Beth!'

I heard Jenny before I saw her. Her friends and Charlie were behind her. Worried that they might spook Gideon into hurting Beth again, I stepped out to block the group before they could charge in.

True, we were greater in number, but it was all about timing and guarantees.

Could we get to Beth before Gideon caused her harm?

Could we pry him away from her without hurting her in the process?

Did we know that he was unarmed?

These were all risks I wasn't willing to take.

Not with her.

Not ever.

If I could have guaranteed Beth's safety then I'd have charged in already. I wouldn't have hesitated to put myself in her place and be a punching bag until help arrived. They needed to understand that it was killing me to hold back, but that it was the only thing ensuring Beth's survival. Gideon had made it clear that he wanted money and I was willing to negotiate so that she would escape unharmed.

'Let me through!' Jenny demanded as she tried to push past me. 'Beth!'

I understood her desperation. I felt it myself. With every beat of my heart, I felt my resolve to hold ground erode away. Just seeing Beth in his arms was enough to drive me mad. Yet, I stayed.

I stayed because I wanted her to come out of this alive.

I stayed because I loved her.

Audibly, Beth asked Gideon, 'How many people are running here to help you, Gideon? I don't see any of your friends in this piazza. It's almost like they don't care that I'm poor because they're my friends.'

'Friendship won't pay your bills, will it?'

'Friendship isn't meant to pay your bills. It's meant to –'

Once more, Gideon closed his fingers around Beth's throat and the words were cut off. Her eyes bulged and her feeble gasps drew horrified shrieks from her friends. Charlie knew that I wouldn't stand by unless I had good reason. I was many things, but not a coward. He helped me to keep the others at bay, to stop them from running in and spooking Gideon into breaking her neck just so that he could escape unburdened by his hostage.

'This is all very touching,' he sneered, 'but I'm getting bored. I'm leaving, and if any of you try to stop me, they'll be dragging her body out of a river by morning.'

The image of Beth's bloated corpse being fished from the Tiber was one that would never leave me.

Gideon began to walk backwards, dragging Beth along with him. She dug in her heels, hoping to slow him down, but he merely lifted her from the ground so that she couldn't catch the paving with her shoes. 'I'll contact you with a time and place to exchange the money for her,' he announced. 'Until then, I suggest you don't follow me.'

'I'm not letting you take her out of this square!' I barked.

I knew that the moment I lost sight of her, Beth would be gone forever. This wasn't a girl who would be a quiet and obedient hostage. I didn't know that Beth had ever been quiet or obedient in her life. She'd be loud and difficult, drawing attention to Gideon and the abduction. No, it would be more like him to assault and kill her the moment they were alone, dump her body, and try to claim the money anyway.

Beth couldn't be left alone with him.

It would be her death sentence.

'Neither am I!' Charlie announced boldly.

'None of us will!' Meg added.

'How touching,' Gideon mocked. 'But you don't have any choice in the matter.'

It was endearing to see that the others were as passionate about keeping Beth in the square as I was. I didn't know if they could fathom the depths of Gideon's depravity or his sick, twisted mind, but they must have had some idea of the danger their friend would face the moment they were gone if we didn't act.

Beth, too, seemed aware of Gideon's further intention. Rather than giving up in his grip, she raised her legs and thrust her feet backwards. It was poorly aimed, but by some miracle one of her feet caught him square in the knee. Despite this hit, he still had a strangle-hold around her. It must have been excruciating as she twisted and tried to free herself.

Essentially, Beth had made the decision to act for us. Gideon was already struggling to keep her under control and I wanted to step in before he could render her unconscious or, if he had one, take hold of a weapon. I didn't need an invitation to rush to her aid now that he was distracted. I tore Beth from Gideon's arms and pushed her towards Jenny and Charlie. They knew to remove her from immediate danger without me having to say it and took her a safe distance away.

Ready to go all-in on a fight, a hand landed on my shoulder and pulled me back. My fist had been cocked and I'd been eager to show Gideon exactly what I thought of him, but it wasn't for me to give him his punishment.

It was up to Mandy.

After landing an expertly aimed punch in his cheek, she followed up by breaking his nose and then brought that same fist into his gut with an upper-cut. Not willing to give him a chance to strike back, Mandy took advantage of his shock to knee him in the groin. I hated the man but even I winced when I imagined the pain of a knee-cap to the balls. With a snarl of unadulterated loathing, Mandy grasped a fistful of the man's hair in one hand, his collar in the other, and ran at dizzying speed toward the fountain. They broke through the flimsy tape which flapped pointlessly in the breezed and down towards the water. When she released him the momentum was enough to send him face-first into the pool, resulting in an impressive splash that drenched the surrounding pavement.

I'd watched the entire display in utter astonishment. 'Mandy, how did you –'

'There were self-defence classes at my university,' she said breathlessly. 'I was a good student.'

'Good? You mean amazing!' Charlie professed.

Impressive though it had been, it wasn't enough to deter a man like Gideon. He staggered to his feet, slipping on the coins resting in the bottom of the fountain as he fought to keep his balance. The man advanced on us again. Lisa ran to Beth and clung to her arm while I stepped forwards, ready to fight alongside my sister and hold Gideon off.

It was then that we heard the sirens.

'You called the police?' Beth asked Jenny hoarsely.

'I did,' Chrissy said. 'While everyone was screaming. Shouldn't I have?'

It was likely the most sensible thing Chrissy had done in all the time that I'd known her, and I immediately loved her for it.

Trespassing in the fountain was already an offence and the police didn't hesitate to hoist Gideon out of it with the intention of arresting him. The more he resisted them, kicking and yelling, the more trouble he was getting himself into. Overtaken by his rage, all he thought about was getting back to us and making us pay, and it didn't help his case. It took three men to wrestle him into cuffs and to lock him inside of a waiting car. Once he was detained, Mandy stepped up to explain in fluent Italian just who we were, why we'd called them to the piazza, and that Lisa was the missing girl that they'd been alerted to earlier that day.

The officers gave us all the once over, noticing the bruises around Beth's neck and her jaw. She whispered to Mandy that she didn't want to go to a hospital or to call any paramedics. She just wanted to go back to the hotel. Rather than argue with her, Mandy took one officer aside and began to negotiate our return to our parents. They agreed to give us a ride, no doubt excited at the prospect of being the heroes who safely brought the lost tourists to safety.

I seized my opportunity to separate Beth from her friends and hugged her. If she wasn't hurt, I'd have squeezed her to within an inch of her life, but I maintained a gentle embrace for her sake. I was torn between yelling at her for running off in the first place, thanking her for coming back, fretting over the state of her injuries, and begging her to stay in my arms where I could keep her safe forever.

'Never scare me like that again,' I begged.

'If I ever get the urge to be attacked by a complete lunatic again, I'll do everything I can to resist.' Despite everything that she'd been through, she managed an exhausted smile. A smile of relief, perhaps, or maybe just more of the mask that Beth felt she needed to wear so that she'd seem stronger than she really was. 'Can we go back to the hotel now? I need to lie down.'

I'd rather she'd cried and told me just how scared she was, how she'd feared that she might die at Gideon's hand. That would be far less heart-breaking than the idea that Beth thought she needed to be strong for everyone else when she'd just been through one of the most traumatic nights of her life.

If she'd asked it of me, I'd have been strong enough for the both of us.

'You can't do that just yet,' I said.

'Why not?'

'You need to explain all this to your father.'