“I can’t wait to see the look in his eyes,” Giani slurs. He’s said the same thing several times already. I don’t even need to answer. He’s lost in his own miserable world.
The more he drinks, the more confident I become thinking I could escape. Giani untied my hands a while ago so I could have a drink with him. Mr Meaty is so engrossed in his phone, I think I could reach the unlocked door before he registered what was happening. Giani is pissed as a fart, so no worries there. It’s just the man outside. I’m guessinghe’s notdrunk and is probably armed.
I’m halfway through a semi-decent plan to run when there’s an almighty thud outside. The door shakes and then there’s a scraping sound. Giani hasn’t noticed, but Mr Meaty did. He slips his phone back into his pocket and retrieves his gun. He can’t be that worried, though, because he hasn’t risen from his seat.
It all happens so fast. The door bursts open and there’s two muted pops. Mr Meaty falls to the floor screaming, clutching both knees. My head whips back to the door where Toni is standing, gun raised. Moving with a grace and speed I didn’t think a bloke of that stature could, he swoops in, slaps some tape on Mr Meaty’s face, and begins dragging him out of the room.
Giani staggers off his chair, but he’s in no fit state to do anything. I use the opportunity to slip out of reach. I’ve now got a couch and table between us. He won’t get to me before Toni gets back, and it doesn’t look like he knows what to do, really. His head snaps from me, to the door, and back. Panic and confusion are outweighing the intoxication of too much wine.
Like an avenging angel, Allegra steps through the door dressed all in black. Her hair is scraped back into that ferocious bun I’ve come to like. Weird how a hairstyle can convey so much power.
Giani finally comes to his senses and picks up the gun from the table. Our little bonding session is, by all accounts, over as he aims the pistol at me. His hands are unsteady and I’m not convinced he’d hit me if he pulled the trigger, but I really don’t want to find out.
“Where is he?” Giani spits.
Allegra grimaces. “Lorenzo is at home, where I told him to be.Tut tut, Giani, you have made a mess.”
She’s so calm, it’s unnerving. I expected her to burst in here with the heat of a thousand suns, but this is worse. She’s oozing power, and her eyes are dark with malice. I swallow. Even when Allegra came for me and got angry, she wasn’t like this. I think I’m finally seeing Donna Malgeri, and I’m not sure if I like it.
“How did you find us? I didn’t send the message yet,” Giani growls and then hiccups.
“Giani, you’re as predictable as you are round. It’s astonishing you’ve been the head of your family for so long. Of course you’d take Bonnie to the house you were supposed to live in with Maria. It’s all so dramatic.”
“She was mine!” he roars.
“And Bonnie is mine,” Allegra seethes. “There’s no coming back from this, Arello.”
Allegra still hasn’t looked at me. Her statement of me being hers hits me in the chest with force. I’ve never had anyone declare I belonged to them like that. The feminist in me is crossing her arms and scowling, but the other part of me…the part that wants to be loved wholeheartedly by someone, mewls in pleasure—not that Allegra loves me or anything.
Toni re-enters the room, his gun trained on Giani. This is going to turn into a bloodbath if everyone starts shooting. Stepping from behind the couch, I draw everyone’s attention to me. I watch Allegra scan my face and her eyes darken with anger as she pauses over the bruise I know is developing on my cheek.
“He laid hands on you?” she asks in a voice so low I barely hear her.
“No, I fell out of the van. Giani didn’t hit me.”
“You and me, dyke,” Giani suddenly barks. “We finish it. If Lorenzo’s too much of a coward to face me, I’ll be happy to put you in the ground instead of him.”
For crying out loud.
Allegra sneers and steps forward. “Agreed.”
“No!” I scream. “No, that’s enough!” Allegra flicks her gaze to me momentarily. “Allegra, you found me. I just want to go home. Please.”
Her jaw flexes and her nose flares. She’s not happy, but I don’t care. I can’t watch her do something we’d never recover from.
“Nico, Franco, and Marco are on their way. Giani’s future lies in their hands now,” she eventually says.
I don’t know what that means, but from the way Giani grips the edge of the seat he’s been using to keep himself upright, I don’t think these men coming here is a good thing for him.
Puffing out his chest in one last attempt to seem in control, Giani slashes his hand in the air, and declares, “This has nothing to do with them.”
“You broke the pact, Giani. No family members, remember? Your grudge is over three decades oldandyou took an innocent. I ignored the attempts on our business dealings, but this? No. It’s time to face judgement.”
“So, you’re a coward too, huh? Just like a Ferrante. He taught you well. It’s a shame. Your parents would turn in their grave at your lack of backbone.”
He’s goading her, and for a split second, I think he’s said enough to force her to react with violence. Allegra’s hand twitches on her gun, but she takes a deep breath and looks at me.
“If it’s any consolation, I hope they spare your life, Arello.”
