I glared at her, wishing I could just end her right then and there. I side-glanced Carmine, and he was looking back at me with a level of determination in his eyes. In the connection we held at that moment, I felt inexplicably supported and knew that it was now or never. Totally outside of character, I lunged at Illiana. Carmine thrust forward at the same time and palmed the gun out of Illiana’s hand. It went clattering across the room.
Throughout my life, I’d taken special care to make sure I could fight. When you’re the daughter of a mobster, things can turn on a dime. When you’re the daughter of two of them and training to be a con-woman, things go bad more often than not. I threw myself at Illiana with confidence that I could overcome her.
That quickly proved to be a mistake.
At every attempt I made to wrestle her into a position that gave me the upper hand, she slipped out of it as if she had no bones. She raked her hand across my face, intentionally clawing at my eyes, and if I hadn’t had the frame of mind to close them, she might have caught one. I dug my feet into the ground and attempted to throw her to the ground, but she was strong and kept us upright. I backed a few feet away from her and threw a right jab at her, and the speed was enough to get it through before she could dodge it. Her porcelain face, typically blemish-free, started to bruise immediately. I tossed another jab and made hard contact, that time feeling the crunch of her bones under my fist.
She backed closer and closer to the door as I continued throwing jab after jab in her direction. I was about to send another one, when she grabbed my wrist, pulled it to bring me to her, and slammed her head against mine. My entire head rocked, and the spot that was already hurt from Arturo hitting me with the back of his gun screamed out.
“Denise!” both Carmine and Ashton yelped.
I tried to swing out again, but I was so dizzy that I could barely stay upright. Illiana was the most observant woman around, so when she noticed how affected I was by the headbutt, she stepped forward and risked her own head to slam against mine again. That time, there was nothing I could do. I toppled backward and dropped onto the floor next to Anthony’s dead body. Illiana continued to step toward me, and at once, Ashton and Carmine pulled their guns and pointed them at her. Not half a second later, a gunshot exploded. A bullet pierced Illiana’s chest, followed by another, sending her falling backward and dropping onto the floor, unmoving.
I looked up at Ashton and Carmine to my left, but they were staring at each other in confusion. All at once, we turned and looked over to the right, and Arturo was hiked up over the side of the armchair, his gun out and pointed at Illiana. He got to his feet, and Carmine’s and Ashton’s guns shifted toward him. He was gripping his side, where a darkened spot of blood was forming in an odd pattern. He lifted his shirt a little, revealing a bulletproof vest.
What a brilliant time to use the few brains he did have.
The bullet had just missed the vest, however, and had gotten to his stomach, but though he was hurt, it wasn’t as bad as it might have been. He started to limp toward the door, but Ashton stepped over the dead bodies and moved to stand in his way. Ashton and Arturo looked like two sides of a coin staring at one another.
“Ashton,” I said. “Let him go.”
Both Ashton and Carmine looked down at me. “What?” Ashton said.
“It’s fine. Let him go.”
Arturo glared over his shoulder. “I’d kill me. I won’t stop until I’ve paid back my dad’s death.”
“I know,” I responded.
Ashton and I shared a look, and then Ashton stepped aside. Arturo limped his way through the door, and we all stood in silence while we listened to him climb the stairs and walk across the floor above. Eventually, we heard a car start and rumble away.
Carmine walked over to me and held out a hand, which I grabbed, but I was only able to stand up enough to fall back into the chair. Ashton rushed over and knelt in front of me. “Are you okay?”
“I will be.” I put a hand on his face. “Are you okay?”
“I’m getting there,” he huffed before turning to look at his dad, and I could see the anguish in his eyes.
“I’m sorry, baby,” I said.
He shook his head. “I knew what I was doing when I brought Illiana here.” He craned his head even further back at Illiana’s lifeless body. “At least we got ‘em both.”
“What now?” Carmine asked. “Do I step in?”
“No,” I said. “I will.”
Carmine’s eyes got so wide that I thought they were gonna fall out of his head. “What?”
“You said so yourself. I’m Illiana’s oldest child. I should have been the next in line.”
“Suddenly you want to stick around?” Carmine asked. “I’m the underboss.”
“And you’ll stay the underboss with me in charge.”
“Denise,” Ashton said. “What are you talking about? What about California?”
“California will be there, but…” I looked around at Anthony’s and Illiana’s bodies. I thought of Callista mixed up with the police, Arturo on a tear, Carmine not really being a Costa, Sid in Texas none the wiser, Gabriel and maintaining his escape, and even of Cherri and Bennett. My actions were going to set off a wave of responses that it wasn’t fair to sidestep. “We have more than one mess to clean up.”
“I can’t go back home,” Ashton said.
