My blood turned to ice when the door burst open and several armed men came running in. I didn’t recognize them as any of Vinnie’s guards, so I raised my gun and pointed it at them. “Don’t move,” I warned. “Lower your weapons.”
The air vibrated with tension. I knew one wrong move and I’d most likely end up with several holes in my body. “Do it,” I snapped out when no one moved. “Lower your weapons now.”
“Do as he says,” Vinnie said from behind me.
“Slowly,” I added.
I wasn’t taking any chances. Weapons were lowered and slowly placed back in holsters, but that didn’t make me feel any safer. A holstered weapon could still be easily pulled and used, and I didn’t have any plans on dying.
Lany would kill me.
“Search the grounds,” Vinnie ordered. The coldness in his voice after the emotional display I had seen mere moments ago surprised me. “I want whoever did this caught.”
“Yes, sir,” one of the armed men said.
“Don’t kill them,” I added.
The guy raised an eyebrow at me before glancing at Vinnie.
Vinnie looked at me as if I had lost my mind.
“The police are on their way, Vinnie. They are going to want someone to blame for this mess. It can be you, or it can be whoever shot at you. Your choice.”
I hated to be caught up in the different sides of the law that we lived on, especially at a time like this, but this was the world we both lived in.
Vinnie’s lips thinned for a moment before he turned to look at his guard. “Do as he says.”
The guard’s eyes widened for a moment before he nodded. “Yes, sir.”
The guy barked out a couple of orders and three of the others with him took off running out of the room. The other two stayed behind, obviously there to guard Vinnie.
“Someone get a blanket,” I snapped out when Vinnie’s eyes filled with tears as they went back to Isabella’s still form. We might not be friends, but I know Vinnie would hate himself later if he became emotional in front of his men. He lived in a harsh world. To lose face could mean his life.
When only one man remained in the room, I squatted down next to Isabella’s body. This was the part of my job that I hated. In the midst of chaos, I had to be the voice of reason.
I cast a quick look at the bodyguard still in the room. The man had remained by the door as if to keep anyone from coming in.
Good.
“Vinnie,” I said as I looked back down at the man, “you have to let her go.”
The anguished look Vinnie shot me would probably stay with me for the rest of my life. I had never seen someone so broken by the loss of another before, and I had seen a lot.
I reached out and rested my hand on Vinnie’s shoulder, giving the older man a gentle squeeze. “She’s gone, Vinnie. She’s not in any more danger, but you are. We need to get you somewhere safe.”
“I can’t…” Vinnie’s lips pressed together again as he shook his head.
I didn’t truly understand the relationship that had been between Vinnie and Isabella, but I understood grief. “I’ll stay with her until the coroner gets here. I promise.”
Vinnie glanced back down at Isabella. My throat grew tight when he caressed the side of her face, wiping away a small trail of blood. “I’m sorry, Vinnie.”
The man didn’t say anything for the longest moment. I thought maybe he hadn’t heard me, but then he spoke, his voice low and thick.
“She was helping me get out,” Vinnie whispered so low, I almost didn’t hear him. “I can’t be who I want to be and stay in this business. She was helping me legitimize my businesses so that maybe one day I can have someone in my life like your Lany.”
Oh god.
I glanced up to make sure the guard hadn’t heard Vinnie’s words. I was pretty sure they were for my ears only. “That was what she made you promise, wasn’t it?”
