“Okay, I’ll go,” Vinnie said, “but keep me updated on Carlos’s condition. If anything happens to him…”
He didn’t need to say more. The agreement they had between them probably wouldn’t hold up if Carlos died, especially if he died at the hands of Vinnie’s jilted lover. The war between the two families would fill the streets with bodies.
“Just go, Vinnie. I’ll have Eddie call you later.”
The man seriously needed to get the hell out of there. I could hear sirens getting louder, which meant the paramedics were on their way.
They arrived mere minutes after Vinnie disappeared out the door. I had no idea how Vinnie was going to get home, but I was pretty sure he was driving his own limousine. That would make sense. If his limo was parked outside a shooting, the police would get suspicious.
I quickly moved out of the way when the paramedics rushed in with Sal’s team. The police followed almost immediately after them.
And then things got really interesting.
I had been sitting on a crate pushed up against the wall for what seemed like forever when Sal walked up to me. I tilted my head back and looked up at him.
“You ready to go home,caro?”
“Home?” I blinked up at the man. “Seriously? We can go?”
I had given my statement to the officers investigating the shooting and Sal’s kidnapping, but I had then been pretty much left alone after that.
I was so ready to go home.
“What’s going to happen to Jeremy and Freddie?”
I had to know if I needed to keep my gun on me or if I could put it back in the lockbox in our closet when we got home.
“They’ve both been taken into custody. At my recommendation, Jeremy is being taken in for a psych evaluation. After he started screaming about Vinnie being here, and after they took everyone’s statements contradicting what he was saying, the detectives believe he is a mental case.”
That was advantageous.
“And Freddie?”
“Freddie’s singing loud and clear about how he was duped by Jeremy and pulled into this. Since he overheard our little conversation with Vinnie, he’s backing up our story in the hopes that Vinnie won’t reach out to his friends in prison and have him killed.”
I took the hand Sal held out to me. I smiled when the man continued pulling on my arm once I was on my feet until we were pressed together, chest to chest.
“Hi.”
Sal’s grin stole my breath.
“Ciao, amore mio.”
I groaned. “I love it when you speak Italian to me.”
“This is why I do it.”
“I’m ready to go home, Sal.”
God, I was so ready.
“I’m taking you home now,caro.” Sal tucked me close to his side before turning us and escorting me toward the door where Clarke, Wu, Lyn, and Brodsky were waiting for us.
I was good with going home. Playing SWAT officer was not for me. I wanted to go back to the safety of my penthouse and my boring job as an office assistant.
It was safer.
* * * *
