Di Leo is stocky, balding, and sweating profusely. He looks like the slimy rat he is standing next to them. His son, Enzo Jr.—the fuckers can’t be accused of being original—looks about as athletic as a newborn baby.
“Why isn’t Lucian here to represent Marco?” Di Leo demands.
“Because that fucker is peddling flesh,” I inform him, purposefully sounding bored. If I don’t control myself, I might shoot the motherfucker. One bullet for every day Colby spent in the hospital, I think that’s fair. I’m one stupid remark away from taking my revenge on him. Colby’s words from earlier flit into my mind, so I reel myself in.
“You’re lying,” Di Leo says, taking a step forward.
“What proof do you have?” Ricci demands.
“I freed a warehouse full of victims not two months ago.” My lips curl in disgust. “And we saw Lucian there.”
“And we’re just supposed to believe you?” Ricci demands.
“I have one of the victims.” The way they reel back is so fucking satisfying. “She identified Lucian as well as his partner?—”
Faster than I thought he’d be able to, Di Leo pulls his gun out and aims at me.
“You’re not about to say we’re involved with this,” he screams.
“Why so hostile, Di Leo?” I ask mildly. “You got something to hide?”
“No, we don’t!”
“Then put the gun down, and—” Chen gets cut off by Di Leo.
“He’s been killing us off one by one and we’re just supposed to let him keep going?” he demands, looking at the other heads. “This ends here.”
I don’t move an inch—his hand is shaking like a leaf, which is embarrassing really, but I don’t feel like wasting time.
I take my own gun from my holster and shoot right between his feet. His scream of fear is all too gratifying, but I can’t enjoy it because Enzo Jr. takes his gun from his holster and points it at me while trying to keep his father upright.
Rory reacts the same way, and if that fucker thinks we won’t shoot them down right now?—
“Stop!” Sasha shouts, and when no one fires again he steps into the middle of the circle. “What the fuck was that for?” he asks me, looking more annoyed than anything. “He’s not going to shoot you, we all know this.”
“And even if he did, he would’ve missed,” Chen adds, and makes me smirk.
“He knows what it was for,” I answer Sasha, my voice low thanks to the rage coursing through my veins.
He hurt Colby.
“You’re the one who had that rat sniffing around my business,” he shouts, enraged, but it loses some of its effect since he sounds out of breath.
“I’m going to slice you open and feed your son your intestines if you say one more word about him.” My very serious threat only enrages Di Leo more. “He didn’t work for us,” I announce before he can say anything else, then I smirk at him. “Now he does, and he’s under my protection. You still took a man you thought worked for me and beat him half to death. You think I’m just going to forget that?”
He doesn’t have any comebacks for that.
“And we have no way to prove you all didn’t know what Lucian was doing,” I continue. “Your reaction doesn’t exactly make you seem innocent. Maybe you even helped Lucian. Maybe you’ve been getting a fat check from him every month. You know our rules,” I remind them.
“I have nothing to do with this,” Ricci says quickly, then frowns over at Di Leo.
“I don’t either,” he says, voice low, and frowning. “I protect my family, just like everyone else here,” he defends himself, speaking louder. “And you would’ve done the exact same thing I did,” he sneers.
I would have, but I hate him enough to proudly be a hypocrite. I still want to kill him, and I’m about to needle him a little more, but the sound of an engine and tires squealing stops me.
A car arrives, and it’s not the one Lucian brought to the last meeting he came to... a year ago? I can’t remember, but I’m still instantly on guard. The car stops in the sixth parking spot around the circle, and we all turn, waiting to see who gets out.
If it’s Lucian, he’s not getting out of here alive, that’s for sure, but it could be a good place to get some answers.
