I sneer at him. “You came to her apartment. You smacked her around. You told her you would kill me if she didn’t end the relationship.”
“Tommaso, I told her I would kill her parents, that I would kill her. But I didn’t threaten my own son. Though I suppose I’m not above it,” he says. His voice changes to a loud bark. “Do it.”
At first, I’m not sure who he’s talking to or what he means, but before I can move, what feels like a hard punch to my arm throws me off of Lorenzo. Pain stabs through me, bright and holy, and my vision narrows to a tunnel with Aurelio’s round face, his scar shiny and red, laughing soundlessly at its center.
I don’t go down. I move as another shot ricochets past me. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Vin moving, as I take aim at the guard who was conscious enough to heed Aurelio’s command to shoot me. The guard’s head explodes in front of me before I can pull the trigger, and the next thing I know, my good arm feelslike it’s being ripped out of its socket as Vin drags me up to my feet.
“Move your ass!”
I blow out a breath and follow him. Aurelio is nowhere to be seen as we cut down the hallway outside Luminous & Co. and take the stairs down to the parking garage to find Matti and Siena.
My arm is bleeding, useless at my side, my shirt ripped and hanging off me. When we hit the parking garage, the echoes of gunfire and flashes of light are coming from another stairwell.
When I get there, it’s hard to tell what’s happening. There are guards, Franco, gunfire flashing, bodies on the ground.
The first thing I see that makes sense is Valentina in a heap on the floor at Franco’s feet. I dive for her, threading my good arm under her and dragging her out of harm’s way.
I run back to the fight, my gun trained on Franco. Matti is lying on top of Siena on the floor, and he’s covered in blood, not moving.
“Matti! Get the fuck up! Get her out of here!”
He doesn’t answer, and I fire at Franco as he turns toward me, then kneel and take out two of Aurelio’s guards. I bend over Matti and Siena as I reload.
“You guys need to move! Get up! Move! NOW!”
Siena is on her back under Matti, looking up at me, but I don’t know if I’m getting through. Matti hears me, though, and lifts himself off her, looking down. I lay down cover fire as he starts to stand, but Matti’s hit and when he starts to fall, I grab him under the arms and pull him off of Siena.
Siena is screaming Matti’s name as Vin screeches around the corner in our van and jumps out to help me load Matti into the back. I run back in and pull Siena out as Vin handles Valentina, then I climb in with the girls and Matti and lay down cover fire for Vin as he grabs the suitcases.
When he tears out of the parking lot, I catch his eye in the rearview mirror. I know what he’s thinking: fucking shit show.
28
Giovanna
When I finally make my way back into our bedroom, I keep my chin high and my eyes straight ahead so as to avoid Una. Inside, the room is dim, the faint light from the dock below bleeding through the curtains. The only sound is the hum of the ceiling fan.
I go straight to the nightstand.
Inside the top drawer waits what Tommy left for me: a gun.
Cold metal. Smooth grip. Heavy as sin. My pulse pounds in my throat as I pick it up, testing the weight, the balance. It’s sleek. Shiny. Deadly.
Perfect.
I lay across the bed for a long time, staring at it, tracing a fingernail over its details before finally sliding it under Tommy’spillow. I don’t know how long I lay there before I finally drift off to sleep.
**
I wake up hours later in the same position, frantically feeling for Tommy. The sheets on his side of the bed are cool, but the gun is where I left it. That’s enough to steady my breathing.
The hall light cuts a swath across the floor. I stare at the indentation on his pillow, remembering all the nights I used to do this: wait for him, wonder when he’d come home. Wonder if he was thinking about me at all.
Are we already back to that again?
I reach for my phone. Four messages.
Matti’s hurt. I’m getting him to the doc.
