Kieran’s face turned a concerning shade of red, and the blue of his eyes deepened to near black.
Uh-oh. Note to self: Never mention dying in front of him again.
A bark of laughter had me leaning around Kieran to look at the man in the silver tie. The second our stares clashed, his dark eyes gleamed with malice. “You think I won’t kill you too?”
Unnerved by the devil in his gaze, I blurted, “I’m your nephew!”
Kieran’s body went rigid, but everything else on the street stilled. One heartbeat, then two passed. Each second felt like an eternity.
And then, finally, a question disturbed the stillness. “What did you just say?”
“U-uhhh,” I stuttered, gripping Kieran’s forearms with so much force it hurt my bones. “U-uh…”
“Bring him to me,” silver tie ordered.
I squeaked, and Kieran went on defense with Ghost jumping into the fray as three men lunged.
One of the men slammed his gun into Ghost’s bullet wound, and he sagged onto his knee.
“Nooo!” Rett yelled, trying to run to Ghost, but he was detained by a gun to the head.
“I’m okay,” Ghost grunted and forced himself to his feet, swaying a little.
“I’m coming,” I called, holding up my hands. “Let them go.”
“No,” Kieran bit out, hissing when he took a hit to the ribs. Instead of running to my boyfriend, I went in the opposite direction, striding right over to the man in the silver tie. I was within touching distance when someone grabbed me from behind, pinning my arms back.
Kieran yelled, but I didn’t look. There was only one way to stop this.
“My name is Haz Maddox. Apparently, I’m Matteo Salvatore’s son.”
Silver tie dude laughed. “You?” he spat, dragging his arrogant eyes from my toes to my head. “A pathetic man like you could never have Salvatore DNA.”
You know, I wasreallytired of people underestimating me because of my size. I slammed my foot down on the shin of the man holding me and then spun to kick him in the face as he bent. He fell back but caught himself with his hand. As he pushed up,I kicked him in the nuts and then took the gun he’d shoved into his waistband.
The second I aimed it at him, he cursed.
I turned back to my uncle, leveling the gun at him. I made a show of flipping off the safety, you know, just to prove I knew what I was doing.
There was a scuffle behind me, but I kept my stare level on his, not once looking or reacting to what was happening behind me. Kieran was there, and he would handle it.
Another scuffle sounded, but silver tie dude lifted his hand, stopping whatever was going on.
“Your eyes,” he murmured.
Kinda rude he was more bothered by my eyes than the gun, but whatever. “Maybe I don’t look like much, but Grimaldi sure did think I was a threat because he tried to murder me five times.”
“Grimaldi had a hit on you?” red tie dude chimed in.
“Yeah, and now he’s dead,” I said, gesturing to the Neon Reef.
The man in the red tie gestured, and two men went into the Neon Reef to confirm. Moments later, they appeared, and one whispered something to his boss. Red tie pursed his lips and glanced at me briefly before his dress shoes clipped over the sidewalk as he approached.
“It’s true,” red tie told his brother. “Grimaldi is dead.”
“Look at his eyes,” silver tie replied, voice a bit spooked.
Both Salvatore brothers turned to me, and frankly, it gave me a stomachache. The gun in my hand wobbled. The urge to chew off my nails and, hell, maybe some skin made my arm waver even more.
