I had a .38 snub-nose pistol in my purse. It was just big enough to hold in the palm of my hand.
A part of me wanted very badly to pull it out and put a bullet in my brother’s head –
But that would have been stupid.
If I tried anything and he managed to stop me – which was quite likely – he’d kill me with his bare hands.
If I wanted my brother dead, all I had to do was bide my time a little bit longer…
And Dario Rosolini or one of his men might do the job for me.
So I waited.
As I waited, I consoled myself with a single fact:
Both Romeo and I would be outside the hospital, away from the gunfight.
We would survive, no matter what…
And Romeo would be a capable lieutenant once I took charge.
If Cesare got killed inside the hospital…
Then I could start our clan over again once he was dead.
104
Adriano
Florence
Iwas almost to my apartment when two cop cars came racing towards me in the opposite lane, sirens blaring.
My heart froze in my chest.
I knew there was no way they were coming for me –
(right?)
– but years of being on the wrong side of the law were fucking with my brain.
When the cop cars roared past me, I heaved a sigh of relief.
I watched in the rearview mirror and was shocked to see another cop car pull off a side street and join them.
“…what the fuck?” I murmured.
I had areallybad feeling, so I parked on the side of the road and opened the Mercedes’s center console.
Every single car we owned had a police scanner. We just didn’t keep them out in the open, since it was illegal for anybodynotin law enforcement to own one.
I plugged it into the cigarette lighter and started turning the dial.
There was a crackle of static –
And then a dispatcher’s voice came through loud and clear.“ – emergency, emergency – all cars to the Piazza della Repubblica – a dozen active shooters targeting civilians – ”
I sat there, stunned.
