“I’m a patient man.”
She laughed. “No you’re not.”
“No, I’m not,” I agreed as I started biting her neck. “But I’ll find something to keep me occupied.”
“Mmmm,” she murmured. “We should consolidate first… take out some other clans, like the Lugaros. Did you kill that bookie we picked up last night?”
“Yep. In fact, this ishisblood.”
“Gross,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “Go take a fucking shower.”
“No,” I growled as I pushed her onto the bed. “Besides, youlikeit like this.”
“You’re right,” she whispered with a smile as she pulled me on top of her. “I do.”
PART II
Present Day
September
Florence, Italy
1
Giorgio
Iwas behind the wheel with Lars’s new wife in the passenger seat.
I’d been a driver for the Rosolini family ever since I started working for them, but I was onlyprettygood at driving fast.
Rachel used to work for MI6 – like James Bond – so she was training me in evasive driving.
We were in a sports car with a manual transmission, which allowed me to shift gears at will. We’d spent the last few minutes on some twisty roads in the Alps, and now shit was about to get real.
“Okay,” Rachel said, “you handled the mountain passes at high speeds. Now I want you to weave in and out of the cars up ahead.”
I sped up as I zoomed around the first car, tires squealing slightly.
“Tires talk,” she warned. “Listen to them. Squealing means you’re pushing too hard. Quiet means you’re in control.”
I tried to keep the tires from squealing as I maneuvered around the second vehicle.
“Remember, don’t fight traffic – use it,” she said. “Think two cars ahead.”
I nodded.
Suddenly, there was a gunshot behind us.
My adrenaline spiked along with my heart rate.
“You knew this was coming,” Rachel said. “Use your side mirrors. Glance left and right every few seconds, just to keep tabs on where your attackers are.”
I tried to keep calm as a black BMW roared into view behind us. A man’s arm was hanging outside the passenger window, his gun pointed right at us.
I swerved around the next car before he could fire, my tires squealing.
“You need more control,” Rachel said. “Downshift –downshift – ”
