She covers her mouth in shock. “What are you going to do?”
I pass by her and open the door. “I’m going to destroyhim.”
MATTEO
“Areyou sure you want to do this?” Franco asks, while I check my surroundings in the rearview mirror.
We’re right outside Echo, a club the Agostinis favor, and his car is parked out front.
I already made up my mind the moment I found out about Stella’s bruises. “Positive.”
“What changed your mind?” he asks.
“Stella.” He doesn’t need to know the reasons.
“But we’re outnumbered, five to two.”
“Doesn’t matter. They won’t expect this,” I reply.
“But what if we die?”
“Then so be it,” I reply.
Nothing will stop me from exacting revenge on her behalf. Nothing.
Franco shakes his head in disapproval. “We should have brought more men.”
“I will not risk any more of my men, not for this,” I say. “And if you’re so hesitant to help me, then stay in the fucking car, and I’ll find myself a new second in charge.”
He immediately pulls his gun from his pocket and loads it. “No, sir. I’m quite ready.”
I nod. “Great. I’m glad you came to your senses.”
I open the car door and step out, waiting for the crowd near the club to disperse. This place is Lucio’s favorite spot. I only ever come here to watch him seethe after I’ve taken yet another one of his playthings. But now I’m more interested in getting revenge than in seeing his tears.
If he died now, then all my effort would have been in vain. I want him to suffer badly, and I will make it happen tonight. He dared to put his hands on Stella, and I cannot forgive that. No man should ever hurt a woman. He bruised her skin and gave her permanent marks, so I will make him pay the price for his crime.
I waited all day for him to get out of the club, and now the time has finally come for him to get what he’s owed. When he steps out of Echo, I make my move. I beckon to Franco to follow me as we slink past the car, both of us keeping our guns steady in our pockets. People are everywhere, so I don’t want to make a fuss or a scene. No one here is going to call the cops, and no one will know we were there until it’s already too late.
We follow him into the dark of night. He’s carelesslystrolling around on the sidewalk with his buddies, clearly drunk out of his mind while looking for his car. Does he even care that I took away his prized possession? Not fucking enough.
We sneak up on them from behind, making sure no one notices that we’re following them. People all around us are too busy chatting among each other to care about us sneaking closer and closer to our victims. The moment I’m close enough, I place one of my guns to the back of the head of one of his guards and shoot.
Bang.
The silencer does its job well, and the man goes down without much of a fuss. I grab him by the arms like he just fell over in a drunken faint, and I drag him into an alley. Throwing him to the wall, I leave him there.
Lucio doesn’t even notice one of his men is missing in action. He’s too busy balking at his second in charge, while they’re laughing their asses off about some girl flaunting her skills on the dance floor. I can’t help but notice a pattern of a man with incredible hatred toward women. He’ll quickly learn what that will cost him.
Franco guns down the other one and slides him off behind a car, so no one will see his body until it’s too late. The last two are right beside Lucio, and they seem to do a very bad job of protecting him, because none of them have noticed that two of them have already gone missing.
Franco and I look at each other, and we nod. We both aim for the two remaining guards and shoot them in theback of the head.
Bang. Bang.
Two shots at the same time, and they both go down as swiftly as those bullets exited our guns. Death came quicker than the realization of being hunted. Lucio’s head turns, but before he can scream, I slam my hand over his mouth and drag him off into an alley through which we escape the scene of the crime.
He mumble-cries some words, then bites my hand, but it doesn’t faze me. I’ll take whatever pain I have to endure to make him pay for what he did to Stella.
