“You thought you could easy win.” Amelia chimed in. I gave her a little squeeze. She was such a brave soul. “You thought by having myex-husbandwaiting for me at my house would shake me or Shooter or the club? I think you forgot that I wasn’t scared of him anymore.”
I saw red all over again, it explained the handprints around her neck that were slowly becoming more evident, all the cryptic messages that Franklin spewed before the fight.
“He was there.”
She nodded.
I turned my attention back to the sniveling De Santo prick. “I shouldn’t be fucking surprise that a snake would do it. I should have killed you when I had the chance.”
I wanted that chance.
“Don’t worry, he’s knocked out and handcuffed. I think Stray is there.” She tried to soothe me from the fiery anger that raged in me. She glanced back at Franklin. “You rigged it. I bet you had people spread a rumor that Titus was going to win this or something, allowing people to put more money on your fighter than Shooter. No one was betting on him. Between that andpossibly taking me out of the equation and putting a Goliath of a man against him would make your odds even better.”
Hound Dog gripped Franklin by the collar and leaned in close. “Get out of my town before I wipe your entire family off the map, leaving nothing but a trial of blood in its path.”
“Just because you cut the head off of this, doesn’t mean we won’t come back.” Franklin didn’t waver.
Hound never faltered either, standing on his ground. “Songbird, grab my phone from my pocket. Call the last number.” Hound Dog never took his eyes off the man.
Melody did as she was asked and put the phone on speaker. And a new voice came on the other end. “Nash, my boy, can you hear me?”
“Yes, sir, I have that certain someone that you might have wanted to talk to.”
“Si. I take it that the little weasel can hear me.”
“Yes, sir.” He never let go of the man.
“Perfect. Do you know who you’re talking to?”
“Should I be afraid?” Franklin chuckled, thinking that all of this was a practical joke. But Hound doesn’t completely lie about his threats.
“You should be. Darling girl, can you switch to the video call, please.”The voice darkened, and cleared his throat as Melody flipped the call and showed Franklin the screen. I peeked to see a silver haired man with dark brown eyes sitting at a well-decorated dim office.
The sheer panic in Franklin's eyes told me that we had someone else he was afraid of, and we were using it to our advantage. All color had drained from his face, revealing that a new monster in his world had shown his head.
Franklin sputtered, “Don Francis Martelli.” Franklin stood dead in his tracks, frozen in time.
“Nash, did the call freeze or is he anticipating where his grave will be dug?”
“The later, Don. Wish I could take a picture.”
“Oh, let me,” Melody sang as she switched over and took a photo and possibly sent a message. I admired the fuck out of Melody. She had a little devil on her shoulder sometimes.
“Ah, bene. Mr. Abbott, Capo De Santo and you have been causing trouble and affecting people that are close to me.”
Franklin’s ragged breaths and stuttering voice let out, flicking his attention between the phone and Hound, “How do you know this man?”
“Let’s just say mutual connection. I do anything for my beloved niece, I love her very much. And when she told me about a mess that one of her newfound family members’ own family was having, well, I couldn’t resist telling her I would handle it. Family. One of the most important things.”
I chuckled to myself. Who would have thought that an MC and a mafia empire would go hand in hand.
“Anyway, let’s say, you should really return home to Boston. I think there may be a cleanup for you.”
Franklin looked pale. “You wouldn’t.”
“Ah, I think it’s a little too late. I’ve always wanted the harbor back in the family.”
Hound Dog smiled. “Guess it’s time for you to leave. Every. Single. One. Of. You.”
