“Then tell them not to.”
“Or what? You’ll kill me?” I taunted, moving closer. “You won’t shoot, just like I won’t sho—”
Silenced bangs interrupted, setting me on high alert. Huffing groans and loud thuds followed. Che cazzo? Who the fuck had just killed my bodyguards?
Bianca was distracted for a second, and I charged. She screamed as I crushed her hand holding the gun, and Mario wailed. I kicked her pistol with my knee, held her from behind, my forearm pressed to her neck, eyes on the door, finger ready on the trigger.
She writhed, Mario’s cries loud. “Let me go. You’re scaring him.”
“You’d better let her go.” A man in a ski mask stepped into the dressing room, a rifle aimed at me. “She might not shoot you, but I will.”
I snorted a chuckle. “Papi Carlos.”
Chapter22
Bianca
Any slice of hope that I might have walked out of here with my son vanished when Alfarez came.
I only told him to send me a car, why the fuck was he here?
I meant it when I said I hated guns. I was never planning on using mine on Enzio, not when my son was practically dangling down my chest. When Enzio kicked the pistol out of my hands, I was prepared for my next move. The weapon I really intended to use. A dagger I’d kept in my underwear drawer and was now tucked safely in my baby’s carrier.
I was going to stab Enzio or the guards if any of them tried to stop me. Then I’d be gone on the ride Alfarez arranged for me, and I’d disappear with the fake passports I’d hidden in the back of my baby’s clothes and whatever cash I’d fitted in the pockets of the carrier.
But now, everything was gone. If I did as much as unsheathe the blade…bang, bang, poof, and I’d have killed another man I loved. The only family I had left.
There was no chance Enzio wouldn’t kill me after he was done with Alfarez as well. I betrayed the family, tried to escape, pulled a gun on its boss and conspired with Alfarez against them.
Mario would have no one to raise him but his family of devils until he’d become one himself. Then he, too, would die like his father. Like his mother.
My sobs joined Mario’s as both men threatened each other. I didn’t listen. I was spending my last moments gazing at my boy’s beautiful, innocent face, holding it between my hands, telling him how much I loved him, how sorry I was I couldn’t protect him, telling him it was going to be okay, even though it was not.
“Drop your gun, Enzio, and let them go. It’s over. I’m walking with my daughter and her boy.”
“She’s my wife, and he’s my boy. They’re not going anywhere unless I say otherwise. Now, I’m gonna be a generous man and give you a chance to walk out of here in one piece. You’ll only pay for my men you killed with yours. But if you don’t back down now, you’re leaving this place on your back, Alfarez.”
“Please, don’t kill him,” I sobbed.
“Don’t come begging now. This is all your fault. What the fuck were you thinking?” Enzio hissed in my ear.
I stared at Alfarez, tears blurring my vision. “Why did you come, Papi? Please…just do what he says.”
Alfarez snapped the rifle ready. “I’m not leaving without you.”
“Your funeral, old man.” Enzio’s arm freed my neck only to hurl me to the back of the room.
My back slammed against the wall as gunfire pelted my ears. “No!” My eyes bugged out toward Alfarez. He’d darted out of the shot range—thank fuck—and it was his turn to return the shot.
Everything was happening so fast. I hid behind the dressing table, hunched over my baby, protecting him with my body. “PLEASE! STOP!”
Bang!
Bang!
“Bianca, run!”
Alfarez’s scream faded into Cosimo’s in my head. This was another one ofThe Matrixdéjà vus. Something terrible was about to happen.
