“The… thedon’sdead?”
“Uh huh.”
“And that favor he owed you…” I swallow hard.
“Yeah, no one owes me that anymore,” he admits slowly. “That died along with him.”
“Okay.” I don’t know why exactly this is bad news, but I just know it is. “Who killed him, Damien? Do you know that?”
“Yeah, that’s the thing.”
“What thing? What fucking thing, Damien?” I’m back to punching my hand into the trunk in frustration.
“That’s why I’m calling you.”
“Aren’t you calling me because the don’s dead?” I pass a bloodied hand over my eyes. “Stop fucking around, Damien. Just tell me what’s going on. I’m going crazy right now. What about Carmelo?” I squeeze the phone to my ear. “Did he die too, Damien? Is he dead?” My heartbeat picks up again, but this time, it’s not nerves. I’m suddenly beginning to hope that—
“No. He’s not dead. Sorry, Logan.”
“Oh.” The hope bursts as suddenly as it had formed. “Alright. So why did you call me? Who killed him? The don, I mean.”
“Believe it or not—it was Coltello.”
I let out a loud snort. “Sure.”
“I’m serious, Logan.”
“Forget about it. Theunderboss? Moretti’s righthand man? Stop fucking with me, Damien.”
“I’m not.” He clicks his tongue in annoyance. “He did it, and I’m fucked, Logan. Completely and utterly fucked.”
My eyes widen. I’ve never heard him talk like this. If I didn’t know better—I’d imagine that he was about to cry. It’s enough to make me forget, at least for a moment, the girl who’s waiting for me somewhere in this forest, probably wondering what the hell is taking me so long.
“I’m sure it’s not that bad, Damien.”
“Itis. I’m fucked, you’re fucked, Everest is fucked, so are Vale and Igor. I know you don’t give a fuck about them, but they did throw in their lot with us. And all five of us are now astoundingly fucked. But no one is more fucked than me.”
“Okay, Damien.” I take a few deep breaths. “Why is that?”
“It’s like this,” he says for what has to be the tenth time in our conversation, but this time, I don’t feel the urge to strangle him. I wait patiently for him to continue, wishing I could show him just how much he isn’t alone. I’m on his side. I always have been, I always will be. “The boss is dead, and the favor he owed me—that’s what was protecting us. I know I told you I had no leverage anymore, but that favor was still protecting us. Now everything’s just falling apart. Everyone is biting each other’s head off, everyone’s fighting, even those who are on the same side. The only thing everyone agrees on is that they want my head.” He lets out a humorless laugh. “So now I’m stuck in the middle. Coltello wants me dead, the Idaho Syndicate does too, so does Carmelo. Oh, and he also wants his wife back. So what the fuck am I supposed to do now?”
“He wants…” It’s a struggle to choke out the last few words.“...Lia? He wants Lia?”
“Well, yeah, Logan. Sheishis wife. And now that his dad isn’t around to tell him to take it easy and wait for the mutiny to be over—now that we know it’s nowhere near close to being over, seeing as it’s turned into goddamn war—yeah, he wants her back.”
I clench my jaw. “That’s not going to happen, Damien.”
“Logan.” His voice goes from anxious to pleading—something else I’ve never heard him sound like. “I’m pretty sure I can talk him intonotkilling her, Logan. Okay? Bring her in. He won’t kill her. He’s given me his word.”
“I’m not going to do that, Damien. You know I’d never—wait a second.” I try and fail to suck in a breath, overcome by a sudden, nauseating suspicion. “What do you mean… he’s given you his word? Does heknowwhere she is? Did youtellhim, Damien?”
“No, Logan. I wouldn’t do that to you.”
I feel myself grow limp with relief. “Good. You’d better not, Damien. I’mnotgiving her up. I’d rather kill myself than let her go.”
“Right.” He lets out a dry chuckle. “Would you rather killme?”
“What the fuck are you talking about, Damien?”
