The first bullet pierces his neck. Blood streaks the alley inches from my feet. A second follows, spilling his brains across the ground. His body collapses and goes still after a final jerk.
The drones fly low to do a quick scan before speeding into the distance. My breath recoils at the body lying inches from my blood-soaked sandals.
“B, you good?!” Stephanie yells from the corner.
My knees turn to mush. I stumble back with a hand clamped over my mouth. “I just killed a man.”
“What? He’s dead?”
“The pieces of him heating in the sun confirm he is,” I say.
“You okay, though? Eww.” Stephanie swipes his flesh from my neck. “Did you get any blood in your mouth?”
I shake my head until she grips my shoulders.
“Let’s not do that. You got some”—she motions to my face and hair—“a nice shower will get that right out.”
My breath hitches. “I’m wearing a dead man, aren’t I?”
Steph rolls her lips and blows out a puff of air. “What matters is that you’re alive and I’m not dead.”
I sniffle. “But there’s somebody’s son on my forehead?”
“Not your forehead,” she emphasizes. “Let’s get you home. You’re likely in shock and just need to wash the day away. Look on the bright side: you handled your first run-in by yourself like a boss.” She lifts to put her arm around my shoulder but thinks twice. “Does Sally have a hose?”
The gate pries open. Aldo rushes in with a gun. “Are you okay, miss?” he asks in Italian.
“I almost died getting a wedding dress.” I don’t know if I want to laugh, cry, or both. “The drones work.”
“Let’s get you home. Security is inside,” he says.
Stephanie links our arms and grabs my lingerie bag from the ground. “You kept your new panties clean.”
“I peed on myself.”
“Bitch, me too.”
Chapter 36
Enemy Territory
Salvatore
Sitting across from a sworn enemy and not squeezing the life out of his body surprisingly takes a lot of energy and the threat of sedation.
Luiggi reaches into his jacket. Men on either side of Agostino Sr. pull their guns.
I shake my head for him to stand down.
The blunt Andrea forced me to smoke before entering the Preda don’s office has yet to kick in. Luiggi is within arm’s reach behind me with the syringe. In case I jump across the desk and start a war.
The war for me began the moment Bianca’s life was at risk.
“There’s no trust between us, but you have my word I didn’t order harm against your fiancée,” Agostino says in Sicilian. The frown lines bordering his mouth tighten at Luiggi inching closer.
My fists clench.
Luiggi moves, triggering Agostino’s men.
