Page 123 of Don’t Say Mafia

“The police are good, by the way. We dumped your three men into Lake Mead three months ago.”

Maddox clicked his tongue. “And you took care of Paulie’s place, didn’t you?” he asked me.

I grimaced at the reminder of the condoms . . . and the sock. “Unfortunately, yes.”

Maddox patted her back. “Cormac’s been sloppy.”

“That’s a lie,” she hissed, thrashing against him again.

Behind me, Cruz stepped up, adjusting his jacket over the vest. “You won’t get rewarded for this,” he said. “You’ll get forgotten.”

Her jaw trembled as Cruz crouched beside me, his voice dropping to something lethal and cold. “And as for the end of the Vale Syndicate?” He leaned closer to her ear. “It doesn’t start today.”

Then he rose smoothly to his feet and adjusted his jacket, unfazed by the bullet he’d just taken to the chest. His gaze shifted to Maddox. “Take her to Gage.”

The reaction was immediate.

She went completely rigid in Maddox’s grip. “No.” The word ripped from her throat, panicked this time instead of smug.

Cruz’s brows lifted slightly, almost pleased. “Ahh,” he murmured. “So you’ve heard of our friend.”

Her breathing turned shallow and frantic. “Just kill me now,” she spat, though there was a tremor under the venom. “Do it.”

“Apologies, my sweets. But I have a lot more information to get,” Cruz said.

Maddox tightened his hold and hauled her upright.

She suddenly stopped thrashing.

For a split second, I thought she’d finally understood there wasn’t an exit here. Then I saw it—the subtle shift in her jaw, the unnatural set of her teeth.

Cruz saw it, too. “Maddox⁠—”

There was a small crack between her molars. Foam bloomed at the corners of her mouth almost instantly. Her eyes widened, and whatever faith she’d been clinging to evaporated into something ugly and human . . . fear. Her body jerked as her fingers clawed uselessly at Maddox’s forearm before her muscles seized and then went limp.

Maddox swore under his breath as he lowered her to the concrete.

The room went quiet except for the faint ringing still lingering in my ears from the gunshots.

Cruz reached down and checked her pulse out of habit, then exhaled slowly. “Cyanide capsule.”

I stared at her for a long moment, irritation settling in heavier than anything else. “Absolutely not,” I muttered.

Cruz glanced up at me.

“No one tells Gage about this,” I snapped. “His head is already too big. He does not need to know people are killing themselves just to avoid him.”

Maddox barked out a short laugh despite the body at his feet.

Cruz’s mouth twitched. “Fair.” He brushed imaginary dust from his sleeves like the pretty-boy prick that he was. Somehow his sunglasses were still perched on his head, even after getting shot. He glanced down at Saoirse’s body, then at Maddox.

“Get someone to crate her up,” he said. “Ship her back to Boston. I want her delivered to Cormac. Let’s make sure his wife sees her.”

Maddox grinned. “Should we leave a note?”

“I think he’ll understand,” Cruz said with a wink.

I checked my watch and exhaled. I’d lost twenty fucking minutes on this. “I need to get back out there.”