Page 117 of Contempt

But she messed up his head—it wasn’t even her fault because he loved it, usually. But today, he couldn’t afford for her to put him off his game.

So, Renzo shook his head and replied, “No, I got everything I need in my pockets, thanks.”

Dante pulled out the phone in his hand, and asked, “What’s your phone number—I want a direct line while you’re in there.”

Renzo rattled it off as he headed for the side exit door that he suspected had been left unlocked for everyone to go inside the warehouse without issues. Yeah, he bet Christian had been planning this for a while, and now it suddenly made sense why the asshole had been playing down in this district of Brooklyn when Renzo followed him.

Not that it mattered now.

He had other things to do.

• • •

Renzo had just stepped inside the warehouse, and let the door close behind him with an audible click as the phone in his hand buzzed. He didn’t want to look down at it and see whatever message was waiting for him when in that moment, he had to drag in a breath and calm himself. He had to feel the full weight of the realization that now, there was no going back.

He was inside.

Leaving meant death.

This was it.

Once he took that breath, he lifted the phone in his hand to check the message scrolling across the home screen. A text from Dante, it looked like. Renzo might have been fine with that if not for the words the man had sent him.

That sent his anxiety spiking.

Lucia went after Christian, the text read.

There was a part of him—the stupid part that still wasn’t very good at thinking things through, for the most part—that suddenly wanted to turn the hell around, and head for the door. It was dumb because as soon as he opened it, everything was going to hell. This whole place would be bombed sky-high, and every person inside—including him—would be dead.

That was reality.

And yet, that part of him still wanted to leave. He still wanted to go after her because what the fuck, Lucia? What was she thinking?

He wondered if their conversation at the hospital between him and her father hadn’t been as quiet as they thought it had been. Or maybe … the woman was just smarter than the rest of them gave her credit for, and she stayed close enough to listen.

Either way … what the fuck?

It was the only thing that felt appropriate.

Get her away from him, Renzo texted back.

What else could he do?

Fuck her for doing this.

Now his head was screwed.

“So, they send you in, huh?”

Renzo glanced up from his phone, and met the gaze of Johnathan Marcello. Lucia’s brother looked like he was dead inside staring back at Renzo. Like he couldn’t fucking feel anything, and this was just another day for him.

He knew that couldn’t be true.

But hell … a situation like this could do a lot of things to people. No one was going to react to it the same way. He wouldn’t expect them to, either.

Behind John, another man stood close with his arms folded over his chest. Andino. Lucia and John’s cousin. The main boss of the Marcello organization, as far as Renzo knew, while John was the boss of another New York faction for the Marcellos.

“Yeah, they sent me,” Renzo said. “Anyone find the bomb?”