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“And why is that?”
“None of your business.”
He pulls an envelope from his inside jacket pocket. He reaches into it and unfolds a letter, passing it to me. “See that signature?”
I look down, scanning over the printed words. “What the fuck is this?”
“Consent for us to get married. Signed by your father.”
“Is this a joke?”
“Your father owes some unpleasant people a large sum of money. I offered to clear his debt in return for your hand in marriage. You marry me, give me an heir. I pay you a million dollars in cash. What do you say?”
“Did you bump your head on the way in here? Have you got a concussion or something? Why would you want to marry me? And what are you doing talking to my father?”
He glances past me, like he’s heard something I haven’t. “Down,” he barks, jumping to his feet. “Get down, now.”
“You’re insane. I’m leaving,” I declare, standing up with every intention of walking out of the room.
Then everything turns into slow motion. The door swings open as I reach out for the handle. Behind it a man in a garish blue tracksuit is pointing a gun directly at me.
“You killed my brother,” the man says, but he’s not staring at me. He’s looking past me at Adrian, slowly squeezing the trigger.
Without fully understanding what I’m doing, I leap forward, shoving the gun upwards just as it fires.
The sound is deafening, a blast that sends a shower of plaster cascading down from the ceiling, making my ears ring.
“You bitch,” the man says, swinging the gun my way.
Adrian leaps forward so fast I don’t see him until he’s shoving past me. He slaps the gun from the attacker’s hand. It skids harmlessly across the carpet.
“You must be Antonio,” Adrian says, his voice a low growl that reverberates through the tense silence of the office. “Whatever Luca’s paying you, I’ll triple it for you to take him out.”
A scowl spreads across Antonio’s face. “You made it personal when you shot my brother last night. No deal.”
“Shame. I guess I’m going to have to kill you.”
Antonio throws the first punch, a right hook aimed at Adrian’s jaw.
Adrian leans back just in time, the fist slicing through the air where his head was a moment before.
“You’re going to have to do better than that,” he chuckles, dodging another swift jab. “Not so fast without your gun, are you? Sure you don’t want to take my deal?”
“You killed my brother,” Antonio snarls, lashing out with both fists flying.
Adrian dodges them easily. “He took the contract on me. Signed his own death warrant.”
Antonio lunges forward. Adrian feints left then slams his fist into Antonio’s stomach, forcing a grunt from his opponent as he doubles over in pain.
Antonio recovers quickly, bringing his leg up to kick Adrian between the legs.
He catches the flying leg in both hands, a smirk playing on his lips. “Is this all Luca’s money buys these days? I can’t say I’m impressed with you or your brother.”
“Fuck you.”
Antonio twists his leg, losing his balance and falling to the ground but it’s a trick. As he lands, he reaches for his ankle and pulls out a knife.
“Killed four men with this,” he says, waving it toward Adrian.
