AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I gasp, taking a step back from the glinting metal. Adrian doesn’t look scared. He’s laughing. “Is that supposed to scare me? I’ve seen bigger toothpicks.”
Antonio leaps up with the knife but Adrian’s faster. He grabs his opponent by the wrist, twisting his fingers and getting hold of the knife an instant later.
Antonio roars with frustration, flailing forward, not seeing where the tip of the blade is pointed.
It hits him in the throat, plunging deep and drawing a wet gurgle from his mouth.
“Should have taken the deal,” Adrian says, lowering him to the ground. He lets go as the light fades from Antonio’s eyes.
Adrian stares at me. “Don’t move,” he says, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his cellphone.
I stare down at the body as he makes a call, unable to look away. I’ve never seen a dead person before.
“Matteo,” Adrian is saying down the line. “You were right. His brother showed up here… Dead in the meeting room…No one except Emma. Get the body dealt with before eight and there’ll be no problem… I’ll deal with her. She won’t be telling anyone, trust me. You make sure the body’s gone before they all get here.”
I look up, my heart racing. The way he said he’d deal with me makes me shiver with fear. Is he going to kill me too?
He’s got his back to me, listening. I edge out of the room before breaking into a room. I get to my office, pick up my cellphone, and call the cops. They answer after a couple of rings.
“What’s the nature of your emergency?”
“Adrian Calderone just threatened to kill me,” I hiss down the line, glancing out the door to see if he’s coming for me.
There’s a long silence.
“Hello? Are you there? Can you hear me? He just killed someone, and I think he’s going to kill me.”
“We can’t help you, Miss Rose.”
“What do you mean you can’t help me? Did you hear what I just said? My boss is going to kill me.”
The line clicks and then goes dead.
“Can’t help you, right?” Adrian asks, walking toward me from the meeting room. He gives me a cold smile.
I freeze in place, phone still pressed to my ear. “Who are you?” I ask. “Why did the police just hang up on me when I mentioned your name?”
“Back in New York they called me the devil. Out here, I’m just your boss.” He stops in front of me, wiping the blood from his hands onto a silk handkerchief. “If I was going to kill you, the police would not stop me. Luckily for you, I only want to marry you.”
“Oh, great. Is that supposed to reassure me?”
He ignores my question. “Last night, I was supposed to meet my cousin here to discuss my late father’s Will. Instead, he sent two hitmen. I dispatched one in the parking lot. The other, you saw in the meeting room just now.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I need you to understand what’s at stake. My cousin owes money to a drug cartel in Mexico. If he kills me, he inherits my father’s estate. More than enough cash to clear the debt. If I get the money first, the cartel will kill him. Do you understand?”
“What does any of this have to do with me?”
His eyes are perfectly calm, like we’re discussing the weather. “My father was the Don of the Calderone mafia family. When he died, he was a very rich man. He left a Will with a very specific condition. The entire fortune goes to me or Luca. Whoever gets married first and has a child to show to the executor of the estate inherits it all.”
He points my way. “That’s where you come in. You marry me, you give me an heir. I pay you. I also clear your father’s debts and I don’t tell him where you’re living now. He seemed quite keen to find you, wanted to borrow some money from you, I understand.”
He glances past me out the window into the parking lot. “Matteo’s here to get rid of the body, good. You’re coming with me.”
“What makes you think I’m going anywhere with you?”
He gives me a smile that makes me wonder how I could ever have spent nights lusting after him. “Because if you don’t come willingly, I’ll drag you out to my car. Is that clear enough or would you like me to demonstrate?”
