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The others cheer excitedly. Morale boosting before a big job is part of being a boss, I guess.
“Is the location set for tomorrow?” I ignore my father’s antics like I ignore Sal’s.
Gio puckers his lips and eyes one of his bodyguards, then focuses his gaze back on me. “Donny boy. If you don’t sit and enjoy a victory once in a while, what’s the point, huh?”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell him!” Sal slaps the granite. “So stiff, this guy.”
“Aha, your boy has it right!” Gio and Sal snicker like idiots. The others follow suit. Except for Johnny Scar. He sees the world as I do: as something to conquer, one heist at a time.
“Pop. Do we have a location and confirmed guests?”
Gio snaps his tongue in disapproval. “I want to see her.”
A shiver crawls down my spine. Usually, my nerves are numb. Why am I feeling… protective?
“She’s a little, uhh, tired from tonight’s events,” Sal says, grimacing. “May have a few scrapes too.”
“All the better.” Gio limps toward the stairs. “Which room? Oh, you gave her one of the big ones. Fit for a princess,” he snarls, and his minion’s snicker.
I follow closely up the stairs, my chest tightening after every step. A part of me worries she managed to find a way to hurt herself after I tied her up.
Gio knocks on the door. “May we come in?”
Sal laughs – the suck-up shithead.
“Let’s be quiet,” Gio whispers. “Our angel might be sleeping.”
Now I remember why I distanced myself from the trafficking arm of our business. My father’s sick. They’re all fucking sick.
Gio bursts in and is the first person Ellie sees. Her eyes go wide. Her hands and feet are bound in rope, and I gagged her so she couldn’t bite her tongue. It was a good idea, because the terror etched on her face is visceral.
“Remember me, sweetheart? Zio Gio, from the old days.”
Ellie grunted something unintelligible as she fidgeted on the bed.
“What’s that? Can’t hear you.” Gio put a hand to his ear. “Sal, be a gentleman and let my niece speak.”
I have a mind to grab Sal’s shoulder to stop him, but I can’t show any of these people that I care, especially my father.
Sal ungags Ellie and yanks his hand back, worried she might bite. “Minchia. Almost lost a finger.”
Ellie spits on Sal, then eyes my father. “You’re no family of mine. You’re just the help.” Her teeth are gritted. She knew what she was doing.
A deep part of me found myself cheering for her courage, but the rational part sighed at the huge mistake she’s made.
Gio laughs, genuinely amused. “Do me a favor, Sal, untie her legs too.”
My blood runs cold.
“Don’t you fucking, ah—!” Ellie kicks as Sal gets closer again.
With one hand, Sal presses hard on her thighs and whips his knife through the rope.
“That’s better. Look at those things.” Gio points at her legs and winks. “Like a prized horse.”
Ellie’s teeth are clattering, and for some reason it makes me clench. I’ve seen hitmen sever heads and torture women, and usually… nothing.
What the hell’s coming over me?
