AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She narrowed her eyes, and I could see the annoyance building in them. “I don’t need a knight in shining armor to rescue me.”
I grabbed her by the neck and pulled her down to me. “Tough luck. Because you have one.”
I gave her a bruising kiss, then let her go, got up, and shoved her behind me once again when Vince stepped forward between Zotov, Donnelly, Fee, and myself.
He had a perfect poker face. Icy cold. Dangerous. I’d known Vince all my life, and the angrier he was, the calmer he usually got.
And Vince was as calm as a block of ice right now.
Donnelly looked from me to him, and his eyes widened.
Compared to the Salvinis, the Falcones were small fish in the big pond of the Italian Mafia.
Vincenzo Salvini was the Great White.
Silent. Deadly. Always in control.
When he zeroed in on you as a target, you were as good as dead.
Or you hoped you were.
If Donnelly had known Matteo Salvini was the one in the Ferrari, he probably would’ve ordered his men to stand down. In the world of organized crime, everybody who didn’t know Vincenzo Salvini, at least knew of him. His reputation as ruthless but clever as a whip always preceded him.
Vince had single-handedly put the Salvini family on the top of the hierarchy when everybody thought the Mafia in New York was way past its zenith. And Donnelly probably just now realized his mistake.
The tension in the air was palpable as Zotov stepped forward, his dark eyes scanning the scene before him. “There are clearly some things that need to be discussed,” he said coolly as if we hadn’t just participated in a shoot-out mere minutes ago.
Fee buried her fist in my coat, and I focused back on her. “Are you okay?” I whispered, my voice low and urgent.
I could feel her fist tighten and her nod against my back, but I didn’t trust her show of strength. Her father bullying her to marry Zotov had made her jump out of a window, for Christ’s sake. Watching me getting shot had her shaken, as well. She was probably as far from okay as humanly possible. I needed to end this right here, right now.
Fuck.
Connor Donnelly glared at me but remained silent.
After I went down from the impact of the bullet, I saw Zotov disarming Donnelly.
Why?
Why did Zotov stop him?
And why was Donnelly okay with Zotov taking control like this? What did the Russian have on Donnelly that made the boss of the Irish mob so submissive? The thought gnawed at me, but I pushed it aside for the moment, focusing instead on the situation at hand.
Vince didn’t move, and aside from his tightly clenched jaw, there were no signs of his level of anger. “Yes, indeed, we have a lot of things to discuss.” His voice held a dangerous undertone that even sent shivers down my spine.
He was just as furious as I was about Donnelly’s actions and the fact that Matteo had nearly been killed because of them. This wouldn’t end well for the Irish mob boss. Either I’d make sure of that or Vince would take care of it.
“Let’s discuss this inside,” Donnelly growled, breaking the tense silence. Then he turned and hobbled toward the mansion, leading the way.
Vince and his men followed, but Zotov lingered behind, his gaze fixed on Fee and me.
I could tell she was hesitant to go back inside, and I didn’t blame her. I reached out and pulled her to the front. By now she was shivering, which could’ve been the cold air as well as the situation.
I unstrapped my vest, opened my coat, then hugged her with it until she was flat against my body. “Tell me what’s going on in that beautiful head of yours?” I asked softly.
“I don’t want to go back,” she admitted, her green eyes filled with defiance but also pain.
Her spunk was admirable, and to see that her spirit wasn’t broken, even after all that had happened, was consoling after worrying endlessly about her well-being these last couple of days.
