“You’re out of your mind if you believe that,” Rizzo breathes out confidently.
“Watch me. Corrigan and his MC will be next, for putting his hands on what’s mine.”
“I just have one question, Lorenzo,” Sabrina says. “Why did you have your men dart me that night? It doesn’t make sense that you’d try to have me kidnapped when you were already in control.”
“One can never really have complete control,” he says calmly. “Besides, look how well it worked out thanks to Mr. Corrigan.”
“Do you understand how fucked up that sounds?” I shout. “You staged the kidnapping of your own fiancée and dragged me into it? For what?”
“You just dug your own grave, you idiot!” Sabrina screams. “You’re an insane fool for thinking you can defy my father.”
Giovanni rears his hand back and slaps Sabrina so hard across her face that it echoes throughout the warehouse. She staggers backward, but recovers quickly, covering that side of her face.
That does it.
The fucker crossed the line. Not just with me, but also with Rizzo, who looks like he’s about to go nuclear.
Time seems to stop and speed up all at once as Giovanni triggers a chain reaction around the room. Someone’s gun goes off. As Cole is closest to Rizzo, he launches himself toward the mob boss, pushing him to the ground to protect him. One of Rizzo’s men does the same for Sabrina, using his own body to shield her. Everyone else, including me, drop down for anything around that provides enough cover. Thank fuck most of the men in here must be professionally trained. Either that, or they know better than to start a war with one of the most powerful mobsters in the room.
As I look around the sprawling space, two more gunshots ring out through the thick tension. My gaze flick across my body toward Cole and Rizzo. It’s not them, but a few feet away, Giovanni has his gun pointed in the air. He shoots one more round in the air, and with a stone cold, satisfied expression on his face, aims the gun down toward Sabrina’s head.
“If you want your daughter alive, you’ll let us leave here with her now.”
Everyone freezes.
“You know that’s not happening,” Rizzo tells him. “I’ll give you one more chance to walk away from this.”
“I have a gun trained on your daughter’s head and you still want to make demands? You just don’t know how—”
Giovanni doesn’t get to say another word because while he’s mid-speech, Rizzo pushes out from under Cole, and from his side, fires off a round that hits Giovanni in his right shoulder.
“That was your third strike, Lorenzo. Consider this an early retirement, due to injury. And I’ll give your men twenty seconds to get you out of here alive. After that, I won’t be so generous.”
Giovanni’s bodyguards lower their guns, pulls themselves to their feet, and back away slowly. Not one of them sticks around to back up their employer.
“Boys, take out the garbage. And you,” he says to Giovanni. “Make sure I never run into you again.” Three of the Padrino’s men snatch up a writhing Giovanni from the floor, dragging him out of the warehouse. “Sabrina, are you all right?”
She gets to her feet. “I’m fine. Thank you…for that.”
“I’m so relieved. Will you give a me a minute to speak privately with Corrigan?”
“Sure.”
Rizzo nods at his remaining guard beside her, and they lead Sabrina off to a small enclosed office at one corner of the warehouse. Cole follows them into the office.
“The apple didn’t fall far from the tree,” he tells me when we’re alone. “Your father would be proud. Now, let’s talk about how we go forward from this incident. I’d like to continue working with you. I’m sure you understand I’m fair, and a man of my word.”
“Yes. That’s been clear from the start.”
“Of course. But, Corrigan? I can’t say I’m confident our prior business relationship can continue as is…not with my daughter in the mix.”
“I’m not sure what you’re getting at,” I say, although I’m pretty sure he’s suggesting I can’t be with his daughter if I want to keep our deal going.
“Our partnership can flourish into greater opportunities, but I’m going to have to ask you to end all contact with Sabrina.”
