I swung it without hesitation.
It connected with the side of his face with a sickening sound. He jerked back with a sharp, guttural noise, his grip loosening just enough for me to wrench free. The thick stench hit me a second later. Burnt flesh.
Before he could come at me again, I scrambled after him. My skirt caught around my shoe, and I stumbled.
“Curse these fucking dresses!” I roared.
This. This was why I preferred jeans and a tee! A growl of rage filled me, and I ripped the swishy material free. I wacked the goon again, letting the rod linger on his throat.
Something dangled beside my arm.
I was too busy keeping his swatting arms away to notice at first. But the moment my incensed brain recognized the cord, I grabbed it in one hand and climbed on top of the goon.
He rolled me over.
The air left my lungs in a whoosh.
But not before I laced the slip wire around his neck. I pulled for everything I was worth. The neat little knot tightened. I yelled in fury. The goon jabbed blindly at me. As his weight shifted, I scooted from his hold and continued to tug the band tight.
For good measure, I shoved the hot tip of the rod right in his stupid eye.
The smell of burnt flesh melded with a choked yell of pain. It was an enchantingly garish symphony.
“Magnolia!” Theo boomed.
Franky barreled into the room behind him a second later.
“This—low-down—no-good—mother—fucking—snakeATTACKED ME!” I screamed, smacking him across the face with the hot wand. There wasn’t enough slack from the chord to really hit him hard.
“Magnolia, enough!” Arms wrapped around me. Theo hoisted me into the air. “We’ll handle it, cara mia.”
His fierce calm broke through the panic. I sagged into his sturdy hold.
Franky was quick. He jumped between us, leveled a gun which he’d probably pulled from thin air, and pointed it at the strangled thug.
“Look away,” Theo urged.
I refused.
Two quick pops were followed by a finite third.
The double holes in the attacker’s heart wept on the floor, while bits of skull and brain matter leaked from the single hole in the thug’s head. It was ghastly beautiful, a macabre justice.
“She’s not even shaking,” Franky quipped.
“No, she’s not,” I snapped. “I’m pissed.”
“Who was he?” Theo asked, not loosening his grip on me. It was as if I would disappear or be pulled back into danger.
For those reasons, I let him. He was a newfound shelter in the shitstorm of life.
With a sigh, I relayed the details of my ex-boyfriend and the drug lord who was sending thugs to collect.
“It has to be him,” I finished. “I don’t have any enemies in the mob up here.”
“Not yet,” Theo sighed and finally released me. He swiped a hand over his face suddenlylooking old.
“Dominico won’t let anyone hurt her,” Franky hummed. “I’ve been thinking about using my vacation time. Say, Theo? Think Cathy would fancy a trip down south?”
