“Drop him.”
The body hits the floor with an unceremonious thump, and I raise my hands in a display of surrender, eyes staring resolutely on the floor.
“You have no idea how good this feels.” Lazzaro laughs cruelly in my ear. “After you stole Cas from me and flaunted how you were fucking her in front of everyone.”
I cringe at his words. I had done nothing to dispel the rumors, all of them aiding my subterfuge to get to the very man now pointing a gun at my head.
But there was no way of explaining this to Cas. Not when she’d never believe another word out of my mouth.
“The Cartel was supposed to kill you, but I prefer this one hell of a lot more.” He raises his voice for Cas to hear, “Fate works in mysterious ways.”
“Let me do it.”
My eyes snap up to find Cas approaching. That haunted expression on her face barely acknowledges my existence.
Never before had I noticed how she resembled her father. But when she looks at Lazzaro, I’m struck by how similar she looks to Carmine.
She looks the way he did when the calm claimed him in his final moment.
My heart races in my chest. No. She wouldn’t.
“Cas. Please,” I beg, but not for my own life.
“He killed my father,” she continues, ignoring me. “He lied to me. He kept me from ever meeting him. He stole me from you, and he…he made me fall in love with him.”
My breath catches. No. Not like this.
“His life is mine to take.”
Lazzaro regards her apprehensive. “You don’t have it in you.”
“Neither do you.”
We both regard her in confusion.
“It’s why you hired the Cartel, right?” she continues. “So you wouldn’t have the blood of the don on your hands. So you could blame his death on someone else.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Lazzaro laughs, but we can all see the truth in his eyes.
Cas nods to his gun. “You kill him, and half the Guild will be on your tail for the rest of your life. Let me do it.”
Lazzaro wipes his face with his free hand.
“You can blame it on me, a scorned lover getting revenge for her dead father. Giving me the credit will go down a hell of a lot better for whoever you’re working for.”
“You wouldn’t do it,” Lazzaro says, more to convince himself than anyone else.
“I would do it for you, baby,” Cas whispers softly. “An apology. For everything that’s happened between us, for getting lured in by a monster. I should have known you were only trying to do what was best for our future together.”
It’s almost comical how quickly Lazzaro’s resolve seems to crumble.
“You want me too, right?” Her voice is as smooth as honey. “You let me do this, and I will do anything you want, go anywhere you want to go. I just want to honor my father.”
It’s almost as if time itself slows down as Lazzaro gestures her closer.
The barrel never leaves my forehead as she takes it from him.
“Cas,” I tremble again. “Don’t do this.”
