“I like the sound of or.”
“I let you go this one time because I feel a little…icky about killing you.” He twisted his hand a couple times. “Don Russo should be in this hot seat right now, not you. But we both know he’d have been dead ten minutes ago if he’d had the balls to walkover here. It just doesn’t feel right for you to lose your head when it should be his.”
If I hadn’t walked over here, we’d all be dead right now.
“So I’m going to let you go. But you’re going to reconsider your decision. I’m taking down the groups one by one, and I’ll save Cosa Nostra for last. So you have some time, just not a lot.” His hands came back together again. “And if you don’t give the answer I want to hear…” He broke his hands apart in a form of a shrug. “Then you leave me no choice, Wolfe. You’ll be my next haunt.”
8
FRANCESCA
I sat at the dining table and waited.
The light faded from the windows until sunset made the sky glow with brilliant colors. Being worried about Wolfe gave me a momentary reprieve from my grief, so I felt a strange sort of relief. My father was gone and could never return, but Wolfe was still alive. And with every beat of my heart, I worried it would be his last.
My phone sat on the table in front of me so I wouldn’t miss a call or a text.
I’d been worried about Wolfe before, but this was on a different level. I felt heartbroken, like I’d already lost him.
My phone finally lit up with a call, and all of my insides were thrown sideways as if I’d been struck by a semi. I snatched it, felt it slip through my fingers slightly, and immediately smashed my finger into the screen to take the call before I put the phone against my ear. “Tell me you’re okay.”
There was a long pause over the line.
“Wolfe?”
“Uh, it’s Leo.”
I pulled the phone away from my face and squinted at the name on the screen. It was a number I didn’t recognize. I returned the phone to my ear. “Why are you calling me?” I blurted, not caring about him or anyone else in the world right now.
There was another heavy pause. “I—I want you to know how sorry I am?—”
“Don’t call me again.” I hung up and put the phone back on the table. I wasn’t angry at my brother, felt nothing toward him at all right now. I just needed to hear from Wolfe—and Leo could die for all I cared.
Leo didn’t call back, like I’d asked.
The screen turned black, and I sat in the dark as the sun dipped farther below the horizon.
The phone lit up, and Wolfe’s name was on the screen.
On my way home.
“OhCristo…” My palms immediately planted on my face, and I released a choked sob that seemed to come from nowhere. I cried into my hands and then forced in a deep breath to steady myself, the relief soothing me more than the tears on my cheeks.
It had been so hard to sit there all these hours and not text or call for an update. But if I did call or text, he would answer, under the assumption it was an emergency, and that distraction could get him shot. So I had to practice a monk-like restraint and wait…and wait.
I finally lowered my hands and tapped the screen to read the message a second time.
On my way home.
I watched his location until it arrived at headquarters. I wasn’t sure how long he’d be there, and all that mattered was that he was okay, but I still wanted to hear his voice. Wanted to know he was unhurt.
My patience expired and I called.
He answered right away, the sound of voices loud around him like he was still in the car or in the house. “Hey, baby. I’m not hurt.”
I closed my eyes as I sighed again. “Not a scratch?”
“Not a scratch.”
