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Giovanni
PLAYLIST: ? SOMEWHAT DAMAGED - NINE INCH NAILS ?
The gunfire startsup out of nowhere. Louis is at my side when it goes off. We dive behind a nearby row of slot machines for cover. I don’t have my piece on me—a rarity and the worst fucking time—but Louis clutches his gun and searches for the source of the trouble.
The casino has erupted into mayhem. People scream and scurry in every damn direction like ants when it comes time for the bug spray. The cracking and popping noise from the guns going off is so loud it could burst an eardrum. The smell of alcohol and money is overpowered by the gunfire, producing a stomach-churning rotten-egg stench.
“What the fuck’s happening!” Louis shouts over the streaming bullets. He creeps out from behind the slot machine enough to fire return shots.
Sirens have now joined the fracas. The police are en route.
I grit my teeth hiding out behind the slot machines. I feel like a cowardly little bitch in hiding while the casino gets shot up.Myfucking casino gets shot up!
I should be putting bullets between the eyes of everycazzowho was bold enough to cross me on my turf. There’s no doubt Lovato’s behind this stunt. He’s thrown down the gauntlet and revealed he’s not willing to play fair.
What he doesn’t know is I can play dirtier than the dirtiest out there.
Louis retaliates some more, firing shot after shot. He lands a hit on one of the guys. By now the casino floor has been cleared. Everybody’s either gone down, hid somewhere, or run off. I chance a look around the edge of the slot machine.
The fuckhead Louis shot is wearing a ski mask, but judging by his street clothes, he’s low level. Just some dumb fuck Lovato and his crew must’ve recruited off the street. His partner has disappeared, probably ducked the hell out the way as soon as Louis landed a hit.
It hasn’t even been a minute since the ordeal has popped off, but it feels like an eternity. Every second is a second hanging between life or death when you’re involved in a shootout. A million different thoughts stream through my head.
As foolish as it sounds, more than a few of them are about Falynn. I haven’t seen her since we fucked in my office. She’d gone to go clean up and was supposed to meet me out on the casino floor. The only reassurance I have is knowing Robby’s with her. He might have his misgivings about her, but he’s not stupid enough to let anything happen to her. It’shisass on the line if he does.
Still, I worry as my heart pounds faster. Everything about the night has gone to hell. The grand opening of the Vittoria Resort and Casino happens to be the grand closing too. At least ’til this clusterfuck gets sorted out.
“Cops are here, Boss,” Louis mutters.
We shift for another look, but then a gun’s hammer clicks and we freeze. The cool barrel presses into the back of my neck. It’s the other shooter. He’s gone around the other side and come up behind us. I hold out both hands to show I’m unarmed and no threat.
But in my head, I’m already calculating how to get out of this bullshit.
Louis lifts his gun, taking aim at Lovato’s guy. He’s so mad, his pudgy face is flaming red. “Don’t even try it, fucker.”
“Get back,” snaps the shooter.
“There’s no need for anyone else to get hurt tonight,” I say calmly. My voice is leveled. I’m steady as a surgeon on the outside. On the inside, I’m a burning firestorm of rage. I want to tear this fucker limb from limb as he screams in agony. “Put the gun down and we can all walk out of here living and breathing. Sound like a deal?”
He wavers. Even though he’s behind me, I can sense him shaking. He’s an amateur. Lovato’s dumber than I thought if he’s sending rookies to carry out hit jobs on his biggest rival. Probably so it doesn’t get traced back to him and his main crew.
That second spent wavering is one second too long. Louis moves to pull his trigger at the same time the rookie switches aim to him. Both guns go off and both guys crash to the floor. I’m on the rookie fucker before he even touches the casino carpet. I wrest the gun out of his clenched grip and then hammer my fist into his ugly mug of a face.
Crunch!
His nose breaks and blood spills out. A little blood’s never stopped me before. I slam my fist into his face more, beating it in ’til his eyes are swollen shut and I knock teeth loose. Even if I want to stop, I can’t. The fury’s pouring out of me by way of my fists. His head lolls to the side as he slips unconscious, but it only increases my bloodlust.
I press the barrel of his gun to his temple. Never mind that his face is bloodied and bruised. Never mind that Louis’s bullet hit him square in the chest and the cocksucker’s half dead anyway. Never mind that the police are already on the premises. I want to blow his brains out and watch them paint the carpet floor.
The police order everybody to throw their hands up, effectively saving him. They’ve flooded the casino floor in bulletproof vests, weapons drawn. Captain Rodrigo is on the scene, speaking through an airhorn, his voice carrying across the carnage.
He’s another I’ve struck a deal with under the table. Cities are only as corrupt as their leadership, and Rodrigo is as crooked as they come. A little blackmail and bribery have gone a long way in winning over his cooperation; he turns the other cheek and I reestablish the Sorrentino reign in Vegas.
As far as the public knows, he works to serve and protect them. But, at the end of the day, he really answers to me, and the Sorrentino name.
Two cops run up on me and the bloodied rookie at my feet. Right away, they’re trying to mishandle me. The smaller one forces the handgun from my grip and then twists my arms behind my back. The other checks on the rookie and…
Shit! Louis!
