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“I have plenty of dancers.”
“She can make you money with other services on the side. What do you think she was up to at the Dollhouse?”
Lies. I shift my glare to Enzo as he spins this story on the spot. Enzo knows I’ve never escorted when I worked at the Dollhouse. Even if we barely had enough to pay our bills and he fell in deep with the loan sharks; I hadn’t gotten desperate ’til he was locked up and I was alone. Cue that night I witnessed Gio’s men disposing of Jerry’s dead body.
But Lovato doesn’t know that. He slowly smirks. “This is your ex girl, is that right?”
Enzo nods. “My main bitch. She made me a lot of money doing what she did.”
Huh? Wait, is he insinuating he was my pimp?! Outrage erupts through my body and I struggle against the henchman still holding me in his viselike grip. I’m about to curse Enzo out for not only lying about my past, but offering me up for sexual services when Lovato decides without me.
He shakes his head. “I’m not convinced. You think I don’t know you’re playing Captain Save-a-Hoe, rookie? I let you into my crew and this is how you repay me? Fellas.”
It’s all he has to say before four of his guys flip on Enzo. They circle him, blocking off any means of an exit. Enzo tries to push through one of them, but they shove him back into the center and then the hits start. They knock Enzo to the ground, punching and kicking him without mercy.
Lovato watches, at first entertained by the flying fists and pained groans. Eventually, he grows bored and turns his back on the beating, redirecting his attention onto me.
I’m still preoccupied with Enzo lying on the rooftop being stomped on. It doesn’t feel good to see him jumped by a group of guys, but I can’t bring myself to scream for him. Even protest or fight against the henchman’s clutches. The betrayal burns too deeply at this point. Enzo is partially at fault for why I’m being held captive by Lovato; he sold me and our relationship out for a taste of power. How can I ever forgive him?
“All right, enough horsing around. Time for you to bite the bullet, honey.” He moves to aim his pistol at me again, but he’s interrupted a second time.
A sudden and severe blast of wind blows through. It takes us only a split second to realize what’s the cause—from far above our heads descends an unmarked, black helicopter. Its blades spin in dizzyingly fast circles as the chopper eclipses us.
My heart stills in my chest. It can’t possibly be who I think it is…
A henchman standing over Enzo drops to the ground. He’s dead before he even realizes it. Another guy, this time one right beside Lovato, is picked off with a bullet landing clean in his neck. He hits the ground as a limp body spurting blood. Lovato jumps back as if it’s him who was shot.
“What are you waiting for? Return fire!” he shouts.
But it’s too late. Two more of the men beating Enzo are taken out. The guard at the door to the rooftop is next. I’m snapping my head left and right, watching the men drop like flies when a gust of strong air zips past me. The nasty fingernails digging holes into my skin loosen and the henchman gripping me flops backward with a hard thud.
I scream and throw my arms over my head as I realize what’s just happened. The sniper fired a bullet within inches of me and landed his shot. If he hadn’t been exactly on point…
My stomach roils at the sheer insanity of it. Before I can process what to do next, Lovato’s diving for me. He latches on to me, stretching as much of my smaller form in front of him. He’s using me as a human shield!
I fight against him, but as usual, I can’t overpower him, no matter how hard I try. I buck my head back and attempt to stomp on his feet. Even go for his groin area. Lovato holds me tight and starts sidestepping toward the door leading inside. His ragged breath blows onto the side of my face and bile rises inside me.
The helicopter touches the rooftop at last, its blades still spinning. Dominico sits near the edge of the open side door with a sniper rifle, his eye pressed into the scope. At his side is Gio. A wave of relief washes over me, leaving me lightheaded as soon as I see him. He hops out of the open side door, more fearsome and deadly than I’ve ever seen him look. His broad and powerful build automatically dominates the rooftop, his face hardened into a murderous rage.
“Shoot me and you shoot the girl!” Lovato shouts, a nervous tremor in his throat. He jabs his pistol into my temple. “You kill me, you kill her! I’ll do it. I’ll pull the mother fucking trigger.”
His warning seems to work. Gio motions for Dominico to lower his rifle, but he never takes his eyes off of us.
“This is already over,” he says, his voice a barely contained growl. “You won’t be making it out of tonight alive. Your casino is being infiltrated as we speak by my men. Let Falynn go and we’ll handle this the way it should be—one on one.”
“You’ve cheated, Giovanni,” Lovato huffs as he backs us toward the door leading inside. His fingers dig so hard into my flesh I’m sure he’s breaking skin. “You were supposed to show up alone. Instead, you’ve come in a chopper with some sniper? You’ve killed several of my guys? Well, go ahead and shoot me if you want! Your girl’s dead.”
“LET HER GO!” Gio barks. The last of his self-control shatters as he whips out his gun and aims it directly at us.
Lovato spits out a laugh. “I don’t think so. You wouldn’t risk it…or you would’ve already had your sniper guy take me out. What’s wrong? Do you actually care about this girl? Funny how that means I’m the one really in control, doesn’t it?” He hugs me close, pressing his cheek against mine from behind. “Why don’t me and you go have some private time, eh, gorgeous? You owe me that blowjob. If your boyfriend follows, you die.”
He backs us the rest of the way to the door. I can’t stop my body from shaking or tears from wetting my eyes. Gio is so close and yet so far. What if this really is the last time I’ll see him? I haven’t even gotten a chance to say a word to him, tell him how much I’ve missed him.
We step through the doorway into the stairwell. Lovato waits for the door to swing shut behind us before he unwraps his arm from my middle. He grabs my hand instead and makes a run for it. I scream and twist and fight to rip myself away from his hold, but he only yanks me harder.
“Keep up!” he snarls. “Soon as I alert the rest of my guys, your boyfriend’s done and so are you!”
After stumbling down two staircases, he shoves a door open on a landing. We rush through some kind of private dimly lit corridor before I realize we’re making our way back into the casino portion of La Festa.
