AllFreeNovel
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Leaving the rooftop, I head to the street. I cannot be late. It would be the end of everything.
Fin goes into a small Irish pub.
I head around back, trying to find a back entrance. The back door is propped open with a brick, and I easily slip in.
Both my feet step inside before I’m being pushed into the wall, and Fin O’Conner is holding a gun to my head.
“Romeo Mancini.” He’s the same man who shot Coy. I should be shaking his hand.
“Fin O’Conner, you’re a hard man to get alone.”
He shakes his head with a chuckle and lets me go but keeps his gun trained on my forehead the entire time.
“I’ll double what you’re being paid.”
“It would be cheaper to kill me.”
“I can’t be killing my soon-to-be wife’s sister’s lover before the wedding.” Then he adds almost as an afterthought, “Maybe after.”
I can’t go back empty-handed. Even with Fin paying me double, I would never have the money in time.
“Just so you know, they expected you to be killed. And if you did succeed, you would miss the entire thing.”
What the hell is he talking about?
“The auction starts in thirty minutes. They want you dead. There’s no other reason why anyone would send you to me. You’re not even goddamn trained to assassinate me. Think about it.”
My eyes close for a brief moment. Nothing in my life is ever easy. Of course, Hugo would want me dead.
“If we hurry, we can make it.”
I have no other choice than to trust the man I was paid to kill. Fuck me.
“Why are you helping me?”
“Don’t worry about that. I have my own selfish reasons.”
The auction isin an old warehouse. Gia is the last woman to go on. The room is packed. People are already bidding on her life like she’s some slab of meat. It takes every muscle in my body to stop me from stealing her right off the stage.
She’s wearing a flowing white dress. I’m sure she’s the only woman to ever wear clothes on this stage. There is a beam of light that showcases her like the goddess she is. She’s makeup-free, her hair long. She’s every man’s wet dream in this room. She looks young, innocent, and breakable.
I raise my paddle from the back shadows. It gathers enough attention that Alfonso outbids me immediately. Each man’s face in the room is barely visible. Next, a Russian bids, then one of the Asian contacts bids.
Men once sat in fold-up chairs, but as the bidding picks up intensity, most are standing now. Each time I raise my paddle, Alfonso’s rises after. Not after anyone else, only me. My brow is sweating. It’s hotter than hell in here, and I refuse to lose Gia when I’m this close.
I raise my paddle, looking over to Alfonso, wanting to know how high he’ll go. He doesn’t get a chance to outbid me as gunshots ring out. The room goes on alert before shots are fired again.
