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“You know that’s not going to happen.”
“Then I’m going to have to shoot you.”
“You never were that fast. You sure you want to risk it?”
“What is she to you? Dead wood. Come on, Marco. Don’t be a fool. You can pick up any slut off the street. Let her go.”
“Not got the balls to shoot?”
“I could kill you and take her or just take her. You know she’s getting married to Carlos. Don’t get in the way of that. Piper will have your balls cut off for you.”
“So why’d he send an errand boy instead of coming himself?”
“Busy man. Wedding to plan. Empire to run.”
“Me too.”
“Don’t tell me you’re thinking of marrying her? You couldn’t be that stupid.”
“Stops her being married off to the cartel.”
“Why’d you even give a shit?”
“Piper killed my family, Theo. What would you do?”
“Not get hitched the the man’s daughter for a start. Let it go, man. It’s not worth the trouble. Me and you go way back. Don’t make me kill you.”
“You’re welcome to try.”
There’s the sound of two gunshots at once. I let out a shriek as the earsplitting sound echoes across the rolling lawn.
Theo falls to the ground.
I look at Marco. He’s not moving either. Are they both dead?
I could run right now. I could climb over the gate, get in that expensive car and drive away to wherever I like. Sell the car. Start again where no one knows me. I’d be free. I could put all of this behind me.
Marco jumps to his feet, frightening me to death. He walks over to Theo, nudging him with his foot.
“That’s the first dead body I’ve ever seen,” I say, walking slowly toward the corpse. “He is dead, right?”
Marco kneels down, checking for a pulse. “He’s dead, all right. Always was a shit shot.”
“You killed him. I can’t believe you killed him.”
Marco stands up again, wincing as he does so. “It was me or him. That’s life. Would you rather I was dead, and you were in his car, going to a cartel marriage?”
“No, but did you have to kill him?”
“What should I have done?”
“I don’t know, all right.”
“This is the real world, Anna. It’s a messy, horrible place filled with bad people and worse people. There’s no goodness. There’s no purity. You need to wise up and smell the roses. They’re covered in shit and that’s all there’ll ever be.”
“Nice speech. You really believe that?” I glance down. He’s holding his side. “Did he shoot you?”
“Only a scratch.” He winces again, taking a step back before collapsing to the ground, his face turning pale. “We have to get out of here,” he says. “This place has been compromised.” He’s talking through gritted teeth. “Call Alessandro. Get him to book a safe house.” He’s still trying to talk as he passes out. I look down at him and a thought occurs to me.
