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“That means he can’t hurt you anymore.”
“No, no, he can’t.”
“I’m glad,” he says, his eyes closing again. He doesn’t say anything else. His neck slumps forward as I try to shake him awake.
“Talk to me,” I tell him, reaching into his jacket for his cellphone. I need to call someone. I need help. Marco needs help. He’ll die without it. “Please, talk to me.”
He doesn’t answer.
Thirty-Six
Marco
* * *
I’m on the phone to Carlos, talking Spanish, laid in bed. They’re waiting to wheel me into surgery, but this is a call that can’t wait. If I don’t get this resolved, there won’t be much point waking up from the surgery. The cartel will never let the matter rest. Honor is at stake. The one thing that can never be haggled over.
“You understand the bind I’m in?” Carlos says, reverting in perfect English, his private school upbringing in Yorkshire shining through. “I have the utmost respect for you, Marco. You have never interfered with our business before. Why now?”
“It’s complicated,” I reply, shifting in place. I’m still weak from blood loss. I only arrived at the hospital a couple of hours ago. Since then, they’ve managed to stabilize me, get a drip into my arm and top up my plasma. It’s still touch and go whether I get out of the surgery alive.
What I care about more than that is making sure Anna will be safe, no matter what happens to me. This requires careful diplomacy. For once in my life, I’m having to negotiate rather than just take what I want.
“I heard about your consigliere,” Carlos continues. “Nasty business when there is no trust. Can I trust you, Marco?”
“It all worked out, didn’t it?” I tell him. “Exactly as we planned it.”
“So the commission will not become involved?”
“There is no problem here. Everything is as we arranged it.”
“Then I wish you well with your future endeavors.”
I hang up the phone. It’s all gone exactly how it was meant to. Apart from me getting shot so many damned times.
Eva is looking at me from the side of the room. She’s been waiting at the hospital for my arrival. I told her everything would be fine, but she had her doubts. Almost got proved right. If Piper’s bullet had been an inch to the left, I wouldn’t have been around to make that phone call.
“It worked?” she asks as I lay back on the bed and wince at the sharp pain in my stomach.
“Like a charm,” I reply, managing a smile.
“So the surgery can begin?”
“If it goes wrong, you know what to do.”
“I do. Take care, Marco.” She kisses my forehead. “You were always a good boy. Your father would have been proud of you.”
She steps away, and the room becomes a hive of activity. Doctors and nurses fussing around me.
In a couple of minutes, I’ll be out cold. Whether I come round again is up to fate.
What matters is that Anna is safe. All of this, everything that happened, has been worth it to know that.
She’s back at the house right now. My actual house. Well guarded, just in case. Piper is gone, but his people are still out there. Until the noise dies down, she needs to be protected. I’m planning on taking her to Europe for a while, if I make it out of here.
Once I’m out of surgery, I’ll be able to show my face whenever I want. His empire is mine now. Split down the middle with Carlos, as we originally arranged.
When I first decided to take over Piper’s business, I had a problem. The commission does not allow personal rivalries to interfere with the running of the city. Put simply, if I killed Piper, they would kill me for breaking the rules.
