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“Okay, okay.” Tommy knows me too well, and doesn’t push me, instead returning the phone to his pocket and pulls out a cigarette.
“Everything all good?” Dante asks.
My eye twitches, the anger still building. “We have a problem.”
“Yeah?” he says, waiting for me to explain.
“Seems like her fuckwit father has married her off to Nikolov.”
“You talking about Sergei? The one that owns Tits and Slits in the west end?” Tommy asks.
I nod.
“Fuck me.” Dante shakes his head. “You’re saying we got Nikolov’s woman trapped in the car? And I thought we were trying to avoid a war?”
“She’s not his woman,” I spit back, even though technically she is.
The men look at each other. “You just said–”
“I know what I said.” The tension isn’t subsiding, and the problem isn’t evaporating, it’s only getting worse with each passing minute. “It’s why she jumped out of the car. She doesn’t want to go back.”
“Well, too fucken bad.” Dante shrugs and at that moment, I’ve never wanted to punch my best friends face so hard in my life. “Deal’s done and we aren’t gonna start a war over pussy we don’t know. Eyes are on you man, you need this.”
Wrong, now I really want to hurt him.
Dave steps forward, normally the voice of reason. “If you get the money owed with no bloodshed, after how long your father’s been chasing this, no one’s gonna question you going forward.”
“Who’s questioning me now?” My voice is dangerous and lethal.
“Not us, brother.” Dave immediately corrects himself. “But you know the family is watching. Dante is right.”
I know he’s right, and that’s the problem. There isn’t a way out on this one, not for her anyway. My hands are tied.
“She’s not our problem,” Dante says. “Let her father take care of it.”
Her father? Surely, he will stop the marriage once he knows how he treats her. She ran for her life, the least the son of a bitch can do is to stop the arrangement.
“Ren,” Dante says, and I look up. “They’ll be here soon. What’s the go?”
The go? The go is today, my soul turns a few shades darker.
“Secure the surroundings.” I throw Dave the keys. “Get her out and inside. Let’s just get this done.”
The shed is cold; an open-door leaves room for a draft to blow through. Lilliana stands next to Dave, who is holding her firmly by her arm, expecting her to run again, but she hasn’t moved. A shiver racks her body and goose bumps scatter across her fragile skin. I’m not sure whether it’s from the cold or the fear that’s written all over her face.
I worked hard over the last ten minutes to rid my consciousness and heart from my body, bringing the cold-hearted boss of the Vitali crime family to this meeting. Any show of weakness could get us killed. Although, the boys holding their automatic weapons by my side will ensure that not be the case today.
A car engine roars into the lot, the stones crackle under its tires as it pulls up outside the shed. But then it sounds again, and another car follows.
Doors open and close, and the stomping of feet sounds outside until Moretti and four of his usual soldiers walk inside, all armed with handguns of their own. But as soon as they walk in, another group mark their entrance. Sergei and his men stride immediately in after them.
What the fuck is he doing here?
As soon as he enters, his eyes find Lilliana and don’t leave. Fixed like a beast, dark like the devil, they bore into her, raking over every inch of her body. Her face pales and her eyes hit the floor. She stands frozen, paralysed in place, and I can’t tell from where I’m standing if she is breathing or not.
He stalks toward her like a man possessed, but this isn’t his show, and just seeing his eyes on her as if he owns her makes me want to slice his throat.
“That’s close enough,” I say when he’s only three feet away.
