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“You clearly ain’t the Espositos,” I said.
“We are not,” Sylvester said with a smirk.
Several men hopped out of the truck and walked toward Sylvester. They put their hands on their pistols in near unison. All I had was just me and myself.
I eyed the case of money. “What’s with the money, Silvani? I’m guessing you ain’t here on business.”
Gia stepped back and looked around the room, her gaze shifting between us.
“I want to pay you for the time you’ve had my daughter, but she’s coming home with us,” Sylvester said, placing a hand on his hip and grasping the gun tucked in his dress pants.
“With all due respect, sir, Gia can make her own mind up about who she wants to go home with,” I said as my gaze caught hers. She looked at the floor, and it made my heart skip a beat.
Sylvester took a step forward and his jaw clenched, making his temples pulse. “Did she tell you why she was there in the first place?”
“Daddy...” Gia said with a shaky voice. She grabbed his arm, a childish tactic that likely always worked for her.
“Do you want to tell him or should I?” Sylvester said to her. She looked up at me, finally meeting my gaze.
“What the fuck is he talking about, Gia?” I snapped, brushing a hand through my hair.What hasn’t she told me?
“Enzo, I—” she began, but her words halted as if they were caught in her throat.
I felt anger rising in my gut. I had always suspected something was off about this entire thing.So help me God—
“She was sent to you for nothing more than inside knowledge on your business,” Sylvester said evenly. I inhaled sharply as the anger in my gut began to choke out my lungs. “Do you have the recorder?”
She was breathless with panic. I hadn't ever seen Gia panic.
“No.” She shook her head.
Sylvester snapped his head toward her with a glare. “What do you mean, no?”
“I-I broke it,” she said with trembling lips.
Ro slapped his thigh. I didn’t know if I believed her. Everything, all of it, was a fucking lie.
“Enzo,” she called to me.
“Save it, Gia. You should go home.” I waved them off, turning from her to walk away. There was no sense staying and arguing. I felt betrayed, and there ain’t no coming back from that level of betrayal. I thought I fuckinglovedthat bitch. Even the word seemed foreign to me now.
A gunshot rang out and I ducked behind a square metal pole that climbed to the ceiling.
“What the fuck!” Gia screamed. I wasn’t sure if she was upset because someone shot at me or because she might have gotten hurt. I resisted every urge to come out and check on her. My drive to protect her hadn’t yet gotten the message that she was a conniving bitch.Goddamn it, Gia.
At the sound of the gunshots, Silvio ran in, his pistol drawn. He stood beside me, forcing me between the two.
“Silvani, tell your men to stand down,” he commanded with flushed cheeks. He struggled to catch his breath as I peered past the pole. The men behind Sylvester had pistols drawn, and even the man himself had his pistol poised. Gia was a crumpled mess on the ground, holding her ears. She looked up at Silvio, and her mouth dropped open. Sylvester raised his hand and his men lowered their pistols, but Sylvester kept his trained on Silvio.
Silvio’s finger curled into the trigger guard, hovering over it. The tension in his body made me certain he would shoot. Silvio would definitely shoot. Sylvester postured, but he wasn’t a big bad killer like the rest of us, not unless he had to be.
“Silvio, no!” Gia screamed and got between them, placing her body in front of her father.
I wiped my sweat-soaked hands on my dress pants and crouched as I peered from behind the pole.He would have no issue taking her out with her father.She was a distraction, after all.
Silvio always bit into his lip as if he were snarling before he pulled the trigger. He made the familiar motion, and without thinking, I pulled my revolver, aimed, and fired a shot. Screams filled the room. My ears rang with the disorienting buzz of gunfire.
“Fuck!” I yelled as the sound of the Silvani group retreated. Gia cried and pleaded as her family ushered her out.
