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He groans and looks around as the figure stumbles behind the truck. “You’re supposed to listen to whatever I say.”
“You’re family. I’m not going to leave you out here to deal with whatever is waiting for us.”
“That’s a shame. You should listen to him.”
My mother — the woman who pretended she was my mother for years — steps out from the corner of the house and points a gun at us. Matteo dives in front of me as her finger squeezes the trigger.
Even in the darkness, I can see the blood spilling out of his stomach as he hits the ground. I keep my gun pointed at my mother as I crawl over to Matteo and pull his shirt out of the way to see the wound.
“He’s not going to make it,” Mom says as she approaches me.
“Why are you doing this?”
“You’re a loose end, Bri. Loose ends have to be tied up if your father and I want to disappear again.”
The nickname stings, but I brush the feelings to the side. The only thing that matters right now is keeping Matteo alive.
I drop my gun and rip his shirt, pulling off a long strip to press against the wound. He coughs and tries to push my hands out of the way.
Gunshots ring out inside the house. I hear shouting inside and the urge to scream for Salvatore comes over me.
He’s busy right now. You can handle this. Put on your big girl pants and handle this.
“Why not kill me before now, then? You’ve kidnapped me twice. You could have done it both times.” I put more pressure on Matteo’s wound, glaring at him when he reaches for my hand.
She gives me a cruel smile. “So, you know about that, do you?”
“Yes. You should have killed me a long time ago. You knew the cartel was never going to give you what you wanted.”
Mom shrugs and lowers the gun. “We had bigger dreams back then. We wanted to take the easy way out. The last few years have been spent doing the dirty work to build our own empire. Now that we’re almost done, you’ve aligned yourself with the people who want us dead.”
“Damn right we want you dead,” Matteo says, struggling to sit up. I put one hand on his shoulder, pushing him back to the ground while I hold pressure on his wound.
“Why even bother kidnapping me? You could have gotten your own empire any other way.” I look down at the blood spilling across the cracked pavement of the back patio.
He’s losing too much blood.
“You were a pawn. The easiest solution to my problem. We wanted power and taking a baby could have given us that if your mother or father had loved you a little more.”
I breathe deeply and glance between her and Matteo. Now is likely the only chance I’m ever going to get to deal with her but if I take my hand off the wound, Matteo will bleed out faster.
“I’ve got to get going before your little lover boy shows up.” Mom tilts her head and studies me for a few seconds. “You know, I was going to kill you, but you’re still valuable to me. Sofia always had a weak heart — her father said so too. I’ll see you later, Bri.”
For a moment, I want to go after her. I want to make her pay for what she’s done to me. For what she continues to plan to do to me.
Matteo needs me.
I don’t bother to watch as she takes off into the dark. Instead, I turn to Matteo. His face is pale and sweaty. Blood coats my hands and more seeps onto the ground.
“You should get out of here,” he says, coughing slightly as he looks up at me. “It’s not safe. I told Salvatore that I would keep you safe.”
“Well, dying on me isn’t going to keep me safe, is it?” I ask, glancing down at the blood-soaked scrap of shirt I’m still holding against him.
“I’m not dying.”
There is no way that he isn’t dying. He keeps coughing and there is so much blood pouring out of him. I’m pretty sure that the bullet has to have hit one of his organs.
“Dr. Carrigan is going to be able to fix me.”
