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“Don’t go in half-cocked,” I warn dryly. Leo has zero impulse control and he’s likely to get us all killed. “We’re going to do this right, and quiet.”
Leo nods, looking sheepish.
We walk the perimeter and we make it all the way to the yard before Nico pauses.
“Something smells here,” he says, grimacing. “We should have come across a guard by now.”
“Do you think they’re ready for us?” Leo asks.
Nico tilts his head. “I don’t know. All I know is that something’s not right.”
We sneak around the back of the grounds, sticking close to the trees in case we have to duck behind one, and walk up slowly to mansion.
“Fuck,” Nico curses as we get closer.
Two men, throats slit, lie on the ground in puddles of long-dried blood. They’ve been killed hours ago, it seems.
“Goddamnit,” I curse under my breath and the back door is broken, hanging off its hinges. We rush inside and there’s Alonzo Gallo, one of the Gallo cousins, sitting at the kitchen table with five bullets in his chest, his brown eyes wide and staring.
“Someone got here before we did,” Leo says, sounding utterly disappointed.
It could have been anyone, really, because the Gallos are universally hated. Ever since Vincenzo’s old man died, he’s been running the show in the snakiest way possible, and everyone in the city hates him.
But I think I have an idea of who it might be.
We make our way to Vincenzo’s old office upstairs and the house is dead silent. It feels like the very air is dead, and I can smell blood.
There’s another two dead bodies in the foyer, shot through the back of the head, execution style.
There’s one more on the stairs, his neck broken and hanging at a disturbing angle.
As we step over the last body, Nico’s still got his gun out, just in case, but I don’t bother. I can tell that it’s over.
Nico heads into the office first, kicking the door open, and he gestures for me to come inside.
Romeo Gallo sits in his office chair, shot in the face.
Leo grimaces. “Ugh. Gross,” he complains.
Nico doesn’t speak, just nudges my arm and gestures to the big family portrait of the Gallos hanging on the wall behind Romeo.
There’s a red hourglass emblazoned on the wall, tipped over and spilling sand.
I curse again.
“I should have known Lorenzo would get here first,” I mutter.
Leo grumbles something incoherent but Nico sighs heavily, his brows drawn together.
“How many men does Lorenzo have?”
I cock my head, thinking. “I don’t know, but from what Mia says, they’re a pretty big famiglia.”
Nico shakes his head. “I don’t know if we stand a chance against Lorenzo and his men if they can cut down this many people in a mansion without even alerting the cops.”
“Hey,” Leo complains, but I hold my hand up to shut him up.
“Nico’s right,” I say firmly. “We’ll have to play the long game.”
