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Most girls would be hysterical by now, but not me. I thrive under pressure. Years of handling Mom and her drug habit plus her handsy boyfriends have taught me well. I also have a very sharp knife in my pocket, which I’m more than happy to use if the opportunity arises.
The inner door bangs open and Salvatore comes barreling in, blood spatters all over his white tee and a gun in his hand. His eyes are manic and I can tell he’s not brushed his hair this morning. I find it most endearing - both the blood spatter and the mussed-up hair.
He sees Mr. Irish and freezes.
“You’re a dead man, Declan,” he growls, and my heart speeds up a little. He looks at me with desperation in his eyes and I wonder whether I misinterpreted the text message. Right now, he doesn’t look like a man who gives no shits about whether I live or die. He looks like a man who’d burn the world down to save me.
Fuck, I think I’m in love.
Chapter Fourteen
Salvatore
The sight of Thalia with a gun to her head just about kills me. I’m not a man who loses it when the shit hits the fan. Years of this life in all its brutal glory have honed my skills and taught me that control of my emotions is the difference between life and death. People make mistakes when they panic. I’m not that person.
Usually.
For the first time ever, I have no fucking idea what to do. Every solution I come up with ends with Thalia dead, and judging by Declan’s triumphant smile, he knows it too. What I don’t understand is why Declan is even here.
Romano appeared shortly after I lost my shit when I realized Thalia had gone. For once he didn’t act like an asshole. Instead, he hacked into the street cams to see if we could track her route. Thank fuck she’d walked a lot of the way. It didn’t take me long to figure out she was heading back to the restaurant,and when I recalled her telling me she’d left her phone there, it made perfect sense.
He and Rico wanted to come with me, but I decided I needed to talk to her alone, given how she thought we were all trying to murder her. The last thing I wanted was for her to panic and run off again. Not with Declan O’Connor doing his damnedest to kill me.
“What do you want, Declan?” I grit out.
Thalia seems unnaturally calm, just like she was the last time she faced imminent death. It must be shock or something. She’s watching me with her pretty blue eyes and then I see her smile at me like we’re all at a fucking cocktail party. Is she on something? It’s the only explanation.
“Your head, of course,” Declan says, still grinning like a deranged fool. I reluctantly drag my gaze away from Thalia and focus on Declan. “In the meantime, put your gun on the floor and kick it toward me before I shoot your girl’s brains all over the floor.”
Rage threatens to cloud my vision but I do as he says, even though I really want to gut him.
“And what’s killing me going to achieve, exactly?” I must admit, I’m curious to understand his reasoning.
“Cutting off the head of the Don’s son will weaken him. While he’s down, I’ll take over your drug routes and suppliers.”
I snort with amusement. “Except none of them will deal with you because you’re small fry, and also, you underestimate my father. He’s not the kind of man to let a small thing like the death of his son ruin his day.”
Declan looks furious. “Fuck you, I’m not small fry!” His grip on Thalia loosens as his famous Irish temper rises at my insult. While he’s focused on me, the perceived threat, he doesn’t pay attention to what she’s doing.
I see her pull what looks like a knife from her jacket. This girl has a thing for knives, it seems - I almost smile when I recall the fucking huge carving knife she was clutching when I found her hiding in the kitchen three nights ago.
“Yeah, you are,” I taunt. Declan roars with anger, which gives Thalia the opening she needs.
Everything happens in slow motion. She pivots out from under his arm just enough to drive the thin blade into his groin. The shock on his face would be amusing if I’m not so fucking terrified for her. But she doesn’t panic. Instead, she drops down and kicks my gun back to me while Declan is too busy wondering how a petite blond got the jump on him.
Two seconds later, it’s all over. Declan lies dead on the floor, blood leaking everywhere. It occurs to me we should really get the fuck out of here before the cops show up, but my attention is fixed on the fierce blond facing me with an angry expression on her face.
“So, are you going to shoot me too?” she snaps, completely ignoring the corpse two feet away.
“No, of course not,” I say. “That message you saw didn’t mean what you thought it meant!”
“Oh really?” She looks like she wants to gut me too, and Lord help me, I’m fucking hard for her.
“Tesoro,” I murmur, but she’s not having any of it.
“Quit trying to seduce me. I want to know if the last three days was you charming me before you kill me, or if any of it actually meant something?” Her voice cracks a little and for the first time, I see emotion in her eyes. It makes my heart break a little.
She’s a real force of nature. It’s insane but I’m crazy about her. I love this girl. She’s the one I’ve been waiting for my whole life. A woman who can handle the violence, who isn’t afraid to dish it out when the situation dictates.
