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Sal wasn’t fighting it. He wasn’t shaking in fear. As we watched, a look of peace settled on his face, even as he struggled to take his last breath.
And then he fell silent.
Killian stared up at me, looking lost. Helpless. His hands shook as he gripped our father’s shoulders. I scooted across the floor, taking Sal’s body from him.
“This can’t be happening.” His voice sounded far away. “This can’t fucking be happening.”
I set Sal’s head on the floor. “We need to get out of here. They said they weren’t here for us, but they could change their minds.”
Grabbing his hand, I pulled Killian towards the door of the study. He snatched his gun from the floor, taking a position behind me. Tentatively, I stepped out into the hall. It’s dead silent. Too silent. I didn’t know if these men had killed Tommaso and the rest of our workers or if they’d been allowed to flee. It still felt surreal that we were able to just walk out like this.
Why did the Snake leave us alive? That’s what I couldn’t figure out.
“It looks clear,” I said finally, checking around the corner of the staircase. From what I could see, there was no one on the first level. “Let’s go.”
“We can’t just fucking leave him here,” Killian protested. “What if there’s more?”
“What else can they do to him?” I asked. “He’s dead. He suffocated on that damn venom, Killian. He’s gone.”
Killian paled. “Do you think they were just after us, or…”
It took me a minute to realize what he was trying to say. And then it hit me. I don’t even give a shit if there were any more enemies in the house. I bolted out the door, gun in hand, heading straight for my car. The keys fumble in my hand before I can get the damn door open.
The Snake wouldn’t have just sent out one squad to take out Sal. They’d been planning to take out both Dons of both families. Our father…and Sienna.
TWENTY-EIGHT
SIENNA
Icouldn’t go back to my family’s apartment. I didn’t want to risk running into Mateo or my mother, not with so much on my mind. After confronting Dante, I didn’t know what to think anymore. I knew Dante wasn’t the Snake, but that didn’t mean I could trust him. He had his own agenda, and I couldn’t let his plans destroy my family. And that’s exactly what would happen if I admitted how I felt for him.
He’d been a distraction. He’d taken me away from my family duties, and now everything had gone to shit. It was all my fault. I knew this. And I hated him for it. Because of him, I had failed my family. My father. Everyone.
Parking the car in the underground garage, it felt weird being back at our first apartment. I hadn’t been here since we left it after my father had died. Since then, there had only been one tenant, and they’d left a few days ago to go back to wherever they were from. I hadn’t dealt with the leasing part—that had been Dante.
My heart constricted just thinking of him. I tried to push those thoughts away as I got out of the car. The parking garage was dead silent, which wasn’t surprising at this time of night. All I wanted to do was get inside, take a hot shower, and go to bed. I would have a long ass day tomorrow, and I didn’t want to be even more tired than I already was.
My boots clicked against the cement floor of the garage as I headed toward the elevator. It took a while, but finally, the doors opened. Stepping inside, I pressed the button for our floor. I was so exhausted, leaning against the wall of the elevator. It took everything in me just to keep my eyes open until the doors reopened.
The hall was dark, but the lights automatically switched on as I made my way toward our apartment door. The keys jangled in the lock before the door finally opened, and I stumbled inside. Switching on the lights, I took a deep breath.
The apartment still looked the same. I don’t know why I had expected it to be any different. It was still the same place we’d been given when we’d married. Our home. Or, it had been our home once. Now I didn’t know what it was. I tossed my purse onto the sofa, but didn’t head straight to the bathroom. Instead, I wandered around. My hands ran across the island countertop, remembering when Dante and I had sat there to first discuss our plans to capture the Snake. I avoided looking at the sofa where we’d had sex. My feet took me down the hall to the spare bedroom.
Everything had been cleared out, stored away in the hall closet under some blankets and towels. The bench had been taken apart and hidden. The chains and ropes were gone, as were the whips. It was a silly thing now, but I almost pictured how our life would have been like had it actually worked. The sex would have continued to be amazing. We probably would have had children in a few years, forced to put away our fantasies, replacing them with bunk beds and kid’s toys.
I shoved those thoughts away. That was just a fantasy—something that would never come true now, not after everything that had happened. It would never, ever happen because I would never let it. I’d nearly trusted him once. And that was not a mistake I would dare repeat.
Shutting the spare bedroom door, I head towards our master bath. I had no clothes here, but that didn’t matter. I would just stop by my family’s apartment tomorrow morning before going to the office. I’d have to leave early in the morning, which meant I really needed to head to bed soon. But first, I needed a shower.
I hadn’t showered since Dante and I had fucked on the couch at the other place. I needed to scrub every single reminder of him from my body. From my mind. I didn’t want anything to remember him by. I blasted the hot water, letting it run for a few minutes as I went back into the bedroom. The sheets had been replaced, courtesy of the maid we’d hired to look after the guests who stayed here. I was looking forward to finally slipping between them and just passing out.
Just as I was about to head back into the bathroom, a noise from the living room caught my attention. I tensed, stilling as I listened. There were footsteps heading across the carpet, silent. But not silent enough. Backing up against the wall behind the door, I silently cursed in my head. I was unarmed. My gun was still out in my purse. And, whoever this intruder was, I knew it wasn’t Dante. He wouldn’t think to come looking for me here. At least, not at first. He’d head to my parent’s apartment complex and then maybe here. But that was a big maybe.
Besides, if it was him, Dante wouldn’t be sneaking around.
My heart thudded in my ears as the footsteps neared. I held my breath as the door handle turned, thankful I’d turned on the shower. It would make the intruder believe that I was in the bathroom rather than right behind the door.
The door opened slowly, covering me. I tensed, waiting. My years of training flooded my mind, instincts taking over. The footsteps were heavy, the shadow passing through the crack in the door large. It was a man dressed in black.
