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“Here I am.”
I held my arms open wide as I strode into the living room with a bravado that I didn’t feel even a little bit. My steps faltered at the sight of Muriella tied to one of the dining room chairs that had been moved into the space.
Angelone grinned, but it wasn’t the welcoming kind. He clapped his hands together. “So you are.”
He paced a circle around Muriella, and I gritted my teeth as he appraised her, deciding what to do next. He stopped behind her and looked at me.
“It didn’t have to come to this.” He twirled a lock of her hair around his finger.
Muriella didn’t even flinch when that bastard tugged on her hair, but I lunged, stopping myself on a dime when he gripped her by the throat.
“You sure that’s the route you want to go?” He smiled the smile of a man who held all the power and knew it.
“Let’s have some fun, shall we?”
Angelone grimaced in annoyance, and I stiffened as Vinny strode over to where Muriella was bound. Vinny. I should have known this had his fingerprints all over it.
A gun gleamed as he pulled it from his waistband. I fought tooth and nail not to panic when he cocked the hammer.
“Shame she has to die, too.” Vinny tilted his head to the side and considered Muriella, running the barrel down her cheek. “So, so pretty.” He turned to me, both shoulders lifting and lowering. “But, when you don’t do what’s asked of you, there are consequences.”
My jaw worked as I glared at Vinny. Muriella shouldn’t be here, terrorized, paying for my sins. But I’d put her here because I’d selfishly wanted a relationship with Donato, and along with him came his fucker of a brother. Overall, it had seemed like the compromise was worth it. I’d been wrong.
“Let’s talk, shall we?” I suggested, gesturing down the hallway.
“The time for that has passed,” Vinny said.
Angelone looked unsure. And in that second, I found a glimmer of hope. He didn’t want to hurt Muriella. He had just done this to get my attention.
Vinny was the one I needed to worry about.
“Do you want something from me or not?” I shoved my hands into my pockets as if it made me no difference.
“The buyer. Who is it?” Vinny demanded.
“Let her go and then we can work something out.”
His nostrils flared as his hand tapped the side of his gun a few times.
Where the fuck was Donato? He was my only hope of getting his brother under control.
Vinny’s eyes turned wild. “Kill her,” he directed Angelone.
“I assure you that is not the way to get what you want,” I growled.
“Do it.”
The veins in Angelone’s neck bulged. No one dared tell a boss what to do.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. Have you gotten soft?” Vinny turned his piece, aiming it over my shoulder. “Who would you miss more? This one? Or that one?”
He fired without hesitation. The bullet sailed past in a blur. Vivian screamed. Something shattered.
Time stopped.
When it started again, it was at warp speed.
Stone flashed in front of me, and Vinny hit the ground before I could blink. The two struggled and rolled into an end table, a lamp clattering to the floor. Stone gained the upper hand, straddling Vinny. He pinned his arm and wrestled the gun from his hand.
