Page 128 of Auctioned to the Mafia Don
“Stand by.”
Leon hears nothing.
He leans closer. “You think you are different from her because you carry a badge now? You think that makes you stronger? It does not make you safe.”
“No.”
The answer surprises him.
“I think I am different because I came back.”
The signal comes.
The lights cut out.
For one breath, the club disappears.
Then emergency lights flare red along the walls, and the room breaks open.
“FBI! Nobody move!”
Glass shatters somewhere near the bar. Chairs scrape. Raven’s team moves through the darkness in black combat gear, guns aimed, commands overlapping through the panic. Leon’s men reach for their guns.
Stefano pushes me down before the first shot fires.
The booth jolts as a bullet hits the table edge above us. Wood splinters across my hair. I hit the floor hard, one hand braced against the carpet, the other reaching for the weapon at my back.
Stefano is already moving.
He is not where he was one second ago.
Then he is across the room, striking the man nearest Leon before the guard can clear his jacket. The gun flashes once. Stefano turns, drives his shoulder into him, and sends both of them into the smoked-glass partition.
It explodes. Leon runs, shoving through the side exit, the remaining guard close behind him. I see him vanish into the service corridor beyond the club, and every part of me knows this is the moment. The one I have spent months chasing through false names and dirty rooms and every ugly piece of Alice’s death.
I run after him.
“Maya!” Raven’s voice cuts through the chaos.
I do not stop.
The corridor is narrow, lit by weak service bulbs and lined with stacked crates. Leon is ahead of me, struggling with the back door. His guard turns first, gun lifting toward my chest.
I fire once.
The shot catches him high in the shoulder. He drops with a shout, weapon skidding across the concrete.
Leon gets the door open.
Cold rain blows in from the alley.
He steps through it—and Stefano is waiting.
For one second, nobody moves.
Rain runs down Stefano’s face and darkens his shirt. His gun is already raised.
Leon freezes.
