Page 117 of When She Loves
“You’re an ungrateful piece of shit.”
He snickers and shakes his head. “I don’t want to be here all night, Rafaele.” He pulls his phone out and dangles it from his hand. “One call. That’s all it will take for Cleo to die.”
Rage and fear twist inside of me. How did I end up in this position?
“I’m going to ask you one more time. Think carefully about your answer. What do you have on the DA?”
My heart races. As soon as I tell him, he’ll kill me. If I keep my mouth shut, maybe I can buy myself some time. Find a way out of this mess. But that will mean risking Cleo’s life. I have no idea if Garzolo will really make that call. He’s fucking crazy.
I swallow past my dry throat. This is what my father trained me for. I spent years learning how to keep everyone at a distance. How to detach from my emotions. How to use that ruthlessness to my advantage.
The right thing would be to refuse him.
Garzolo watches me. A drop of sweat trails down my back.
He presses dial on his phone.
“Fine!” I break, my control slipping through my fingers. I squeeze my eyes shut, feeling something shatter inside of me. “The DA’s got an indentured servant that he’s been hiding for years in his home.”
Garzolo’s eyes flash with victory. “How very awful of him.” He lifts his gun, pointing it at my face. “Guess I’ll have to pay him a visit soon.”
I stare down the barrel.
And then a shot rings through the air.
CHAPTER36
RAFAELE
I blink.Somehow, I’m still alive. Garzolo is crouched on the ground shouting commands at his men, and there’s gunfire all around me.
I duck and glance over my shoulder.
De Rossi and his consigliere, along with two more men I don’t recognize, are storming the warehouse. I huff out a breath. I might actually make it out of this alive.
Staying low, I run toward where my guns are lying discarded on the floor. I snatch them up and find cover behind the closest storage container.
Five against fourteen.
Not fucking bad.
I take aim and start firing, picking off Garzolo’s men one by one. De Rossi and his guys fight like demons raised straight from hell. Sounds of gunfire and screams ring through the air. Ras appears and takes cover beside me. He exchanges shots with one of Garzolo’s guys, and when he runs out of bullets, I take aim and get the man between the eyes.
“Fuck, nice shot,” Ras says, reloading his gun. “You okay?”
“Fine. You and your boss have perfect timing. Where’s Garzolo? We need him alive. I’ve got plans for him.”
“Yeah, you and the rest of us,” Ras mutters. “Over there.” He nods toward a pile of boxes at the back of the warehouse. “I saw him running.”
I glance around. Damiano’s men are keeping Garzolo’s guys occupied, and it looks like they’ve got it.
“I’m going to make sure he doesn’t get any farther,” I say to Ras and run toward the boxes. A bullet grazes me, but I ignore it.
Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in—
My back slams against the wall. From this angle, I can see him. Garzolo’s huddled in the corner, crouching with his gun raised while his men are dying.
Coward.
