Page 150 of When She Tempts (The Fallen)
Sal is crouched behind a fallen tree trunk, peering at us with a gun in his hand. Beside him is another man.
Polo.
My vision bleeds red. So Sal took him in after all. Does Polo know he’s cannon fodder?
Looks like I’ll be getting a kill tonight after all.
“It’s not too late to surrender, gentlemen,” Sal calls out as we take positions behind some trees.
“Three against two,” De Rossi says. “You’re finished.”
Sal laughs. “Odds can turn quickly. Giorgio, I have to thank you for the part you played getting me in touch with my son. We’ve spent a lot of time together over the last few days, and I have to say, Polo’s impressed me with his ambition. I’m sure he learned it all from you. We’ve been talking about how we’ll do things differently if we get a chance to really shake up the organization.”
“You can handle this like a man,” De Rossi shouts, “or you can die like a cunt. Choose quickly or I’ll make the choice for you.”
“Giorgio, son, don’t forget we’re family,” Sal shouts. “Come to my side. It’s not too late. Do me this favor, and we will rule the Casalesi together. Me and my boys.”
“Your boys lie scattered all over the driveway to your house, and Polo will join them soon.” There’s no point in mincing my words. “You’re both fucking dead.”
“Gio! Don’t do this!” that traitorous fuck dares to shout. His head pops up from behind the tree. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for things to get so ugly with Martina. Forgive me, brother. We all make mistakes, don’t we? Let’s start over.”
He’s never called me brother before. Does he think that word means anything to me?
“Polo, you’re a fucking piece of trash,” I bite out. My gaze moves to Ras by my side. “We have to go around them, take them from the back.”
He nods.
We move quickly, but Polo and Sal catch on. They abandon their positions and start running deeper into the woods.
“They’re splitting up,” I shout to Ras. “I’m going after Polo.”
I hope he feels the terror Martina must have felt when he was chasing her. By now, he must realize there’s no way he’s making it out of here alive.
We exchange a few bullets and miss. The foliage is too thick. I see flashes of him between the branches up ahead, and since I don’t want to risk losing him, I barrel through until he comes into full view.
He whirls around, points his gun at me, and shoots.
I jump aside, but it grazes my arm, spearing pain through it. When I return fire, I aim at his knee, and he goes right down.
“Fuck!” he shouts, his voice ravaged with pain.
I walk until I’m towering above him. Blood is dripping down my arm, staining the gun in my hand. I take in his shriveled form and feel a flash of disgust.
“I didn’t mean for it to go this far.” He pants, his panicked eyes fixed on my face.
I step on his hand, working a scream out of him. “Sucks being on the losing side, doesn’t it? You know, before you betrayed me, I was considering putting a word in for you with Damiano. I was going to ask him to take you on.”
That glance at a future he’s never going to get now makes his expression twist with hatred. “You had everything I’ve ever wanted. If you’d shared willingly, I wouldn’t have been forced to try and take it from you.”
I crouch down and take him by the collar. “I hadnothingbut hatred and pain. Nothing untilher. And you dared to try to harm her.”
He chokes beneath my grip. “I’m sorry!”
“Sorry. How fucking sorry were you when you slit Tommaso’s and Allegra’s throats? Two years, they lived with you. Two years, they treated you like you were their own. And you killed them for a delusion.” His eyes bulge as I tighten my hold on him with each word. “I don’t think you’re sorry at all for what you’ve done. You’re only sorry for failing to accomplish what you tried to.”
Polo jerks his arm, and a sharp pain shoots through my leg. I let go of him and look down to see a knife sticking out of my thigh.
He coughs, grabbing his throat with his hands and trying to get back up despite his bad knee.
