Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 77344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
For the first time, I understood the enjoyment Brio felt at someone else’s fear and pain.
Because I could just imagine the dread he’d made Max feel as he straddled her on her own bed, as his hands closed around her throat, as he squeezed until her lungs burned.
I pushed away from the wall, reaching for my gun.
Sure, strangling him would be more poetic.
But I wanted this over.
It had already been a long as fuck day.
And there was still the body to deal with when this was done.
“I’d have let you live if you didn’t put your hands on my girl. Twice,” I told him, watching as understanding dawned on him. “No one had to get hurt or die for this shit,” I added, thinking of Lil and Henry. Of what he’d almost done to Chuck. “But now you do.”
I lifted the gun.
Aimed.
Shot.
And it was finally over.
“Why don’t you go take a trip to the hotel?” Brio suggested, happy to start the cleanup by himself. “Then go home. I can handle the body. Know a place upstate—“
“Actually, Brio, you wouldn’t happen to have a live animal trap, would you?” I asked.
“Yeah. Why?”
“Figure we might kill two birds with one stone tonight. Get my girl safe once and for all… and get her a little present.”
Sure, I would be a lot later getting back to Max than I planned.
But I was pretty sure she would forgive me once she knew why…
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Epilogue
Max - 1 Day
“You’re making me dizzy,” Zeno complained as I paced the living room.
I was going stir crazy.
Partly because I had been cooped up with Zeno and Chuck for too long—since Zeno refused to let any of us even step into the hall. But also partly because Miko still wasn’t back yet.
Zeno had gotten a text like ten hours before from a burner saying everything was good, that he would be in touch when everything was finished.
As if that told me anything.
If it wasn’t finished, how was it good?
And even if the danger was gone, was Miko okay? Had he gotten hurt? Could he have been seen?
I knew he was a damn Made man in a major criminal enterprise, that he knew what he was doing, but I couldn’t help but worry anyway.
Like, were these mafia guys still stuck in the past? Did they know as much about modern surveillance as I did? Would he remember to cover his hands and fingers and hair? Would some random camera catch him? If they did, could Zeno scrub it?
“I’m antsy,” I admitted, exhaling hard.
“I noticed,” Zeno agreed, wincing as Chuck started singing at the top of his lungs from the hall shower. “Gonna be too tired to welcome your man home at this rate.”
“Why hasn’t he been in touch in so long?”
“Because he can’t have his phone on a job. You know this,” Zeno added, giving me a surprisingly deep look.
It was easy to think someone like Zeno was all surface. But he clearly had layers. Maybe he preferred to be holed up in his messy apartment, fucking around on his computers. But he was a man raised by and living in the mafia, through and through.
“I know. I know. But why couldn’t he just get another burner?”
“Because he’s probably trying to be really fast and thorough to get back to you.”
“I’m not used to being the one sitting at home, wringing my hands.”
“I get that. But the life of a mafia girlfriend is gonna involve this sometimes. Just like Miko’s gonna have to learn to sit at home and wait on you when you’re doing jobs.”
That was fair.
“Look,” Zeno said, coming over toward me. Reaching down, he grabbed both of my wrists and gave them a squeeze. “If something had gone sideways, someone in this Family would have reached out to me already. He was with my brother, remember?”
Oh, right.
I forgot about that.
“Was?” I asked, making Zeno wince.
“Okay. Shit. Yeah, so… I can’t give you details. But… Nico was with Brio and Miko most of the night. During all the tense bits. But when things got… calm, Nico went home since there was no need for him anymore.”
If I was reading between the lines correctly, what he was trying not to say was that Devon was handled. And, I hoped, the diamonds were secured.
But that didn’t mean the work was done.
If Devon was dead, there was a body to deal with.
Maybe that was where Miko was.
That didn’t mean all the danger had passed, though.
If Miko was somehow caught with a dead body, he could be in a whole different kind of trouble.
“Look, given the timeline, I think Zeno will be back in another hour or two. You can get through it. The floor, though, might give way if you don’t give it a break.”
“I’m gonna make some coffee,” I said.
“Right. That’s what you need,” Zeno teased.