Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 82847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
A silent standoff ensued, the two men staring at each other. It seemed like an entire minute later when Don Mancini conceded. “Fine.”
The henchman pulled the gun from Leo’s head.
I stepped forward and grabbed Leo by the arm before I tugged him back behind me.
Luigi turned his attention to me, looking at me head on for the first time.
“I don’t appreciate the way you’ve spoken to my boss.”
Luigi shifted his gaze to Don Mancini. “I’ll shoot your dog—”
I slammed my fist hard on the table and made it shake. “I’m talking to you now.”
The guy pointed his gun at Leo again.
“Wolfe,” Elio said. “Stand down.”
“Asshole, I’m the one talking.” I slammed my fist into my chest. “So point that thing at me.”
He shifted the gun to the center of my chest.
I turned back to Luigi, leaning over him. “This is how we’re going to play this. I’m giving you one chance to get on your knees in front of the don and beg for forgiveness like your life depends on it—because it fucking does. Refuse, and I’ll kill every single one of you and take everything that’s yours.”
Luigi stared up at me, and a defiant smile slowly moved over his lips.
“Wolfe.” Don Mancini raised his voice behind me.
Luigi rose to his feet so we could be eye level, even though he was almost a foot shorter than me because his spine had started to compress in the aging process. “I would love to see you pull that off.”
“Would you like me to show you?” I cocked my head to the side, that deranged smile coming on to my lips because the glee was killing me. The adrenaline pounded in my heart. The sweet taste of revenge had already soaked into my tongue.
There was a slight hesitation in his stare, like he feared that he’d missed something.
Oh, he’d missed a lot of things.
“How’s your son doing?”
The hesitation vanished when he felt the threat of my question.
“Just had a baby boy, didn’t he?” I asked. “Settled down outside of Palermo? Think I saw him and his wife pushing a stroller by the beach the other day…”
I pressed Luigi’s buttons just like I wanted because he said, “Shoot him.”
Within a split second, the henchman pulled the trigger. But the barrel clicked because it was empty.
Completely empty of bullets.
He squeezed the trigger a couple more times, like the gun had somehow jammed.
I continued to grin at Luigi, the mirth and satisfaction from this victory so fucking sweet.
Another soldier pulled out his gun and fired.
My eyes didn’t stray from Luigi’s, and I listened to the barrel click.
I wished I could see Don Mancini’s reaction behind me.
I stepped back from Luigi and opened my arms before I beckoned all of his men to rain down their fire. “Come on, bring it.” They all started to shoot their rifles and their handguns, but not a single bullet was fired. I laughed, loudly and maniacally, because it was fucking hilarious.
Luigi finally pulled out his pistol from the back of his trousers and aimed it between my eyes before he squeezed the trigger. “What the fuck?” He slammed the gun down, where it bounced and then slid to the floor.
My laughs subsided to chuckles as I reached for my knife and pulled out the blade. “It’s been a while since I had a good laugh, so thank you for that.” I flicked the knife into the air, and it spun before I caught it by the hilt again. “Luigi, take a seat.”
The energy in the room changed, confusion and chaos turning into some kind of horror show. A warehouse full of men who were unarmed, an audience to a circus they didn’t sign up for.
And I was the fucking ringleader.
Luigi continued to stand there, all the arrogance sucked out of his face just the way his youth had been. His breaths were more noticeable than they’d been before, and his eyes didn’t have that heartless contrition they’d possessed a moment ago.
“I said, take a seat.”
“I’m a man,” he said with a clipped voice. “I’ll die on my own two feet.”
“Your death is undetermined—at the moment.” I walked up to the table then stabbed my knife into the surface, impaling it deep in the wood, daring him or one of his cronies to take it. “The boss will make his decision soon enough.” Then I yelled, yelled loudly enough to make every man in front of me flinch. “Now sit the fuck down!”
Luigi took in an involuntary breath before he returned to his seat, almost slipping off it because his gait was so uneven.
“Call your son.”
“What—what?” His eyes moved up to me, and within seconds, his tanned skin faded to the color of sand.
“Call. Your. Son.”
The horror of his reality became apparent in his terrified eyes. He’d foolishly assumed this meeting was a victory lap, but it was actually a funeral march.