Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 91389 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91389 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
“Then you know that you’re going to die if you don’t do exactly what I say.”
“Please, I’m already dying. I need a hospital.”
“Not yet.” I start to drag him from the bed, but he’s not being much help, the fucking prick. Instead, he’s moaning in pain and talking in Serbian. “Move your fucking ass.”
“I can’t walk. Please, please, stop it, take what you want, just stop.”
“Angelo,” Davide says, sounding impatient. “Carry the asshole.”
“You know Tommy.” I shove my gun harder against the Serbian’s cheek. “Answer if you understand.”
“Yes, I know him. I know him!”
“You work with him.”
“I work for guys who work with him.” He moans again. “Please, please.” Then he babbles in Serbian.
I slap him lightly. “Tommy’s going somewhere. You’re going to help lure him out. You and your fucking bosses.”
“Tommy? Tommy? He’s leaving the day after tomorrow. There’s a flight—my cousin is going to drive him there—it’s this whole plan. They have a truck. Please, it’s the day after tomorrow.”
I glance back at Davide. He doesn’t give me anything. Emilio’s voice filters in through the hall. “Time to move, everyone. Neighbors are getting restless.”
“Are you sure?” I hiss at the Serbian. “Tell me right now and I’ll call an ambulance.”
“I’m positive! I’m sure! My cousin told me the plan, but they cut me out of it.”
Big surprise there. Ivona made it sound like she was handing over a big fish but now it’s clear this guy’s only some fucking pawn in the Serbian family. Either way, it doesn’t matter—a new plan begins to form.
“Thank you for being so forthcoming,” I tell him and pull the trigger.
My Serbian friend’s brains splatter against the wall and his body slumps onto the bed.
“Time to go,” Davide says.
I shove the gun away and follow him. Emilio’s looking annoyed when we join him. “Too much noise,” he says, nodding at the group of bystanders. It’s a group of four older ladies in their nightclothes, chatting away.
“You can’t just leave,” one of them says. She’s in all pink with a bonnet over her puffy white hair. “You boys can’t just come in here and kick down doors. The police are on their way.”
“If you’re smart, you’re going to forget that you ever saw us,” Davide says very casually, and it sounds like he just threatened to cut off her head and use it like a soccer ball.
The lady shuts her mouth and steps back into her group.
We walk past. The steps go by twice as fast, and when we reach the bottom, there are already sirens in the distance. The night’s cool and calm, and my truck engine starts right away.
I don’t wait around to find out if the ladies of the apartment complex are going to be smart and keep their mouths shut.
Chapter 43
Claudia
The smell of coffee drifts upstairs and Angelo appears in the doorway, not wearing much more than a pair of tight shorts and a smile, a steaming mug in either hand. “Don’t get up,” he scolds when I try to move. “This is a breakfast-in-bed situation.”
“Coffee’s breakfast?”
“Coffee’s the beginning of breakfast.” He slides in beside me, on my side, his big body pressed close to mine. “And you’re the prelude to coffee.” He leans down and kisses me.
“Sometimes it’s astonishing how cheesy you are.”
“Here’s to learning something new about each other all the time.” He drinks his coffee and leans his head back with a smile. “The coffee in prison was basically hot piss water. Some of the guys would make these pour-overs using the most godawful filters, and it tasted like sweaty gym socks, and I still drank the stuff.”
“How’d you boil the water?”
“An extremely janky device called a Stinger. It was basically two exposed electrical wires attached to a power source. You stick that in your mug or whatever you use and the electric current heats the water up until it’s boiling.”
“Why called it a Stinger?”
“Because if you touch the water while the Stinger’s inside—” He snaps his fingers, and I get the picture.
“A little electric sting. Wow, prison inmates are clever.”
“No, not really.” He’s looking at me like I’m the most glorious person in the entire world, and I could stay right here under that gaze for the rest of my life. The caffeine does its work, and Angelo smells like musk and heaven and man, and I’m tempted to close my eyes for a few more hours. “I was thinking, once you’re done with that, we could take a shower. Ideally together.”
Or I could keep my eyes very much open. “That could be acceptable.”
“Could be? Baby, I need enthusiastic consent if I’m going to touch you.”
“Please, Angelo, please, soap me up and fuck me.” I say it as over-the-top as I can.
And it still makes his eyes flash with lust. “That’s all I needed to hear.” He extracts my mug and places it next to his on the nightstand before he drags me into the bathroom and takes off my clothes.