Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 109562 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109562 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
“Fuck,” Giorgio says again, grabbing his glass in a white-knuckled grip. “Couldn’t you bomb them? We could’ve made it look like an attack from a fanatical political group.”
My smile is patronizing. Giorgio can be a dumb fuck.
Luigi hobbles over, swinging his cripple leg behind him, and slaps Giorgio upside the head. Parroting my thought, he says, “Idiot,” through thin lips.
Giorgio turns red. Hatred simmers in his muck-brown eyes as he glares at his father.
“How was he going to blow them up?” Luigi asks. “With a magical fart from his asshole?” He taps his temple. “Think, Giorgio.” He utters a crude laugh. “Bombing them. Did you hear that, Sav? Jesus, Giorgio. If I didn’t see the DNA test with my own eyes, I would never have believed you’re my son. Knifing down a man is one thing, but blowing up a street is another.”
Giorgio works his jaw. “What then? We just let eleven witnesses go?”
“They haven’t witnessed anything other than seeing us together,” I say. “As long as she doesn’t talk, that won’t be a problem, and she won’t talk.”
“How can you be so sure?” Luigi asks.
“She knows what’s at stake.”
Giorgio runs a hand over his mouth. “What’s preventing her from going to the cops?”
“The people she cares about.” I take a sip of my drink. “She doesn’t want them to get hurt.”
Luigi considers that for a beat. Rubbing a hand over his chin, he says with a thoughtful air, “We need to make her disappear.”
My heart is like a ticking time bomb in my chest. The threat is in no way aimed at me, but for some reason, I take it personally.
The words spill from my mouth before I can stop them, my tone more forceful than I intended. “No one will touch her.”
Luigi looks at me quickly. Nobody who values his life will contradict him, let alone disobey a direct order.
I smooth over the mistake with a logical explanation. “She’s my alibi. The police already questioned us.”
“When?” Giorgio asks.
My tone is dry because it’s obvious. “When they did the routine questioning in her apartment building.”
If Luigi was a reasonable and more or less sane man, I would’ve told him Anya is expecting a baby, but he won’t hesitate to gun down a pregnant woman. He’ll kill children if he must. In his book, all is fair in the name of the business.
“I’ve got it under control,” I say more to pacify Luigi than to reassure Giorgio. “I’m having her watched. She won’t step out of line.”
“What’s your story?” Luigi asks.
“I said that she’s my girlfriend and—”
Giorgio chokes on a sip of brandy. “What?”
“And that I walked her home because she worked late.”
“This is a major fuck-up,” Giorgio says.
“An unforeseen obstacle,” I correct. “It’s not unmanageable. On the contrary, it counts in our favor. As it turns out, she works at the Lewis firm.”
“Jesus,” Giorgio mutters.
“The employees saw us when we paid Lewis a visit. If one of them as well as someone from the bar identify me, it’s going to look odd. Now I can say we visited Lewis because my girlfriend recommended him. That eliminates the coincidence. Coincidences never look good.”
“I don’t like it,” Luigi grumbles.
“Trust me. Have I ever failed you?”
He grunts. “Eventually, when the dust settles and the investigation is closed, we’ll have to get rid of her. The risk of letting her live is too big.”
I grind my teeth. I don’t fucking think so. Anya’s life belongs to me, and I like the idea of owning it too much to simply give it up.
“I went through the briefcase,” Giorgio says. “There was nothing interesting or important inside, so I burned it.”
“I want the two of you to go to Boston.” Luigi leaves his untouched drink on the desk. “Today still.”
“Boston?” Giorgio reels. “What’s in Boston?”
The condescending smile that curls Luigi’s upper lip is aimed at Giorgio. “What the fuck do you think?”
“The business where Lewis tried to hide the money he stole from us,” Giorgio says as his brow smooths out with understanding.
“I want you to take back what’s ours and close those motherfuckers down.” Luigi looks at me. “Make sure they never work again. Let the message be clear to anyone who tries to launder money that belongs to us.”
The timing isn’t ideal. I prefer to keep an eye on Anya myself, but I trust the men I ordered to watch her. I handpicked them. I already defied Luigi once and got away with my life. I won’t be so lucky twice.
“I’ll take care of the arrangements,” I say.
A little too much excitement sparks in Luigi’s viper-green eyes. “Make a good example of them.”
Meaning make them suffer before they blow out their last breaths.
“Don’t worry.” Giorgio grins. “We’ll make those cocksuckers scream for their mommies.”
Like his father, Giorgio is a sadistic bastard who derives pleasure from making people suffer. Torturing people doesn’t turn me on, but it doesn’t bother me either. I look at it scientifically, as using the most efficient and fastest means to achieve an end. I do whatever is necessary in a cold and clinical manner. It doesn’t touch me one way or another.