Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 118965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 595(@200wpm)___ 476(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 118965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 595(@200wpm)___ 476(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
I rub my brow. “Her injuries are serious, but the doctor is positive about her recovery.”
“This is your fault. You failed to protect my sister. Or maybe this is what you wanted. When I get my hands on you, I’ll fuck you up so badly your friends won’t recognize you.”
“I’ll email the details of your trip.”
“Where is she? In which hospital?” Anger and blame lace his tone. “I want to talk to the doctor.”
“I’ll include the information in my email.”
“You dragged her into this, you fucking piece of scum.”
As there’s nothing to argue, I hang up. I deserve those insults. I deserve much worse.
I take a minute to send instructions to a local travel agency before I email Ryan the name and number of the hospital where my wife lies unconscious, and then I prepare for a massacre.
A knock falls on my open study door as I’m strapping on my holster. I look up. Heidi stands in the doorframe, her face pulled into a mask of concern.
“How’s Sabella?”
The question is code for, How is Sabella really doing? and not the watered-down version I gave the kids.
I holster my gun, keeping my voice level. “She’s in a bad shape.”
Her features harden. “Those bastards.”
“I’m going after them. All of them.”
Concern again. “You haven’t slept a wink.”
“My mind is focused. I just need another cup of coffee.”
She crosses her arms. “Have you even eaten?”
Hunger is the last thing on my mind. My body doesn’t feel a craving for food. The need for vengeance overrides such basic needs as nutrition. The adrenaline coursing through my veins is all the fuel I need.
“What happened, Angelo?”
She’s in charge of the children’s safety when I’m absent. She has to know. “Nico and Enzo betrayed me. They made a pact with Marziale.” I grab a box of bullets from my drawer. “Gianni and Toma were in on the deal.”
She untangles her arms and places a palm over her heart. “Marziale? No. Dear God. Are they…?”
“Dead? Nico, yes. Gianni was gunned down with the other men. Enzo, no. I still need him to give me insight into the layout of Marziale’s warehouses.”
She purses her lips. “Can you trust him?”
“He wants to avenge his son’s death. He’ll do what must be done to ensure Marziale pays, but do I trust him?” I slip the bullets into my pocket. “No.”
“Be careful, Angelo,” she says as I walk to the door. “She needs you.”
I’m not sure she does, not after what she suffered because of me, but I’ll be there for her regardless.
“Don’t worry,” I say, pushing past Heidi. “I have no intention of dying today.” But if I do, it’ll be for a good cause. I’ll die happily if it means Sabella can move on a little easier.
While the men who were out all night eat, shower, and catch a few hours of sleep, the others are tasked with loading the weapons and staking out Marziale’s warehouses in Bastia.
The drone pilot is already at work, filming the territory that Marziale claimed. Soon, I’ll smoke that cockroach out of the woodwork. Wherever he’s hiding, he’ll come out to play. A greedy bastard like him isn’t going to let the opportunity to take out the biggest crime lord in Corsica slip. No. He’s too eager to fill my shoes.
I make sure enough men guard the house and that the alarms are set before I get into my car and take the road to Bastia. An SUV with two men follows.
On the way, I dial the hospital. The nurse I speak to tells me there’s no change. Sabella is stable but unconscious. The news fills me with both calm and dread. Sabella’s condition isn’t turning for the worst, but it’s not getting better either.
I put a man in charge of babysitting Enzo, making sure he doesn’t get his hands on a phone. No one alerted Toma to the turn of events. For all he knows, everything went according to plan, and I’m as good as dead. He probably thinks his father and his uncle are sleeping soundly in their beds, fucking their whores, and that I returned from Marseille to find my wife raped and killed in the house to which I banished her.
He must imagine me weak and going out of my mind, an easy target. He can’t know that Enzo’s informant spilled the beans before I shot his dick off and left him to bleed out or that Roch showed up and saved Sabella’s life. He’s not privy to the fact that Marziale is currently hiding with a bullet wound in his shoulder. No, he’s sitting comfortably at home, waiting for Marziale to take care of the dirty work.
My assumptions are confirmed when I fit my gloves and kick down Toma’s apartment door. He sits naked on the sofa with the girl from the previous time splayed out on her back next to him. Judging by the lines of coke cut on the table and the two glasses of champagne standing next to the half-empty bottle, they’re celebrating. The premature smugness vanishes from his face as he looks at the gun I’m pointing at him.