I blink a few times, waiting for the pain from the bullet to explode through me, but it doesn’t.
“Frankie, are you okay?” Grayson yells from my side.
Frankie shrugs off his jacket, revealing red soaking through his shirt at his shoulder.
He looks down at the blood, and his sights firmly set on Maria. She backs away, throwing her hands in the air as he lifts her up by the throat.
“Get Romano on the phone.” His voice is deep with anger.
She claws at his hands. He laughs in her face and manhandles her to dig into the back pocket of her black, skintight jeans to retrieve her cell.
“Code?”
She snaps her lips together, her face reddening as he increases the pressure.
“Code?”
He releases her momentarily and then flicks open a blade, pressing it against her throat.
“123193.”
“Maria, is everything okay?” Romano’s voice has me grinding my teeth.
“Daddy, help!” she screams. Frankie nudges the knife in further, enough for blood to start to trickle down the steel.
“Romano.” His voice is calm.
There’s a pause. “Frankie. What’s going on?”
“I’m about to rip your world apart, Romano. Just like you did to me.”
“I don’t understand. You worked for me for years.”
Frankie’s deep laugh booms through the room.
“You really are clueless. I never came to you to pay Marco’s debts. I was planning my revenge.”
“For what?”
“That explosion didn’t just kill Carla and Rita. No, it also killed my girlfriend and unborn child.”
Maria’s eyes go wide as the line goes silent.
“Nothing to say?” Frankie yells into the line.
“I didn’t know.” Romano’s reply is so quiet I can barely hear him.
“Well, now you do, and now you’re going to fucking pay. Starting with Maria’s life. And then I’m coming for you. I won’t stop until your whole world explodes around you. Now say one last goodbye to your precious daughter.”
“Frankie, no, please don’t do this. We can figure something out. I’ve already lost both sons,” Romano pleads.
“Daddy!” Tears roll down her face. I feel no sympathy for her. She did this to herself.
“You wasted your last chance of saying goodbye. I’ll see you very soon, Romano.”
Frankie cuts the call, throwing the phone across the room before turning his attention back to Maria.
“I’ll see you in hell, sweetheart.”
He slides the knife across her neck from one side to the other in a swift motion. Her face pales as she splutters her final breaths. He holds her up until all the life is drained from her. Then he smiles.
He tosses the body to the ground. I follow his eyeline to Eva, face down on the floor in a pool of blood.
“Grayson, I’m going to need you to get this bullet out of me.” Frankie doesn’t look up from his niece, his face completely neutral.
“Let’s get back to the truck. I’ll do it there.”
My legs are heavy as we walk through the warehouse. It takes every remaining bit of strength I have to lift my feet off the ground.
“Where is Rosa?” I manage to choke out, just three words leave my lungs on fire.
“She’s in the truck with Keller,” Grayson grunts with my arm around his shoulders.
She’s here?
The light burns my eyes. A sea of red covers the parking lot. The bodies of men are everywhere.
“Is the boss okay?” I see a blurry figure, I recognize the voice. I just can’t see shit.
“I need to get to Rosa.” I need to say goodbye.
I fall to a heap on the ground. I physically can’t fight anymore.
I just need to get to my Rosa.
To tell her how much I love her.
To kiss her one last time.
I try to speak, but my body won’t let me.
It’s giving up on me.
