When the car stops, my heartbeat rises. It’s not often I visit this part of the city, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
“Are you sure about this?” Claudio asks.
I sigh and adjust my tie. “Stop second-guessing my decisions.” I push open the door and slam it shut before he can say anything else to try to change my mind about this.
I march toward the grimy-looking building that’s probably seen more dead bodies than I have in years, but I don’t let it sway me. I’m here for a purpose, and I’m not leaving until I get what I want.
“We’ve talked with the Polish before,” Claudio mutters as he flanks me from behind. “They can’t be trusted. You know that.”
I stop dead in my tracks and give him a scornful look. “We have no choice. Trust me. If we did, I would’ve picked something else. But we’re thin on men and thin on weapons, and the Irish are out there preparing their next strike.” I take a deep breath. “Now calm your nerves, and let’s go.”
He nods. “As you wish, sir.”
We go inside through an old, crusty-looking door that slams shut behind us, leaving us with no exit. But there will always be a way out. After all, the Polish come in every day. They just want me to feel trapped. Tiny. Like an ant ready to be squashed.
But I won’t let them intimidate me.
With my head held high, I walk through corridor upon corridor, ignoring every room we pass by, even when the doors are open. Behind them, people are counting copious amounts of money, drugs, having sex like wild people without paying any attention to the two men walking by.
It’s nothing I haven’t seen before and nothing that will distract me from my goal.
Despite the fact that I trust the Polish as much as Claudio does, securing their support might be the one thing that’s going to guarantee my victory. Even if they are anything but allies.
We walk to the room in the back guarded by two buff-looking men holding rifles. It’s also the only door that doesn’t look crusty as fuck.
I eye the two down, and without even blinking once, they step aside.
Of course, Stefan is expecting me.
I didn’t announce my visit, but a don never says no to another don, especially when they come baring their soul.
However, the second the door opens, two men step in front again and bark, “Weapons?”
Claudio and I shake our heads, but they still pat us down.
When they’ve deemed us clear, they let us pass.
Stefan is sitting behind his desk, smoking a cigar as he stares at a tablet in front of him. He smirks when our eyes lock, mine full of mistrust, his full of delight.
“Marcello! So nice of you to visit,” he exclaims with an obvious Polish accent, his voice a little too cheery for my taste. “Come, sit, sit.” He points at the chair, which one of his guards pushes aside with his foot.
I sigh and nod at Claudio, who follows me as we sit down at the same time in front of Stefan. Still, I eye the room to check for any escape routes because you can never be sure. Two windows, one to the left, one to the right, without bars. Another door is right behind Stefan’s desk with one guard in front of it while the other guards the door we came through.
The sound of women moaning distracts me and makes my brows furrow as the sound comes from the tablet on the desk.
Stefan grabs a cigar and lights it. “So, to what do I owe this pleasure?”
“You know why we’re here,” I say. “The—”
Another moan makes my ears bleed.
I glance at Claudio, but it definitely wasn’t him even though his cheeks are redder than usual. What the fuck?
“Oh, of course, where are my manners?” Stefan mutters with the cigar in his mouth as he turns around the tablet to reveal a porno of three women having sex playing in the background. It’s the same three women I recognize from one of the rooms down the hall. “Can’t keep these three bitches all to myself. Feel free to watch and enjoy.”
I hold up my hand. “No, thanks.”
Stefan laughs, louder than I’m used to. “Your partner there seems to like it a little too much.” He points at Claudio, who looks away, visibly in discomfort. Probably because it’s been a while since he’s last seen a pussy, let alone had time to enjoy it.
I try to ignore the screaming women. “I’m here for business.”
Stefan raises his brow, clearly not amused by my effort to defuse the uncomfortable situation, but it’s only made things more tense. He plops both his feet onto the table, crossing them in front of me so I can stare at his boots while he adjusts his crotch. This is no way to sit for a don, and he knows. It’s exactly why he does it. To make me feel intimidated. Humiliated.
“So you’re not here to have some quality time after all …” He takes a big drag of his cigar. “Pity.”
“We already shared amazing quality time at the auction,” I quip.
He smirks again and raises his cigar. “I would enjoy another one in the future.”
“Hmm …” I nod a couple of times before looking him dead in the eye. “That’s not why I came.”
He pauses and lifts his cigar away from his mouth, staring at me with a peculiar look on his face. “You want my help.” He waves his cigar around. “Fine. Amuse me.”
“I need men and guns,” I reply.
He cocks his head. “With what money?”
As my heart begins to race, I throw a brief glance at Claudio, whose concerned eyes have me on edge.
“Yes, I know all about that fallout at the harbor. About you losing all your weapons. Your men. Your cold, hard cash.” He takes his feet off the table and slams them onto the floor, leaning over the desk as if he wants to tear my tie off my neck. “I know the destruction you’ve caused. And I know you have nothing left.”
I take a deep breath. “I still have my best men and enough supply of guns in my personal stash.”
Stefan laughs even louder than before. “Don’t play dumb with me, Marcello. I’m not a fool. You didn’t come here to play with my balls.” He tilts his head and takes another drag of his cigar. “You have one foot in your grave. Now tell me why I should help you.”
Claudio clears his throat to grab my attention and whispers something into my ear. “We cannot trust him to be serious without a good offer. He’s not going to be on our side unless he can gain something with great value.”
My nostrils flare as I nod at Claudio and turn my attention back to Stefan. “I am willing to make arrangements if you agree to help dispose of Molly and Frank, along with the Irish mob, and bring peace back to the city.”
Stefan’s face is like stone—unmoving and unemotional. And then he bursts out into more laughter.
“You think I care about that? You think I want them dead? The city safe?” He laughs again and then slams his hand onto the desk, hard. “This city is mine. People in a safe city do not buy drugs. A safe city does not have any need for guns or women.”
“There will always be a need for—”
“Do not insult me, Marcello!” he growls.
It’s silent for a few seconds while Claudio keeps eyeing me.
I sigh out loud. Fine. If it has to come to this to destroy my enemies, to finally keep Harper out of harm’s way, then so be it. “I will let you have the rest of the city, plus a part of what the Italians control.”
“Marcello!” Claudio gasps.
I throw him a wicked glance, which shuts him up.
“Keep your dog on a leash,” Stefan says.
“It won’t happen again,” I say while looking at Claudio.
This whole arrangement is far from what I was aiming for when I first became the don, but I cannot let the Irish rule this place any longer, nor can I risk Harper’s life like that. They have to be dealt with at any cost.
Even if it means our grasp over our part of the city will diminish.
But judging from the look on Stefan’s face, he doesn’t seem entirely convinced.
He leans back in his chair, stretching out his fingers before tapping them against each other in an irritating manner.
“My aid in exchange for the city plus a part of your territory?” He smiles. “Interesting.”
“I don’t want to know if it’s interesting. I want to know if we have a deal,” I reply.
His smile turns vicious as he bears his teeth. “I think …”
A lock clicks into place.
My senses are heightened, the sound like the ticking of a clock, loud as the beating of my own heart.
I glance at Stefan, then at Claudio, and then at the guard in front of the only door left unlocked.
“Not.”
The door suddenly bursts open, and the two people I only wanted to see when their skulls were crushed beneath my feet enter.
A familiar voice makes all the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. “Hello, Marcello.”
Frank rolls in in a wheelchair with Molly pushing him.
So he was alive. I fucking knew it. No fucking way Molly would have remained this calm if he wasn’t. She would’ve tried to blow the roof off my house the second she found out he was dead. But they’ve been preparing for a strike together from the comfort of their home all this time.
“You’re alive,” I hiss, and I look at Claudio. “It’s a fucking trap!”
He immediately pulls out the gun from the holster he was hiding in his boot.
I don’t think twice before I pull out my own as well, hidden in a secret compartment in my chest. I don’t wait one more second.
BANG!
BANG BANG!
I aim and hit Frank in the leg, who howls in anger and pain.
Molly quickly swirls his wheelchair around so he faces the exit instead of us. She pulls out a gun and shrieks, “You bastard!”
Stefan dives under his desk, but I don’t know if he’s hiding or grabbing a gun. I don’t take any chances and aim to kill.
Everyone.
I don’t care who lives or dies. The only thing that matters is that Molly and Frank cease to exist.
BANG!
“Goddammit, why didn’t you check them for guns?!” Stefan barks at his guards.
Shots are fired from all ends, but we have the element of surprise on our hands. Claudio is at my back, shooting at the guards, who block the shots with a table, while I take on the front door where Molly is trying to kill me.
“Uhn,” the guard grunts as he’s shot in the chest and drops to the floor, bleeding profusely.
Claudio shot him, and before the other guard comes charging at him, he shoots him too. The bullet lands right in his knee, causing him to collapse.
“Marcello, that way!” Claudio yells.
I scramble up from my feet as Molly fires shots at me.
“I’ll cover for you,” Claudio says as I run toward the locked door.
I don’t think twice as I point the gun at the lock and fire.
The door bursts open, and I bolt off, glancing over my shoulder briefly, only to come face-to-face with the two guards who were blocking this door. I barely dodge a left-hook, but the second still hits me in the stomach.
I bend over and heave, clutching my stomach.
Images of Harper screaming my name flood my mind.
I can’t die here.
I can’t fucking give up.
Not until she’s safe.
Not until she’s mine … forever.
Roaring out loud, I hold out my gun and shoot the guy straight through the brain. He falls down on the floor, bleeding like a motherfucker. The other guard howls, enraged by the death of his friend or maybe even a family member. It doesn’t matter to me. It’s all just flesh and bones and meat standing in my way.
The minute Stefan chose to betray me and choose Molly and Frank over me was the minute he chose violence.
The remaining guard suddenly jumps on top of me, blocking me from using my gun. We fight, muscle to muscle, clenched jaws and all. When he gets too close, I lean forward and bite his ear off, chucking it aside.
“Urgh.” I grunt in disgust, but now that I have the element of surprise, I punch him in the gut.
He rolls off me in pain, and I scramble to my feet.
Behind me, Claudio is still shooting down guards pouring in from the rear door behind Molly and Frank. But it’s five against one, and blood is pooling underneath his feet.
Fuck.
I try to run to him, but a hand clutches my leg.
“You’re not going anywhere,” he growls.
I kick him away, but he refuses to let go.
One glance up at Claudio tells me he’s in trouble.
“I’m coming!” I yell.
He turns his head to me, a blazing fire hiding behind them. “NO!”
I’ve never heard him yell like that before.
“RUN!”
It takes two seconds for the words to circulate through my brain.
For me to understand the message.
He’s sacrificing himself for me.
I don’t think twice and shoot the hand of the guard holding me down. While he cries in pain, I bolt off in the other direction, straight toward the door we came in through. And I bust it open with a lunge kick near the lock. The door is completely bashed in as I smash it open and run for the car.
BANG BANG!
More gunshots follow.
Some guards ran after me in blind pursuit.
After all, it’s not Claudio they want, but me.
But I hide behind the car until they’re out of ammo. Then I quickly jump into the car and hit the gas, blasting off into the sunset at high speed.
But when I look at myself in the mirror, all I see is seething anger.
Not just because of Stefan’s betrayal … but because of my own damn stupidity for not believing Claudio.
“GOD-FUCKING-DAMMIT!” I slam my palms into the steering wheel a couple of times, cursing the roof off this car.
I wipe the sweat off my forehead and open the window to spit out some excess blood. And while I look into my own eyes, I make a vow.
Whatever it takes, I will rescue Claudio.
