Page 17 of Driftwood Daffodil 3

Having a brother like Kato, I’d seen guys fight before. But this was different. This was more than two guys throwing punches. This was deadly.

“I should gut you right here,” Gio hissed in Marty’s face.

Marty didn’t fight back or say anything. He just gulped back a swallow and kept quiet.

Nobody else did anything either. They all just stood there watching. Gio’s dad even looked a bit proud. How twisted was that? Not that I was any better. I was so shocked by the entire scenario, that all I could do was push myself up to sit.

“You see that shit?” Gio grabbed Marty’s face and forced him to look at me. “That shit is mine.”

This was going too far. I might’ve said something to stop it if Romeo hadn’t stepped closer and pressed the tip of his foot against my butt. As if he was silently letting me know he was watching me.

Looking up at him, I opened my mouth, “Aren’t you going to do something?”

Someone had to do something. Someone had to stop it. Sure, the guy hit me, but I kind of deserved it. Who in this room hadn’t wanted to hit me at some point? Hell, sometimes I wanted to hit myself.

Romeo didn’t say a word. All he did was arch a brow down at me, while exhaling a cloud of smoke in my face.

Coughing, I batted the cloud away. I was going to take that as a no.

I turned my attention back to Gio, who looked even more murderous, if that was possible. He was so overreacting.

My heart stopped when Gio pulled out a gun and pressed the barrel to the side of Marty’s head.

Correction, that was overreacting.

“Say goodbye, motherfucker.”

Wait, he wouldn’t actually kill him, would he?

I looked over at Gio’s dad, then back at his brother, none of whom were fazed in the least. All my life I’d heard rumors about the Mancini’s. I knew they were dangerous, but it wasn’t until that moment that it sunk in. They weren’t just assholes. They were killers.

“I’m sorry.” Marty shook his head. “I shouldn’t have hit her.”

“You’re damn right.” Gio leaned in and snarled, “you marked my property.”

Really?

My face hurt and I’d probably have a bruise. But that hardly constituted this.

For half a second when Cesare stepped forward, I thought he was going to stop this. I was wrong.

“Perhaps we should go and get your wife, Marty, so Giovanni can return the favor.”

What kind of bullcrap was that? Marty’s wife didn’t do anything to anyone. That was a ridiculous solution.

Apparently, Gio didn’t agree. “That’s a good idea.”

There was no way in hell I was going to let some poor innocent woman get dragged into this.

I pushed myself up. “This is?—”

That’s all I got out before a hand clamped on my shoulder, pushing me back down on the ground.

“You stay right there.” Romeo said without so much as glancing down at me.

Oh, hell no.

“Listen here you piece of shit…”

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