Page 76 of Devil's Deal

“Yeah,” he whispered, running for the other side of the room. A quick glance around showed six single beds with handcuffs on the headboards. Maybe I did want to run into somebody that we could kill. This was fucked up.

“Is there anyone else with you? Anyone else we need to get out of here?” I asked.

He shook his head. “There’s supposed to be new girls in a few days. The last group was moved about a month ago.”

There’d be time to ask him questions later, once he was out of here and had a chance to breathe. Frederic grabbed his son’s hand, and we were heading for the door when I heard the first shot. “Frederic, you take him and get him and Cory out of here.”

“Uncle Cory?” Emilio asked, his shock at a rescue fading to fear that we wouldn’t get out of here.

“Yeah,” I said. “Let me go out first.”

As I got outside, Rocco yelled, “And that’s three!”

“Come on,” I urged in a harsh whisper. With Dante ahead of us, Frederic and Rocco ran with Emilio in the middle of them, and I brought up the rear, checking every which way for movement.

No one followed us, and I was just thanking all the gods in the universe when our vehicles came into sight. A round man in a suit, standing a whole head shorter than Cory, was using him as a body shield with a gun to his head.Dammit.This was why I hadn’t wanted to bring him. It was exactly what I’d been afraid of.

My boy looked scared, pissed, and full of awe at seeing his nephew. How he managed to convey so many emotions was beyond me, but it was all there on his face.

Frederic pushed his son behind him and stepped forward. “I can’t believe you. My son?! How could you take my son?” he raged.

Ah. This must be the Capo. The swarmy man spit on the ground. “Your son. You’re not good enough for him. He’s mine! He was supposed to be mine!”

I didn’t stay around to listen to this bullshit drama. Nico had wanted to find a way for us to question someone, anyone, but Rocco and Dante had effectively taken that off the table. Grabbing the Capo would’ve been even better, but he’d fucked up. He’d taken my man. My boy. My quirky Cory, who trusted me to keep him safe and whole.

Since the two members of the Pasini Family were totally focused on each other, I fell back into the shadows, moving down the tree line. My focus went laser-sharp as my breath evened out, and that familiar feeling of low boiling rage consumed me. The narcissistic idiot was in the middle of some diatribe as I came up behind him, pulling my trusty girl out of her sheath and did what I did best.

The satisfying feel of skin slicing vibrated through my hand and up my arm as the Pasini Family went down a Capo, and Cory fell into my arms. I’d never wanted any of this to touch him. Not the Families, him having to witness me committing another murder, and the presence of more blood. So much blood. But I’d always do whatever needed to be done—unapologetically.

He might need therapy. So would Emilio. But that was a tomorrow problem. For tonight, it was time to beat a path off this property and go home. Frederic hunched down by his dead Capo and began going through his pockets.

Glancing over my shoulder, I was surprised to find Rocco embracing Emilio gently, rocking him from side to side and whispering into his ear. Aw. See. He could be nice.

Chapter

Eleven

CORY

“Emilio.I’m so happy to have you back.”

My nephew clung even harder, sobbing into my shoulder. We brought him into the hotel through the tunnels and up to the fourth floor where I’d set up a room for him right after my sister’s death. It contained everything from their house that I thought would bring him the most comfort. The rest of their things were in a storage unit.

“I knew you and Uncle Mac would find me,” he gasped out through his tears.

“And your father. He’s been searching for you as hard as I did.”

Frederic came up behind me and tapped my elbow. “I think Romeo needs you downstairs.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but he gave one sharp shake of his head. “And I need to speak with my son. There are a lot of things he needs to know.”

My own eyes flooded with fresh tears. Emilio had been so out of it after his rescue he hadn’t questioned why I’d brought him to The Gin Mill. He’d asked for my sister, his mother, though. A big part of me thought I should be the one to tell him that we lost her and Mac, but Frederick had spent a lot of time in the last year lamenting his failures as a father.

I didn’t think being the bearer of bad news was the best place for him to start, but I wanted to honor the fact he no longer wanted to shirk his parental duties. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

I pressed a kiss to the side of Emilio’s head and eased back, letting Frederic slip in and take my place. When Emilio clung to him as hard as he’d been clutching me, I stepped out of the room to let the father and son reunite and grieve together.

Dante waited outside door, rubbing his left knuckles. “Are you a lefty?” I asked as if tonight had been like any other normal, everyday occasion.

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