Page 86 of The Red Queen

“Then I will sleep at night. It’s been a very long time since I have slept a full night. Thoughts of my lost child have kept me awake for years.”

“I’m sorry, I should have found a way to contact you, to tell you I was alright.”

“You weren’t,” Theresa said sharply. “You were under the influence of that terrible man.”

There was nothing left to say. They looked at each other, happiness and devastation thick in the air. It was the reunion Desi always dreamed of but never imagined happening. It was painful and exquisite all at the same time.

“I’m pregnant, mama,” Desi said shyly. “You’re going to be a grandmother.”

Theresa gasped and clapped her hands together. She turned accusing eyes on Giovanni. “You didn’t say anything!”

He smiled indulgently. “It wasn’t my place.”

Before they could continue, Dino interrupted, turning to look at Giovanni. “They’re here, Signore. They parked up the street and are approaching on foot. All are armed with semiautomatics and pistols. No vests that our lookout can see.”

Chapter Thirty-Seven

“How many?” Giovanni asked sharply.

“Five, unless there are more in hiding.”

Desi shook her head. “There won’t be more. The Garza’s were always a brazen lot.”

“Idiotas.” Giovanni shook his head in disgust. “This won’t take long.” He turned to Dino. “The neighbors have been warned?”

Dino nodded. “Si, they have either fled or are hiding. Our men will be careful not to allow stray bullets.”

“Bueno.” Giovanni paced to the front window, looking outside. Desi joined him, unable to help the gasp that escaped her lips as she spotted the men she’d once worked with. They were thugs: rapists, murderers, and drug dealers.

“I’m going with you,” Desi said, her tone allowing no argument.

“No.” The word was short, clipped, and uncompromising. “You will not give them the target they have come here seeking.”

Desi pressed her fingertip to the glass, pointing at the man in the lead. “That is Nico’s cousin. He raped me when I was fifteen years old. I want to put that motherfucker in the ground myself.” Desi looked over her shoulder at her stricken mother. “Pardon, mama.”

Giovanni growled next to her. Actually growled. A sound coming from deep in his chest rumbled, speaking wordless fury.

Desi watched the transformation of Giovanni, her lover and husband, to Giovanni Savino, the Italian Godfather. Any warmth that had been in his face vanished, replaced by a savagery that took her breath away and made her tingle all over.

“Put a vest on.” Giovanni turned and snapped his fingers at one of his smaller men. “Give her your vest, then take Signora Amada to the basement and keep her safe. Your life ends if hers does.”

“Si, Signore.” He removed his bulletproof vest and handed it to Desi.

“Please,” Desi’s mother said, looking over her shoulder at Giovanni as she headed for the stairs, her personal bodyguard shadowing her. “Call me Theresa.”

Desi laughed despite the tension that was thick in the air. “I think you’ve made a conquest of my mother.”

He shrugged. “Like her daughter, she can’t help herself.”

Desi laughed and Giovanni helped pull the vest over her head and strap it tight against her side. It was too loose in the waist and hips, but there was no help for it. The Garza boys were standing on her mother’s front lawn, the leader pointing at the house, telling them to come outside. The men surrounding him had their semi-automatics out.

Desi’s heart pumped blood through her veins in a fiery path of anticipation. She thirsted for the blood of these men. Some she knew, some she didn’t. They all represented the hurts of her past.

Giovanni nodded to Dino, who nodded back, then opened the door, leading the team of Italians outside. The Italians had three men, as well as Giovanni and Desi. Five total; same as the Mexicans.

As they filed out the door, Giovanni said to Desi in a low voice, “I am sorry for this,amore.”

“What?” she asked, confused, but was cut off by the grating voice of Nico’s cousin.

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