Page 547 of Sinfully Savage Mafia

Which it most definitely does.

A guttural roar erupts as he pulls it out and I gasp, slipping on the shiny tile and pitching forward. I fly through the air, cracking my shoulder into the desk up front. A shooting pain explodes down my arm as I drag myself to my feet.

Too late.

He leaps at me like a rabid animal, pressing me into the floor, his hands tightly clasped around my neck. Blood pours from his gouged-out eye as he hisses at me. “You thought you could get away,” he growls. “You thought you could escape! Well, guess what? You can’t. And nobody can save you this time…you or the others. Your families can’t stop what’s about to happen.” He grits his teeth, squeezing harder until my airway is all but closed. I feel as if I’m drowning, sputtering, and gasping for air that just isn’t there. “But they’re gonna watch.”

He loosens his grip and flashes a sick smile at me.. “So you got lucky right then because I can’t very well kill you now. It’ll ruin the impact of the revenge plot against your family. We’re going big, Lily. Nothing can bring back my brother and cousin, and I want your families to feel the same loss we do. The same helplessness that I felt when I saw my brother, the same guilt and regret for allowing it all to happen when I could have stopped it. I want your families to be plagued with those feelings for the rest of their lives.” He dips his lead lower until his forehead almost touches mine. “It will be a fate worse than death for them. And witnessing that kind of horror is exactly what they deserve.”

He grips my hair in his fist and tugs me toward the back entrance of the shelter. I let out a piercing shriek, digging my fingernails into his wrists. I press into his flesh as hard as I can in the hopes that I can puncture the skin. But it doesn’t make him slow down. He just laughs, a maniacal sound that makes my heart pound against my chest.

Short, sharp gasps slice at my lungs and I focus on one thing — getting the fuck away from this lunatic. I fling my body left and right to derail this madman, but the second he kicks open the door, I know I’m too late.

I had my one chance to save myself, to find Zeno, to escape, and now he’s going to dump me in the back of a?—

“Fuck!”

High-pitched barking greets us as the door flies open and Vito lunges for him, clawing and snarling and biting my assailant. He lets go of my hair, using all of his energy to shove Vito away. But my beloved Vito hasn’t had breakfast yet.

And he’s damn hungry.

His sharp teeth shred the arms of the guy’s shirt within seconds, and I run into the exam room, searching for any syringes I can find. I grab one in each hand and dart back to where my real-life rescue dog is in the midst of his attack. I jump at the guy, arms out, sticking syringes into either side of his neck with an ear-splitting scream.

He stumbles backward, pulling them out and falling out of the back door. The engine of a blacked-out van roars behind him, the door sliding open as he runs for it.

I tear out of the shelter, running after the van just as the door closes.

The shoes.

I saw his shoes…

They have Zeno. They took him just like they were going to take me…the way they tried to do a few months ago.

My shoulders quake, my body shuddering uncontrollably, tears streaming down my face. “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!”

This was the final play.

Find us, torture us, and kill us in front of a live audience with absolutely no power to stop it.

I grab Vito and run as fast as my legs can carry me, shoving open the back door. I blink fast, swiping at the tears flooding my eyes. I don’t know where my phone is, and I can’t waste time looking for it. My fingers shake as I grab the handset from the exam room, stabbing Chloe’s phone number into it. It rings once, twice, three times, and I fist the side of my hair, fear and panic coursing through me. “Goddammit, where are you?” I yell, kicking the wall.

“Lily?” Chloe asks, finally answering the call. “What’s the matter? Why are you yelling?”

“Chloe!” I shriek. “Put Bruno on! Now!”

A second later his deep voice comes over the line. “What the fuck is happening, Lily?”

“Th-they took Z-Zeno!” I cry. “Th-they were trying to get me, too!”

I hear things slamming and crashing in the background, followed by Bruno bellowing in Italian. “Who took him?” he seethes.

“M-Messina! The guy Zeno killed — it was his twin brother who attacked me! They put him into a van, Bruno. I saw him! But I c-couldn’t stop it!” I sob. “They came for us because of what happened to Messina’s son. They’re going to kill Zeno while our families watch! I’m supposed to be there with him, but I got away!”

Bruno lets out a frustrated sigh. “Okay, are you still at the shelter? Can you get back here?”

“Yes,” I whisper. “I have Zeno’s keys. Bruno, we have to find him. Find Sergio! And we have to warn our families. Something is about to happen, and we need to stop it. Fast!”

“Okay, just get back here. I’m going to find that bitch Rayleigh, too. She’s gonna see just how pretty the Vegas strip looks…upside down.”

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