Page 551 of Sinfully Savage Mafia

All very positive signs.

Thank God.

The elevator finally comes to a stop at the top of the parking deck and the doors slide open. I step into the gray concrete enclosure, a piercing shriek shattering the silence. I rush into the garage. Vito squirms in my arms to the point where I lose my grip and he lands cleanly on his feet, running toward the sound, his barks echoing in the space.

“Vito!” I yell, chasing him. “Stop!” He still has the leash on him, but he’s moving so fast, he managed to tear away from me before I could grab the end of it. My feet pound on the pavement until I see exactly where the screams originated.

I didn’t think it was possible for my heart to really leap so high in my throat it’d get caught and almost asphyxiate me.

But that’s just about where we are right now, the second I see Sergio dangling Rayleigh by her ankles over the side of the parking garage.

Twenty stories in the air.

I yelp, jumping forward and grabbing the end of the leash before Vito can get any closer to the horror scene playing out in front of us.

Rayleigh’s skirt is around her neck right now as she struggles in Sergio’s tight grip, but I don’t think she’s at all worried about flashing anyone.

I’m pretty sure she’s more concerned with making sure she doesn’t sky dive, skull-first, into the concrete below.

Chloe runs up to me. “Oh my God, these guys are crazy, sadistic lunatics! How could you leave me with them?” she whisper-shouts.

“Hey, I heard that,” Sergio calls over.

“Good!” she yells back. “Just so we’re clear and all, you sicko!”

“Sergio!” I scream, pushing past Chloe. “Are you insane? Pull her back up here!”

He turns to me, his eyes blazing. “Are you telling me how to handle my business? Because last I heard, it was your fucking father who was responsible for this shit show! He’s the reason why Zeno was snatched, why Zeno killed Messina’s son! He’s a lying sonofabitch! And I don’t think you’re in any position to give orders, least of all to me!” he bellows.

“You cannot kill her!” I shriek, my eyes falling to Rayleigh’s panicked expression. Her face is purple because of the increased blood flow to her head.

“The fuck I can’t!” he shouts, shaking her. My eyes widen. He’s strong as an ox and Rayleigh is a hundred pounds soaking wet, but still. His fingers might cramp up. His arm might spasm.

Anything could happen and then…

Splat.

“Sergio,” I say, trying to keep my voice as calm as possible. “Please! This is barbaric!”

“Help me!” Rayleigh screams. “Somebody, please!”

“Nobody will hear you, sweetheart!” Sergio yells. “But if you’re ready to talk, I’ll pull you back up here! Otherwise…” He jumps forward and she dips lower, her window-shattering screeches damn close to making my ears bleed.

“Serge,” Bruno says, grabbing his arm. “Maybe we need to try something else. This isn’t working.”

“Fuck that!” he screams, shaking off Bruno’s hand. “This bitch betrayed my family! She’s the goddamn enemy and she will pay!” And just in that second, the one when I’m convinced he’s going to let her go, with a sudden jerk, he yanks her back into the garage. When her feet hit the cement floor, she collapses to her knees, gagging as what appears to be her breakfast spews everywhere.

Sweet Jesus.

We jump back and Sergio grabs the back of her head as her stomach finishes its violent revolt. He holds a gun to her temple, slamming her head into the mess on the floor. “Tell me what I need to know,” he hisses against her ear. “I spared you once, but it won’t happen twice, do you understand?”

Sobs quake her shoulders, her long hair hanging in wet strands around her face. “Fuck you!” she sputters as he moves the gun to the front of her forehead, pointed right between her eyes.

“Do you not know who you’re talking to?” Sergio seethes, kneeling down next to her. “And you do understand that I will do anything it takes to keep my family safe and protected from vile motherfuckers like you and the assholes you work for?”

More whimpering follows, but no words.

“What did you do after you drugged Bruno?” he shouts right into her face.

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