Page 553 of Sinfully Savage Mafia

My mouth twists into a grimace, my lips quivering as the dots connect with rapid speed. This is all on me. If I’d have been smarter, more vigilant, more aware, I’d have seen those guys coming months ago. If I’d have been stronger and more prepared, they’d have never compromised me like they did.

I wouldn’t have needed luck to get away from them.

I would have used skill to turn the tables on them.

Anger and regret flood my veins, igniting the fires deep within me…fires that need the freedom to rage. It’s the only way I can even come close to fixing what’s been broken.

Rayleigh sneers at me. “What are you going to do, Lily? Who’s going to save you now, huh? Daddy and big brother Nico can’t stop what’s about to happen. You think you’re safe?” she scoffs. “The only thing you can be sure about is that you will never be safe again!”

“Ahh!” I shriek, pointing the gun at her other thigh and shooting her point-blank. Oh my God, what the hell am I turning into?

Sergio comes up behind me and takes the gun out of my hand. “Okay, princess, lemme have the gun.”

“Don’t call me that!” I yell pounding his chest with my palms. “That’s why this is happening, don’t you get it? It’s because of me! Because I was an easy target!”

He slips the gun into his waistband and pulls me away from where Rayleigh writhes around on the floor. “Listen, there’s nothing weak about you,” he says. “So whatever bullshit she just fed you is just that. You’re a fucking badass, Lily. You just shot that bitch twice without a second thought.”

“She deserved it,” I whisper, pressing my hands to my temples.

“Yep,” Sergio says. “She sure as hell did.”

Chloe takes a timid step toward me and I look at her through tear-filled eyes.

She shakes her head, her hands in the air. “I don’t even have words for this,” she says with an incredulous look on her face. “I mean, this whole thing…Jesus, I feel like I poured myself into bed last night and woke up in the movieCasino.”

“Yeah,” Sergio says with a mischievous glimmer in his eye. “And I think we’re getting close to the scene where we stick some bastard’s head in a vise and squeeze the shit out of it so his eyeballs pop out of his head.”

Chloe furrows her brow, looking from Sergio to Bruno to me and back again. “Whoareyou people?” she mutters.

Bruno comes running toward us dragging Rayleigh behind him after restraining her. He winks at Chloe. “We’re the people who never lose,” he says. “Welcome to the winning team, sweetheart.”

Sergio claps him on the back. “Damn right. I’ve got Mike on the security breach. He’ll figure out how to find the hole, plug it, and kick those assholes out of our system. Aldo is keeping a lookout on the casino floor just in case they send anyone else inside. Meanwhile, I want that bitch in the trunk.” He looks at me. “I believe it’s time for your big scene. You about ready to steal the show?”

CHAPTER23

ZENO

“Is this what it feels like to be crucified?” I grumble, my ankles chained together and my arms hanging on either side of me, suspended from the ceiling.

“Nah, they haven’t nailed your hands and feet to a cross yet. You’re only getting the prequel to that hellish story.” Gallo lets out a deep sigh, followed by a loud hacking cough. “Oh, fuck, that hurts,” he groans, seated in a chair next to me, his arms tied behind his back.

“Hey, at least you got a chair,” I say, giving the chains around my wrists a good hard yank. “My fingers are getting more numb by the minute. Ha, joke’s on them. By the time they nail me to that cross, I won’t have any feeling left in my hands.”

I look around the dingy room where we’re being held captive until my family arrives in Vegas for their VIP showing ofBrutish Torture: Fall of the Villani Men. I wrinkle my nose, my gut twisting at the stench permeating the air. It’s some noxious combination of rotting garbage and sewage.

Maybe decomposing corpses, too.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see some kind of liquid trickling down the side of the far wall.

It’s not clear liquid, either.

Bile rises in my throat and I squeeze my eyes shut.

“Gallo, what the hell happened?” I mutter. “You weren’t supposed to be here for this meeting.”

“Come on, Z. I was never gonna hang back. I’m part of this family.”

“Yeah, well, that’s not a good enough reason.” I grumble. “Why the fuck are you trying to stay involved in this mess? I made a mistake by dragging you into my business. A big mistake, one that I’ll regret forever. I tried to make it right by leaving. I tried to spare you!”

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