Page 37 of Dangerous Games

“Drop it,” he says, his own weapon pointed at me.

I toss the gun to the pavement beside the dumpster and keep my hands in the air. Nick stares up at me then gestures with his gun. “Get out.”

I follow his orders, leaping out of the dumpster with one solid push. I put all my weight on my right arm as my feet sail over the edge and land on the ground. My left shoulder hurts so badly I almost cry out, but I won’t show him any weakness. This man is a disease, and he’s going to die. It makes sense now, how he would be behind this. He hated my mother because Dad wouldn’t make him the next in line for his throne. Mom made sure that I was the one to get that honor.

“You really hired the same motherfucking Italian to hunt me down? The same one…” I think of the scar across my chest and regretted having Jimmy pull that trigger. That man deserved a personal dose of justice, but not as much as the one in front of me.

“I did… Poetic right?” He scoffs and moves a step closer. I hear Nanette moving in the dumpster behind me, but I don’t look. I can’t take my eyes off this asshole for a single second.

“You’re going down, Nick. You don’t even see it yet.” I stand with both hands raised, though not quite as high, and I take a step closer to him.

“I don’t think you understand how this works, Dominic. I have too many men on my side. I tried to tell you my guys are inside slaughtering yours.”

I listen to the keen of men dying, though the gunfire has now ceased. I’m surprised Leo hasn’t reached out the window to pop Nick off, but it’s possible he’s taken a hit, or maybe his ammo ran out again.

“I’m not sure you know what’s happening in there.”

Nick’s weapon lowers at my word and he chambers a round, pointing the barrel right at my chest. “You’re as good as dead now. And even if I’m not the one to take that spot, your brother will do what we tell him. Men are on their way even now to kill Alexsi.”

“My father? Leave him out of this,” I snarl, ready to reach for my gun, but like this, out in the open, I’ll be dead before it’s drawn.

“Yeah, your father. How did you think we were going to pull this off?” He chuckles madly and for a second his eyes shut. I start to reach for my gun, knowing it’s my one chance, when something soars over my shoulder. A fleeting shadow appears overhead, then whatever it is slams into his forehead. It gives me just the time I need to draw my gun and chamber a round. I point it at his leg and pull the trigger, hitting him just above the knee.

“Fuck!” Nick shouts, falling to the ground. His weapon clatters away from him and I rush over and kick it farther away.

“You were saying?” I hover over him, gun pointed at his head. We’re only steps from my nine-mil, so I pick it up and aim my three-eighty at his other leg.

“God, Dominic, you can’t be serious. You aren’t getting out of this alive. You kill me, you won’t survive a day.”

Shot twice, once in each leg, and he still thinks he’s victorious. He has no clue what my loyal men are capable of. I glance over my shoulder at Nanette who stands in the dumpster chest deep, staring at me.

“Turn away, Nan,” I tell her, but she shakes her head.

This is going to scare her for life, but if she refuses to turn away, I can’t help her. I drop the nine-mil on his chest, knowing there is but one bullet.

“You’re insane. I could kill you now.” Nick grabs the gun weakly and points it up at me.

“But you won’t.” Movement at the end of the alley catches my eye. It’s my brothers, all four of them, walking toward me with arms in hand. “Because the moment you do, they will slaughter you.” I nod at them, and Nick looks that direction and pales.

“Fuck, Dom, just shoot me. Put me out of my misery.” His tune changes so fast I have to laugh at him.

“Your misery? You let that Italian trash rape my mother and destroy her so much that she killed herself. You’re going to follow her now into that hell.”

“What?” he asks, trembling. He tosses the gun, but I kick it back at him.

“Kill yourself, Nick. It’s what you deserve, because it’s what you did to her. And you should do it before they get here. Because if they know you’re the one who set that whole thing up, they won’t let you die. They’ll torture you for months.”

Nick is shaking, sweating so bad perspiration trickles down his face. He picks up the gun and points it at his head. “Dom, please.”

“Fucking do it, Nick.”

The bang resounds just as Sven reaches my side, and Nick’s head lolls to the back, skull half gone. Blood and brain matter splatter across the front of his car, and I take a knee. I’m in so much pain I don’t think I can breathe anymore.

It’s over.

My mother’s killer is avenged. The mole is rooted out. And I have Nanette.

Now, as long as she isn’t so traumatized, she can’t be around me, I’ll have the life I want—finally.

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