Page 100 of Born into Mayhem
“I’ve been planning on taking Dario out for a long time. You were an opportunity I couldn’t pass up, but I have other things already in motion. The goal was to destroy the Alessi empire and then take his life, but now when he dies, it’ll be after I tell him I fucked and killed his woman.” He gives a harsh laugh, grinning in satisfaction like the deed is already done. “It’ll be like killing him twice.” He gives me a quick look before putting his focus back on the road. “So thank you, Mia. Your death is going to hurt far worse than any knife or gun ever could.”
“What other plans?” I ask, knowing I can’t kill him until he tells me.
“Aren’t you a curious little thing?” he teases, and I use all my willpower to not stab him right here and now.
“You’re going to kill me anyway. What does it matter?”
“True enough.” He takes another turn, and I don’t know if I should be relieved no one’s coming after us or worried. It’s possible Sandro is keeping Dario in check and waiting to see what Leonardo will do before they intervene, but it’s also possible something has happened to prevent him from getting to me.
“I’ve infiltrated his family,” Leonardo says, sounding way too pleased with himself. “He’ll never expect an attack from one of his own men.”
“Who is it?” I whisper the words as dread fills my stomach.
“Uberto,” he says, but the name means nothing to me. I didn’t meet his men, that’s not how things are done here, and it would’ve been suspicious if Dario had walked me around and made introductions.
Wives aren’t a part of the family business, so I don’t need to hide my ignorance when I say, “I don’t know who that is.”
Leonardo shrugs. “Maybe you’ll meet him before I kill you.”
“You’re such an arrogant dickhole. You’re never going to get away with this because Dario is a thousand times smarter than you. You’re just a jealous asshole who will never get over the fact that his dick is bigger than yours.”
My words have the effect I’d been hoping for. Rage takes over as he slams on the brakes. Taking his hand off my thigh, he raises it to backhand me. I let him, ignoring the pain and the blood that starts running from my nose as I grab the switchblade that’s hooked to my bra and pull it out. He’s not expecting me to fight back, and he’s sure as hell not expecting me to be armed. When he hears the knife open, I have just enough time to see his eyes widen in shock before I’m slamming the blade in his neck and pushing him off me.
The blade is pulled from his skin, and as soon as it slips free, blood spurts out, coating me and the interior of his car before he clamps a hand to his neck in a desperate attempt to save himself. I know he’sfucked, so I grab the handle, ignoring his moans of pain and shock as I scramble out, nearly tripping and falling on my ass.
I barely register the sound of the Ducati racing towards me. As soon as it stops, Sasha jumps off, rushing to my side.
“Are you okay?” His words are clipped, and I hear the worry in them as he checks me for injuries. Cupping my face, he looks at my bleeding nose, and I see the dark look in his eyes start to take over.
“I’m fine,” I quickly say, because we do not have time for torture. “We need to find Dario. Someone’s going to turn on him.” I grab Sasha’s hand and try to pull him towards the bike. “He won’t be expecting it. We have to go!”
He hands me the helmet and peels my fingers from the grip I have on his shirt. “Get on the bike, Mia. I’ll be right there.”
Arguing will just waste time, so I jam the helmet on my head and run to the bike as Sasha opens the car door. I hear Leonardo groan in pain, but it’s cut short by the knife my brother runs across his throat.
His voice is calm when he says, “That’s for putting your fucking hands on my sister.”
Sasha hates quick kills, but he doesn’t waste time with this one, and I know it’s a sacrifice he’s making for me. Letting Leonardo slump to the ground, he sheaths his knife and gets on the bike, starting it and waiting just long enough for me to hold on before he races back down the road.
“It’s Uberto,” I yell. “He’s the traitor. We have to get to him in time!”
Sasha speeds around the corner, and I’m grateful he knows how to handle a bike, or we’d be flying off the cliff and straight into the Ionian Sea. Even with how fast we’re going, it doesn’t feel quick enough. All I can think about is Dario being hurt, and by the time Sasha slows down, my heart aches and I feel like I can barely breathe.
We’re back at the villa, but instead of going to the house, he races past it and heads down a gravel road I’ve never been on. He stops in front of a smaller house, and the first thing I see is a mansprawled out on the lawn. Even with part of his skull missing, I can tell he has blond hair, and I let out a sigh of relief at knowing it’s not Dario or Sandro.
“What is this place?” I ask, dropping my helmet on the ground while Sasha gets off the bike.
“This is where their top men live. Sandro wanted Dario to wait here, said he didn’t trust him to keep himself in check.”
My brother may prefer knives, but I’m not at all surprised to see a gun already in his hand as he looks around. Before I can ask anything else, there’s a loud popping sound and Sasha is grabbing me and pulling me towards the house. Shots land near our feet as we race for the door. We’re almost there when I hear him grunt in pain and then I’m being shoved onto the porch and under the cover of the roof.
“Oh my god,” I say when I look over and see blood running down my brother’s arm.
“I’m fine,” he says, giving the wound a quick look and sounding way more annoyed than anything else. Reaching down, he pulls a gun from his ankle holster, clicks the safety off, and hands it to me. “It was a good stab wound,” he tells me.
“What?”
“Leonardo,” he says. “You did good, little witch. He would’ve bled out in minutes.”
