Page 95 of Broken Mafia Bride
Apparently, La Rete Rossi doesn’t operate outside of Italy at all. Which means we’ve been focusing on the wrong target this whole time. I need to inform Matteo to broaden our search past them and conduct a more thorough dive into Martina.
I’m already running late for dinner, and I decide to continue with my mission tomorrow. I make my way out of the underground fighting ring and down the dark street to where my car is parked. Too occupied with conflicting thoughts, it takes me a while to realize that I’m being followed.
I keep my shoulders relaxed, acting oblivious. A second later, the man lunges toward me. I spin around, catching the glint of a dagger just before I step to the side, swinging my elbow to dislodge his grip on the weapon.
It goes clattering to the ground. The man leaps toward it, but I’m faster, catching him under the jaw with an uppercut thatmakes him stumble backward. He wipes his bloody nose with the back of his arm, his dark, predatory eyes narrowing at me.
The man charges at me, fists raised, but I’m bigger, faster, stronger. I hook my arm around his neck and lock him in a chokehold, holding him hostage.
“Who sent you?” I bite out.
The only reply I get is a furious cry as the man attempts to break free from my hold.
“Who?” I bark, sick of hearing about this faceless, nameless ‘he.’ “If I ask again, I’ll blow out your kneecaps.”
The man jabs his elbow into my stomach, causing me to release him. He dives for the knife, and before I can stop him, it’s already in his hand. I brace, waiting for him to come at me, but to my surprise, his mouth curves into a mocking smile.
“No soy un traidor!” he cries in Spanish. I watch him raise the blade. “Vete al infierno.”
What the fu?—
I see the intent in his eyes a second too late. I race toward him, but he’s already bringing the dagger down into his chest. His words fade as he plunges the knife into his mouth repeatedly, then drives it into his heart.
The man stills, then drops to his knees, blood gurgling out of his mouth. I know he’s dead even before his body drops to the ground with a thud.
Fucking hell.
I stare at the body—knife buried to the hilt in his chest—blood still bubbling at his lips. The street’s dead quiet now. The only sound is my ragged breath.
That’s two dead leads in three days.
Someone’s cleaning house.
And if they think I’ll back off now—they don’t know a goddamn thing about me.
29
GIULIA
“I’m exhausted,” one of the women says in Italian, the words accompanied by a long yawn. “I never used to get up until about eleven a.m. How do people do it? Two days of waking up by six a.m., and I’m about to pass out.”
“Why are you up by six?” Caterina asks, surprise evident in her voice.
The third woman in the group gasps in shock, and from my position leaning against the island, I can see her eyes go saucer-wide. “You haven’t caught the morning special?”
“She’s in love. Forget her,” the first one yawns again.
“Somebody please fill me in, for the love of god,” Caterina says, glancing between the two women, who suddenly have gleams in their eyes.
Just then, Isa walks over with a glass of wine for me, a sheepish smile on her face. “I forgot I can’t have any for the next few months. You can have it.”
I snatch the glass like a lifeline and raise it to my mouth, hoping it’ll keep me buzzed enough that I’ll be able to listen to my cousin talk about her pregnancy all night without stabbing her with a dinner knife.
“Tell me,” I hear Caterina plead, my attention once more drawn to the women. I know that they are wives of some of my grandfather’s men, and they all live in this neighborhood.
Caterina says they are the biggest gossips and can be lewd. Still, they are perfectly harmless and are only interested in entertaining themselves because they don’t have much else to do. The only reason I am here is because Caterina insisted I come tonight, claiming it was a small get-together Pepe wanted for her birthday.
If not, I’d be back in my room at Casa Bianca, drowning in a bottle of wine and listening to sad songs. It’s what I find myself mostly doing these days.
