Page 30 of Hostile Rival
I usher Giana along behind her, kind of wishing she wasn’t tagging along and it was just me and my little firecracker training together.
“Tell me where you’re taking me, or I’ll scream.” Giana decides now is apparently the time to fuck it all up. “I don’t care if you have amazing eyes, or if you saved me from those assholes. How do I know you’re––”
“You scream and those guys will put a bullet in your head.” I push her forward. “Or maybe you want to go back to a blanket on the floor and a bucket to piss in? We’ll deliver you to the drop off point where I suspect your parents are waiting.”
“So, youaremy hero.” She glances up at me and dishes out a girlie grin. “I knew you were a good guy.”
I laugh under my breath. “I’m not a good guy, sweetheart.”
“Then you’re an anti-hero, right?”
“Shut her up, Crow. Or I’ll be the one who puts a bullet in her head,” Dani grits out a few steps ahead.
“A cop car’s coming. Hurry up.” Gator warns just as the parked van comes into view.
Dani reaches it first, yanks open the rear door, and looks back at us before jumping in. I trail a few steps behind her with Giana alongside me and order her to climb in.
“You expect me to get into a windowless van with a bunch of masked men?” She spins around, bumping her chest into mine, trying to run away. “No way!”
“Fuck this,” I mutter, losing patience.
I scoop her up into my arms, dump her inside, climb in, and slam the door shut behind me. Giana scrambles into the corner and tucks her knees into her chest.
No one speaks. They all sit quietly, unaffected by the petrified woman cowering in their company. Sitting, I hunt out the Buffalo skull on Dani’s balaclava and find her eyes on me. Tingles shoot down my spine. As soon as our gazes lock, her chest rises, and she looks away.
The van speeds off, leaving the chaos behind. We can’t see the city or the blue sky from in here, only feel the wheels eventually slow once we reach the drop off point.
Scorpion leans forward and grabs Giana by the arm. Immediately, she swivels into me and buries her face in my shoulder. “No…I want you to take me…I—I trust you.”
When Scorpion unhands her, she clings to my side, not letting go.
“Fine,” I mutter.
From the corner of my eye, a rifle is aimed at Giana, and all I hear is my little firecracker’s pissed off voice. “Get your hands off him and get the fuck out of the van, or I’ll put a bullet in your brain.”
13
DANIELA
I lost my cool––Ineverlose my shit.
One minute she was pawing at Matheus’ utility vest, the next she was practically burying her face in his throat. And then, I threatened to shoot her.
Why the hell did I do that?
I mean, it's not because the guy is equal parts ruthless as he is thoughtful. Or that he’s not quite the Souza monster I had expected.
He seems different to the other gangsters I’ve encountered, and I hate how everything he does fascinates me.
However, if I had to rationalize my out of character blip, it would be solely due to the fact the girl had become hysterical.
We aren’t babysitters. The Covenant gets the job done. We serve or we die. And her tantrum was unnecessary drama.
After I had dragged her out into the daylight, I handed her over to a bunch of guys dressed in black and watched them escort her to a blacked-out SUV.
Glad to see the end of our mission, I climbed back into the van. I dumped my rifle, peeled off my gloves, removed my helmet, and ripped off the balaclava, hot and confused.
For the rest of the journey, I sat in silence, aware of Matheus’ eyes drilling into me. I refused to look at him. Even when we all boarded the chopper bound for our Sicilian base, I had made sure I sat next to Oistin.
