Page 80 of Burn Falls
“No?” I questioned back.
“I know why you’re here.”
“Of course you do. Did you think I wouldn’t find out?”
“It’s business, Draven, and Capone is in the pen.”
“Capone ain’t the boss.”
Malone chuckled. “Well, not now.”
“Not ever. He was just an underboss for Cavalli. Renzo Cavalli.”
“Never heard the name.”
“Doesn’t matter. He sent me to make a deal.”
“Make a deal?”
“Invite me in, and I’ll tell you all about it.”
He stared at me for a few moments. “Fine. Come in.”
I moved past him, and as he stepped aside, I glanced over my shoulder. Athan gave me a nod of approval.
“Whiskey?”
“Sure.”
Malone poured two glasses, and I took a seat in his living room. He handed me a glass, and then took a seat across from me. “So what’s the deal?”
“There’s no deal,” I stated.
“No deal? Then why the fuck are you here?” His heart started to beat faster in his chest.
“To send a message.”
“You going to take me out?”
I took a sip of the whiskey just as I heard footsteps above me. I was so caught up in what I needed to do, that I hadn’t heard or sensed there was another person here. That wasn’t good, and if Renzo ever found out, he’d takemeout. I wasn’t cut out to be a killer even if the curse was in the blood in my body.
“Who’s here besides you?”
“My wife.”
“You have a wife?”
“Of course I do.”
The footsteps started to come down the stairs, and I looked over to see a woman in a silk robe descending them.
“Go back upstairs, Annie,” Malone barked.
Annie’s gaze met mine, and it was then I realized I heard two heartbeats coming from her. I looked down at her belly. She was pregnant. Very pregnant. She looked as though she was going to give birth at any second.
I couldn’t go through with it.
I could kill her too. I could make it look like a robbery or even compel her to kill her husband and then herself. Except there was no way I was going to take a woman’s life, let alone a pregnant one. That wasn’t who I was deep down even if I was a monster.
