Page 48 of Pregnant By the Mafia Boss

I shoot him in the face before he can react, turning to shoot his companion before spinning around to find Christian laughing.

He’s pointing his gun directly at Luca.

“Drop it,” he says. “Or your brother dies.”

“If you shoot him, I shoot you.”

“Then we are at an impasse. Time to negotiate. You lay down your gun and surrender. I’ll let those two leave.”

“Like hell you will.”

He spins the gun to point at me. “You don’t trust me? I’m the head of the high council. So be it. Goodbye, Salvatore. The better man won.”

There’s the boom of a gun firing. I look down, expecting a bloom of red to appear on my chest, but there’s nothing.

Christian’s lips are moving, but he can’t speak. His hands go to the hole in his chest, a frown forming on his face. He falls to his knees, still looking confused, and slumps to the ground, dead.

I look behind him. Keira is standing there, gun in her hand, still pointed at the corpse. “Yes, he did,” she says, her voice icy cold.

I run over to her and kiss her. “I thought you were locked in the basement,” I say. “How did you get out?”

“Had some help,” she says. “Climbed out the window and around to the door there. Came in while he was busy slapping you like a pussy.”

“Why didn’t you shoot him straightaway?”

“Because the guards would have killed your brothers.” She smiles. “I was waiting for the right moment.”

I frown at her. “You put yourself in danger. Put ourbabyin danger. That is unacceptable.”

She frowns back. “Prefer I’d left you to it? You know, I had the chance to walk away from here forever, but I came back. Don’t make me regret my decision.”

“Youcannottake risks like that again. Promise me.”

She leans toward my ear, whispering softly. “Perhaps you can punish me for it later.” Then she steps back. “He hurt my husband. He had to die,” she adds loudly.

Luca walks over to the door and calls into the house. “Attention, all goons. Your boss, Christian Garibaldi, is dead. If you wish to leave with your lives, walk away now.”

He nods back at us all. “Shall we see if they are willing to defend a dead man?”

19

Salvatore

In the end, it’s almost anti-climactic.

We get out of the house without so much as a sharp word from any of the high council guards.

They stand back, saying nothing, just watching us leave.

I get the feeling Christian wasn’t much liked by anyone.

The flight back is mostly spent having Keira tend to my wounds. She dabs cool cloths in water and wipes the blood away from my face before turning to my wrists.

“That looks painful,” she says, wincing slightly at the sight.

“Nothing compared to the thought of losing you.”

She smiles. “You couldn’t lose me if you tried. I’m like a bad penny. I keep turning up.”

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