I swallow past my dry throat. This is what my father trained me for. I spent years learning how to keep everyone at a distance. How to detach from my emotions. How to use that ruthlessness to my advantage.
The right thing would be to refuse him.
Garzolo watches me. A drop of sweat trails down my back.
He presses dial on his phone.
“Fine!” I break, my control slipping through my fingers. I squeeze my eyes shut, feeling something shatter inside of me. “The DA’s got an indentured servant that he’s been hiding for years in his home.”
Garzolo’s eyes flash with victory. “How very awful of him.” He lifts his gun, pointing it at my face. “Guess I’ll have to pay him a visit soon.”
I stare down the barrel.
And then a shot rings through the air.
CHAPTER 36
RAFAELE
I blink. Somehow, I’m still alive. Garzolo is crouched on the ground shouting commands at his men, and there’s gunfire all around me.
I duck and glance over my shoulder.
De Rossi and his consigliere, along with two more men I don’t recognize, are storming the warehouse. I huff out a breath. I might actually make it out of this alive.
Staying low, I run toward where my guns are lying discarded on the floor. I snatch them up and find cover behind the closest storage container.
Five against fourteen.
Not fucking bad.
I take aim and start firing, picking off Garzolo’s men one by one. De Rossi and his guys fight like demons raised straight from hell. Sounds of gunfire and screams ring through the air. Ras appears and takes cover beside me. He exchanges shots with one of Garzolo’s guys, and when he runs out of bullets, I take aim and get the man between the eyes.
“Fuck, nice shot,” Ras says, reloading his gun. “You okay?”
“Fine. You and your boss have perfect timing. Where’s Garzolo? We need him alive. I’ve got plans for him.”
“Yeah, you and the rest of us,” Ras mutters. “Over there.” He nods toward a pile of boxes at the back of the warehouse. “I saw him running.”
I glance around. Damiano’s men are keeping Garzolo’s guys occupied, and it looks like they’ve got it.
“I’m going to make sure he doesn’t get any farther,” I say to Ras and run toward the boxes. A bullet grazes me, but I ignore it.
Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in—
My back slams against the wall. From this angle, I can see him. Garzolo’s huddled in the corner, crouching with his gun raised while his men are dying.
Coward.
There’s a look of sheer panic etched onto his face. Blood runs onto the ground from his leg. He must have been hit when the fighting broke out. It takes him a while to notice me approach. He yelps and tries to shoot, but I’m on him too quickly. I force him down to the ground, knock the gun out of his hand, and press the barrel of my gun to his temple.
“You’re going to pay for what you’ve done,” I growl.
The gunshots around me die down. The fighting is over. Footsteps sound behind me, and Ras and De Rossi appear at my side.
“Not so fast,” Ras growls. “This cockroach deserves to die slowly.”
De Rossi nods. “Very fucking slowly.”
They’re right.
I stand up, keeping my gun pointed at Garzolo. I lift my foot and step on where Garzolo’s leg is shot. His bone makes a loud crunch, and he screams out in agony. It’s music to my ears. But it’s not enough. Not even close. I want him to suffer. I want him to feel the pain and fear Cleo felt when we were getting shot at by his men at Il Caminetto. Bloodlust makes my vision darken at the edges.
Then I remember—Cleo is waiting for me.
Fuck. I have to go to her.
I turn to De Rossi. “Did they get my wife?”
“I don’t know,” he says. “I sent Napoletano there to help Nero, but I haven’t heard from him yet.”
He sent Napoletano to Cleo but the two of them came here? “You should have gone there too.”
“We saved your life, asshole,” Ras snaps, his gaze fixed on Garzolo. “Go to her. You can thank us by leaving him to us.”
He wants to deal with Garzolo? I size the two of them up. I suppose if there’s anyone who wants Garzolo to suffer as much as I do, it’s them. They won’t show him mercy, not after everything Garzolo has done to his other two daughters. Garzolo abused Gemma and married Valentina off to a madman before she escaped and met De Rossi. This vermin deserves everything that’s coming to him.
Cleo is still out there, and I have to go to her.