Page 95 of Tainted Love

“Is he here now?”

“Last I knew, he was on his way here to kill you,” I answer. “But he’s not the one you should be scared of.”

Marty sits back in his chair, his eyes never leaving my face. “You walk into my father’s casino alone and I’m the one who’s scared?”

“You will be.”

A bit of spit drips off his limp lip. He wipes it clean with his cloth and stuffs it back into his suit pocket. “You shouldn’t have come here, Lucy Vaughn.”

“But Marty…” I lean forward. “You promised me a game.”

“Your daddy’s dead, honey,” he gloats. “He won’t be stopping by here again, so I’d say you got your wish.”

“Obviously, there’s been a change in terms.”

His black eyes sparkle. “Oh?”

“You have something I want,” I say, “and I have something you want. It’s very simple.”

“What do you have that I want?” he asks, his nose curling.

“Dante Hart.”

Marty’s face contorts and I know he feels that bullet carving a hole in his face again — just as I felt the sting of a crowbar the second I laid eyes on him.

“Where is he?” he asks.

“I can show you where you can find him… if you win.”

“And if you win?”

“You die.”

He laughs. “That hardly seems fair—”

“Fairness would be if I walked upstairs and shot your father in the head while I made you watch,” I interrupt. “Fairness would be if I slaughtered everyone here, broke your legs, and burned this place to the ground with you still inside.” He narrows his eyes. “No, Marty. I think your death is plenty fair.”

His face dips and his fingers flick over his chips. “You’ll lead me to Hart?”

“And his entire family. All yours.”

He smirks. “Trouble in paradise?”

I glance down at my throbbing, purple wrist. “Something like that.”

“And what happens to you?” he asks. “It would seem if you lose… you don’t really lose. Hart does.”

“I lose either way,” I point out. “If I win, the entire Zappia family comes for me. If I lose, the Hart family does. In either case, I don’t walk out of Chicago alive.”

“Then, why bother?” he asks. “Why not stay dead?”

“Revenge.” I stare him down. “You took everything from me, Marty Zappia. I’d like to return the favor. Surely, you’re not as much of a coward as your old man is.”

His face blurs, blending between hatred and malice.

“Well, Lucy Vaughn…” He thumbs his chips again. “We have a deal.”

Chapter 33

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