Page 99 of Broken Love

The old man glares up at me from his chair, looking far worse off than his offspring. Broken, defeated. Barely even breathing.

“Mr. Zappia,” I greet as politely as possible. “I know it’s taking longer than we agreed, but I just got a lead on Hart’s location. It won’t be long now.”

His eyes shift in his skull, floating from exhaustion as if they’ll suddenly detach and roll out of their sockets.

“Let him go,” he finally says.

Enzo leans forward. “Pops…”

Zappia silences him with a look. “Archer,” he says to me, “Dante Hart is no longer your concern.”

I furrow my brow. This is a far different tune than the one he sang when he hired me. Back then, he was angry, full of vengeance, and extremely willing to line my pockets with every dollar he had in exchange for dragging Hart back here by his toenails.

I clear my throat. “Sir, if I may ask…”

“I am old,” he says, licking his pale lips. “I am tired, and I am finished. I had my homeland taken from me. My middle son disappeared without a trace. Last night, my youngest was gunned down in front of me… and I can’t say he didn’t deserve it.” He falls quiet for a moment. “I deserved it.”

Enzo stands up, grimacing from the pain in his foot. “Pops—”

“Your contract is canceled,” Zappia tells me, ignoring his eldest son. “You will be compensated for your time and expenses, plus more if you don’t find that sufficient.”

I glance at Enzo. He stares silently at the floor with white-knuckle fists.

This is far from what I expected when I received his call this morning. I expected to beg for more time with a gun to my head. I’m not sure if I’m more thankful to be alive or more disappointed for losing a lucrative client.

“That’s more than sufficient, sir,” I say. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

Zappia says nothing more. He turns in his chair, sinking a little further down into it. A little more and he’ll fuse with it completely. Maybe he’s better off that way.

I turn and walk back out onto the catwalk. As I descend the stairs, I look at the floor again, wondering which of these bloodstains belonged to Marty, the youngest Zappia boy.

The guard by the entrance pauses and reaches behind his back as I head his way. He silently hands me my gun and I offer a nod of gratitude before pushing open the entrance and stepping out into the thick, Chicago air.

Bloody hell is right.

I don’t envy the Zappia family, but I don’t pity them, either. Blood and heartache are what you should expect when you’re the most powerful mob family in Chicago. I saw the surprise in Zappia’s eyes. He didn’t see this coming at all.

Oh, well. I guess I need to find a new client.

“Allen.”

I pause, hearing Enzo’s deep growl behind me in the casino entrance. He hobbles over to me, frowning and wincing, and I have half a mind to wrap a hand around my gun’s grip.

“Enzo…” I say.

He halts in front of me. “Find Dante Hart.”

“You heard the old man,” I say. “I’m fired.”

“Well, I’m rehiring you. Whatever my father offered you for Dante, I’ll triple it.”

I raise a brow. “Why?”

“Because I want you to put a bullet in his fucking skull… and I want the twins, too.”

The twins. Elijah and Lilah. Dante’s little brother and sister.

I’ve been tracking them myself the last few weeks during my search for Dante. A whole family of Snake Eyes agents, each of them deadly in their own way. I’d rather not run into them again but if the price is right…

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