Page 61 of In the Shadows

I lose myself in conversation with Bishop.

He tells me about his love for cars and how, before they made it into the position they hold now, he used to boost them to make some extra cash to help claw them out of debt.

I’m so stunned that he’s telling me about his past, their past, that I hang off every single word he says.

In the weak moments where I’ve allowed myself to consider what it would be like to be with these men, I never thought it would be like this. I never thought any of them would be real with me like this.

“We should get back.” Bishop frowns at the time on his expensive watch.

I nod and push my glass to the edge of the table as I slide out of the booth. “Thank you for this.” I smile up at him.

He tugs me into his arms and wraps himself around me. “You’re welcome, love.”

When he releases me, he grips my hand in one hand and collects both glasses in the other, bringing them both to the counter for Kay.

“Bye, you two!” She beams. “Make sure you bring Cami back to see me again!”

He chuckles. “I definitely will.”

I say a quick thank you as Bishop drags me out the door and onto the street. Time passed so quickly while we were in the ice cream shop that the crowds that surrounded us on our way here are nowhere to be seen.

Bishop slips the sunglasses back onto my face, and I keep my head down as he pulls me back the way we came.

The lack of crowd has made him tense, so I allow him to weave me through side streets we didn’t walk down on the way here.

“Bishop?” I whisper when he curses.

“It’s okay, love,” he says tightly. “I’m just being overly cautious.”

I clamp my lips shut even though it’s clearly a lie. I’m pretty sure someone is following us, but I haven’t been brave enough to chance a look over my shoulder, and I don’t plan on it now.

“I need you to do everything I say, Camilla,” Bishop murmurs against my ear.

“Okay.”

“I want you to slide your hand into my jacket and pull my gun out of my holster. Can you do that for me?”

“Yes.”

He turns us down an alley, and the sight of it makes my stomach tense uncomfortably. Images assault me. The men who hurt me. The ones who beat me without mercy. Who left me for dead. Panic washes over me as they crash over me, and I can barely breathe through it.

“Camilla,” Bishop snaps, pulling me back into the present.

I take a second to force air into my lungs before doing as he instructed me. I reach into his jacket, wrapping my fingers around the cool metal of the gun.

“Do you know how to shoot it?”

I don’t answer him, instead, I steel myself into the Mafia queen I was born to be and spin around. It’s only a split second before the bullet sails through the air and lands in the man’s chest. A kill shot. Just like I was taught.

The man drops to the ground, and Bishop shoves me behind him, taking the gun from my hands carefully before surveilling the rest of the alley.

“We need to get out of here,” he concludes.

“What about him?”

“I’ll send a clean-up crew to deal with the body.”

Bishop drags me to the mouth of the alley, and it’s only now I realize how violently my body is shaking. My father used to say my emotions would be my downfall. I just hope he was wrong.

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