Page 18 of Luca

Cillian nods and looks toward the door. There’s no remorse or sadness in his eyes over the fact that his cousin is probably lying dead in a gravel parking lot. “It was always going to end up this way,” he says, turning his back toward the door.

Finn clasps Cillian on the shoulder then turns to me. “Well, this is a shit show.”

“Yeah,” I agree, looking around the warehouse at the three dead men.

“It might be time to pull you,” Finn suggests.

I thought about this when I put a bullet in Ernesto’s head. There’s no easy way for me to stay with the Cataldis. It would be far too coincidental if I ran back to them without a scratch on me. Plus, I’d look like a coward in their eyes if I came back unharmed.

“You need to shoot me,” I tell him.

Both he and Cillian turn an incredulous gaze to me.

“Come again?” Finn asks, his eyebrow quirked in question.

“Think about it. If I walk back into that house unharmed, they’ll be suspicious immediately. It needs to look like I ran for my life after trying to save Alberto. The way I look at it, I’ll take a shot to the arm and tell them we were outgunned and I watched Alberto and the other men fall. Then I’ll tell them I got away when you were running after Jace to get him and the girl.”

“Fuck, Luca. I don’t know if that’s going to work. What if they get suspicious? The first place to look for a mole is at the one person left standing.”

“That’s why you need to shoot me, Finn. It sells it.”

“We could pull you now—”

“No.” My voice is resolute and leaves no room for argument. “Listen, I hate those fucks as much as you, and believe me, I’d love nothing more than to get the hell out of there, but the skin trade is booming and the Cataldis play a large role in it. Taking out Alberto is the tip of the iceberg. All that did was take away one man who was helping Carlo. It’s not enough. We need more information. With Alberto and the other two gone, he might move me up in his place.”

“That’s a big ‘might.’“

“It’s all we have right now.”

“He’s right,” Cillian says. “If Luca comes out now, we could very well be screwing ourselves in the long run.”

Finn looks anything but convinced as he contemplates the possible outcome of pulling me from the Cataldis too soon.

“Fuck,” he says, running a hand through his disheveled dark hair. When his gaze flicks back to me with eyes eerily similar to mine, I see the decision in them.

“Let the record show I hate this idea.”

“Noted,” I reply as he raises his gun and fires.

Once I’m a good distance from the warehouse, I call Carlo.

“Fuck, man! They knew we were there. It was a setup. I think that asshole Jace double-crossed us. The fucking Irish showed up then the Black Roses. I barely made it out.”

My arm hurts like a bitch and I’m getting blood all over Alberto’s car, but all in all, I think I’m selling my bullshit pretty well.

“Where’s Alberto?” Carlo barks.

“Dead, boss. Everyone’s dead.”

“Shit,” he hisses into the phone. “Okay. Are you whole?”

“I got shot when they barged in. It’s just a graze, but fuck, it’s a good one.”

At least that part I don’t have to fake. Finn refused to shoot me through and through, insisting a deep graze would be enough to sell it. Considering I’ve never been shot, I’d have to agree.

“Jesus. Okay, where are you?”

“About two hours north of Boston.”

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