Page 69 of Warped

Chapter Twenty-seven

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I took deep satisfaction in watching Tony the Hound bleed out on his office floor. I knew Vee would have liked to have killed him herself, but there hadn’t been time to worry about requests.

She ran to me, and I pulled her against me, holding her tight.

“Are you okay?” I asked. I held her at arm’s length so I could see her poor, bruised throat, and the further injuries that son of a bitch had caused her.

She nodded and said, “I will be,” but her voice came out as a hoarse whisper.

I hugged her again and kissed her hard.

“We need to get out of here,” I told her. “We can’t be found surrounded by dead bodies.”

The man Tony called Paulie was still alive, his face mashed by my fist, which was throbbing. I released Vee and stood over him. “If you see Verity’s father—Mickey Five Fingers—tell him that we’re coming for him. Got it?”

His eyes started to roll in his head, as he was about to pass out. I gave him a shove with my foot, snatching his attention back to me. “Got it?” I repeated, my voice more forceful.

The man managed to nod, and I turned my attention away from him.

Vee was standing over the body of her former boss, her hand to her mouth. “This wasn’t really his fault,” she managed to croak. “He didn’t deserve to die.”

“Plenty of people don’t deserve to die.”

“But he wouldn’t have even been involved if it wasn’t for giving me a job. I must have this black cloud hovering over me that destroys the lives of everyone I come into contact with.”

“Bullshit. The only black cloud you have is your father. Once we get rid of him, everything will be fine.”

She looked at me, her dark eyes serious. “So we’re going to kill him?”

“I don’t think we’ve got any choice.”

“And what about Nicole?”

“We take her with us, if she’ll come. I suspect after seeing your father kill that man—Mateo—she might have started to realize you weren’t the one responsible for your mother dying. Maybe she’s started to see the bigger picture, and how much you’ve been trying to help her.”

Her chin jerked in the faintest of nods. “I hope you’re right.”

I bent and picked up the guns Tony’s men had held. It wasn’t as though they’d be needing them, and I figured we probably would.

We didn’t want to be seen leaving the property, so we left the way we’d entered, cutting through the back of the building and stepping over the body of Nicole’s tutor. I worried the sound of gunfire would have alerted others in the area, and I didn’t want the cops showing up. The wall was higher on this side—the ground having been dug down during the construction of the property—so it took us a little longer to get over without the help of a rope. I was able to help Vee, as she was still weak from her ordeal, but then I stepped back to get a good run up. Moving as fast as I could, I ran toward the wall and jumped. I slammed into it, crunching my ribs and expelling the air from my lungs in a huff. My fingers slipped from the brick, taking part of my skin with it and tearing a nail, but then Vee grabbed me and pulled me up, just as she’d done on the way in.

I was still concerned about Giovanni Bianchi possibly being on my tail, but we’d dealt with Tony, so now we needed to do the same to Vee’s father, and then we could get the hell out of the city. I still had images of Vee sipping cocktails in a bikini somewhere in Mexico dancing around my head, and I wasn’t going to allow a couple of asshole gangsters take that from me.

We ran back to the car, and I grabbed the keys from where I’d hidden them above the wheel.

I unlocked the door and we both jumped in, breathing hard.

I turned to Vee. “Where now?”

“My father’s place,” she said, her hand at her throat. Her voice sounded better, but was still grating. “I have to go there. He’ll only track me down if I don’t. We’re armed, and he has Nicole. I have to do this. I have to face him, whatever the consequences.”

I didn’t want her to. The thought of losing her made me not want to live, but I knew I’d never persuade Vee not to do something when her mind was made up. Besides, the man was still her father. He’d caused her more heartbreak than any man should ever cause a woman, and it wasn’t my place to tell her no.

She gave me directions, and I started to drive, the gun wedged between my knees.

We waited at the lights, impatient for them to turn from red to green. I glanced over at her. “Whatever happens, Vee, know that I love you.”

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