Page 37 of Deadly Don's Baby Contract

Luca nods and holds the car door open for me. I hesitate. It feels wrong—there’s a missing piece, and I’m afraid we’re somehow playing into Vito’s hand.

“You okay?” Luca asks, sensing my unease.

“Something is not right.”

“I said that from the day they took her.” He shrugs. “But when is anything in our lives right?”

He is younger than me and not quite as jaded yet. He’ll learn. “We have enough men and firepower. They won’t touch us or her.” They have her, and I am afraid of what might have already happened. “Get in the car, Luca.”

He hurries to the driver's side, and the convoy of cars all move at the same time.

“Let’s go to the washing.” I check my gun and make sure I have a spare in the glove box. Pests can be hard to kill.

Two of the mercenaries I hired for extra security are in the back seat, silent killing machines. An insurance policy of sorts, they do what they’re paid for. Loyalty only to the one who pays their wages. Luca’s phone rings, and he answers the call, steering us through traffic with one hand.

“She’s there,” he says as he hangs up. “She’s under heavy guard, but they have confirmed she’s alive.”

Thank God. “Don’t let them do anything stupid to get her hurt, you hear me.” My sister needs to be protected if they get trigger-happy. “Guilin’s safety comes first, then we level the place. And every other one he has. Cut him off at the fucking knees.”

The car comes to a halt outside the dirtiest-looking laundromat I’ve ever seen. I’d be afraid my clothes would come out dirtier than they went in. A closed sign dangles on the door in the middle of the day, and the street is conspicuously quiet. “Don’t get out,” I say, stopping Luca as he’s about to open the door. “It’s too quiet. Wait.”

“Wait for what? We know she’s in there.”

“But why is no one out here? Literally no one.” Luca looks around, but this whole street corner is empty. “We wait in the car.” The car is armored, and sadly, my body is not bulletproof. In here, it is safest.

We will fetch her, Silent and Violent pipe up from the back seat. “Quiet doesn’t scare us.”

I think about it for a second. “Go.” I nod. “But my sister's life above all else. She comes out unscathed.”

“We know what to do.”

I hate waiting. Patience is a virtue I do not have. There are a few virtues I’m missing. They push open the glass door, and I watch them go inside. I should have gone with them.

“Sniper,” Luca says, not moving or pointing or even looking in the direction of the gunman. “Second-story window across the street.”

“I told you, too quiet.” They wanted a shot at me, or they’d have taken out my men. This is more personal than I thought. “He’s waiting for me.”

“Let him wait,” Luca says. “He won’t get his shot.” This one won’t, but Vito has it in for me, and I doubt he’ll stop unless I make him.

“It’s taking too long.” We’re sitting ducks out here, and I am not comfortable. My phone buzzes with a text.

Rat—Boss, do you know who you married? I don’t think we should be looking under these rocks. Call me.

Me—Kind of busy saving my sister. Elaborate, you fucking fool.

Rat—Call me. I am not texting shit that’ll get me a plot at the cemetery.

Me—I will buy the plot, kill you, and bury you in it!

Rat—Call me, or come see me.

I’m sick to my stomach, but when I look up and see my sister walking out of the door between the two human shields, I forget his texts for a moment. She’s alive, unharmed, and looks pretty good for a hostage.

“Took you fuckers long enough,” she says, climbing into the car. “Jesus, I could have saved myself faster.”

“Why didn’t you?” I say to her—ungrateful little shit.

“Because I was learning some very interesting shit at the laundromat. Do men think quiet women are stupid? Because y’all run your mouths like we have no ears.”

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