Page 38 of Courting Danger

I was being buried.

I pressed my hands against the lid of the container, desperately scratching at the metal with blunt fingernails.

The drug in my system kept me weak but wasn’t enough to knock me fully unconscious. It was a last act of cruelty on my murderers’ part. I had no choice but to listen as inch by inch my coffin was covered in what sounded like wet concrete.

Through all this, only one thought filled my head.

I was going to die, and I’d never get to apologize.

CHAPTER 14

Garrison

I inched into the room, placing myself between D’Angelo Bianchi and the door where Ghita hid just out of sight in the hall. I trusted her to protect herself. After all, I’d seen the way she handled a knife. However, a good bodyguard was always a bodyguard, and the urge to put myself between others and danger would always win in the end.

Except, the Bianchi family leader wasn’t presenting as much of a threat as I expected. The man never even looked up, too busy fiddling with something on his phone. He waved the device around for a moment then scowled at whatever the screen showed.

As I debated what to do, Ghita leaned around the doorframe and spotted her informant unconscious on the floor.

“Jason, what... You bastard.”

Finally, the Bianchi leader looked up and tapped Ghita’s informant with the toe of his shoe. “Oh, please, you can’t be mad when you were using this man to spy on me. What were you expecting to happen?” His eyes never strayed from us, but at the same time, he also pulled out a small notepad from the inner pocket of his jacket and started writing.

There was an arrogant lilt to the man’s voice, like he knew he was the one in control despite being outnumbered. Any ideas I had of trying to fight the man head on went out the window. This was the type of person who wouldn’t reveal his knife until it was sticking out of his enemy’s neck.

Metaphorically, at least.

The man’s actual knife was on open display in a sheath strapped to his leg.

Instead, I tried a tactful approach. Maybe there was a way for us all to leave this interaction alive. “If you knew this man was a Mariano spy, why come here yourself?”

The Bianchi leader shrugged. “After I heard that Alex had gone missing, I knew you’d show up here. I have business to take care of with the Mariano family.” He pulled down one side of his jacket to reveal the bandage wrapped around his arm.

Then he held up the notepad so Ghita and I could read what he’d written.

I’m bugged. My family is overprotective. But it only transmits audio. Keep talking like normal.

Once he was certain his message had been read, he pulled back the notepad and started writing again.

“The new head of your family asked to meet with me, and in the process, I was shot. Now, you’re claiming that it was a hit against Alex, but since I’m the one who was injured and he came out unscathed, I’m not so sure.”

He held up the notepad again.

I’m being framed. I had nothing to do with Alex’s disappearance.

Then he set another notepad on the table beside an empty chair.

“However, I’m willing to hear out whatever apology you can scrape together. Maybe it’ll change my mind.”

Picking up the hint, Ghita claimed the open seat. As she started writing on the notepad, I moved to stand behind her so I could follow both the spoken and unspoken conversations.

Unlike the Bianchi leader, Ghita waited until she finished writing to speak again.

“It’s just like we said. Someone was trying to kill Alex. I’m sorry you got caught in the crossfire, but it wasn’t intentional.”

Why sneak around like this?

If you didn’t kidnap Alex, just say so.

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