Page 133 of Charity's Redemption

“There’s only one man in my life that dictates what comes out of my mouth, and you ain’t it. Let’s cut to the chase here, shall we?”

“Fine. Have you continued working for Luca?”

“I thought that would be obvious. Maybe you should get some glasses instead of that worthless seeing-eye dog you’ve got up there.”

Elias launched at me faster than I could react, wrapping his hand around my throat and slamming my head against the side of the car. His gun pressed into my chest, but the throbbing buzz in my brain numbed me to the possibility of death.

“I should gut you like a fish and feed you to those precious ducks.”

Pressure hit my temples as he squeezed hard in anger. My shoulder rubbed against the door frame, added an extra bit of pain on top of everything else he touched.

“If you wanted me dead, you would’ve done it already.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Charity. I do want you dead. I’m just debating if it’s worth the fallout.”

“Want a cheat sheet? The answer’s no.” I glared at him. “It won’t be just Luca’s wrath you’ll be facing.” He squeezed a little harder, making the words a bit more difficult to get out. “You’ll have all three come down on your head like the Holy Trinity.”

Elias’ grip lessened, but his gun pressed harder into my rib cage with the threat of immediate death.

I’d stared down the barrel of a gun countless times, each one with their own story of death behind it, but this… this seemed more plausible as time went on.

Blood found its way through my opened arteries, and air flowed freely into my lungs with a whoosh.

“They don’t scare me.”

“So why are you hesitating… pull the trigger?”

Watching those two goat it with their words was enough to have me running for cover and shielding myself for whatever may come.

I expected their volatile arguments and interactions. What I didn’t expect was for him to walk through the door… without her.

Luca sat on the couch and tossed her broken phone on the coffee table next to his while using every Italian expletive he could think of.

“Uh, where have you been?” I asked, looking over my shoulder for Charity. “Where’s Charity?”

“I went for a drive, and she is taking the long way home.”

“Without her phone?”

“It wouldn’t be much of a consequence if I let her call a cab, would it?”

“That’s a ten-mile walk… at least.”

“I’ll guess she’ll learn not to test my patience.”

“Hmm.” I whipped out my phone and pulled up the app that gave me her location. “And what if something happens to her?”

“She tells us time and time again she’s perfectly capable of taking care of herself.”

“Do you think that’s true, considering all the times we’ve had to come help her?” A blue dot appeared on a map that hadn’t loaded yet. “What about just recently… had to help her there. Or the time when the hitman stabbed her? If she didn’t have her phone, she would’ve died.”

The map loaded the streets and gray boxes, representing buildings, showing Charity walking on the side of the road.

“What more trouble could that girl get into? She’s already eliminated more enemies than me since I’ve taken over.”

I snorted, keeping my eye on the moving dot.

No truer words.

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