Page 2 of Salvatore

With a scream, Angelo falls to the floor howling. “What the fuck?” Vin growls, leaping to his feet.

I don’t explain why I shot one of his made men, someone he trusted. My next bullet goes into the enforcer, the impact and his pain enough to send him flying off his chair. He went for his Sig. I wasn’t waiting for him to pull the trigger. Outside, all hell’s breaking loose, my heartbeat pounding fast in my chest until I hear the voices of Vin’s family taking control.

Less than a minute later, a sharp rap to the door is followed by Benny’s deep voice. “Sal?”

“All clear,” I tell him, my tone steady. “You?”

It’s not my words that he believes, it’s the confidence behind them. “All clear,” he responds in the same tone, letting me know they have Arturo’s men on the ground.

Vin’s reaching into the drawer, pulling out his Glock. To his credit, he’s not questioning anything anymore, not after Arturo’s enforcer went for his piece. He’s reining in his shit like he needs to.

Lucca covers me as I strip every one of their weapons. Angelo is wailing like the little bitch he is. The enforcer is swearing, pressing the wound on his shoulder as blood seeps through his fingers. I intentionally missed his heart. But no one needs to know that.

I drop the weapons beside Vin and far out of everyone’s reach. Arturo and his second haven’t said a damn thing. They weren’t scared of Vin before. But they are now.

I’m not sure what Vin’s going to say. My fear is, he may say the wrong thing in front of Lucca that makes him look pathetic. Lucca is loyal, so are a few others, but if they keep seeing Vin acting like he’s acting, they’ll lose whatever respect he’s managed outside his title of boss.

“Vin knew you were playing him, you pussy,” I tell Angelo, lying through my teeth. “Were you going to kill him in front of Arturo? Was that your way into the family, you lying piece of shit?”

In not answering, he answers enough. At Vin’s nod, Lucca puts a bullet in Arturo’s second, and finishes off the enforcer.

Vin motions to the door. “Call in a few of my men,” he tells me.

I unlock the door and do as he asked, after I make sure everything is still under control. Vin’s not ready to be boss, but he isn’t stupid, at least not completely. He knows Arturo needs to die by his hands, and that he needs witnesses to see him. I pick three who have started to question Vin’s strength, knowing they’ll tell the rest of the family what’s about to go down, and show them what happens to those who don’t stay loyal.

The men pile in, but Vin doesn’t let them get too comfortable. He shoots Arturo in the face with his Glock while the last two to enter are still busy taking in Angelo, writhing on the floor. Vin keeps his face neutral, his confidence returning now that he knows his life isn’t immediately on the line.

I take a step back when he prowls toward Angelo. Angelo was Vin’s trusted third. To be who Vin wants to be, he has to send a message. But I don’t tell him that. It’s something he needs to realize on his own. “What did he promise you after you killed me, pussy?” he asks Angelo.

Angelo doesn’t deny his intention. Doesn’t beg for his life. He knows it’s over. So, he hits Vin the only way he can. “Your father’s the pussy for letting a chicken shit like you take over.”

Vin’s heel comes down hard on Angelo’s face, smashing his nose in. But he doesn’t stop there. He snatches the paperweight on his desk and flings himself to the floor, bashing Angelo’s face in, not stopping until the side of his temple caves inward.

To anyone eyeing me, it looks like I’m watching everything and immune to it all. Yeah. My face never gives anything away. That doesn’t mean my body’s not punishing me on the inside. I fight back the nausea working its way through my gut and just how hard my heartbeat thunders out of control. Weakness in the mob and in life gets you killed. I need to live, despite how my sins have all but sliced my throat.

“Fuck,” one of the boys says, looking away. He’s new and probably has killed with his gun. But shooting someone is easy. Too easy. It’s not intimate. Not like killing someone with your bare hands like Vin just did.

Vin stumbles to his feet, out of breath and covered with plenty of Angelo’s DNA. His face twists as if angry, which makes him look good, but I know better. “Get rid of them,” he says, spitting out blood that hit his mouth.

“What about his men?” someone else asks.

“All of them need to go,” Vin says, falling back into the leather seat behind his chair.

“All right, boss,” another says.

Vin’s focus darts my way. He expects an approving nod from me. But he isn’t going to get it. As much as I’m a part of this shit, it doesn’t mean I like it.

Or that I don’t want out.

I climb into my Range Rover and shut the door tight. Vin’s hand is shaking as he takes a drag of his cigarette. I knew he wasn’t going to keep it together for long, so I made it like he needed to be away from the cleanup in case someone heard the shots and called it in.

“Is Donnie coming?” he asks, sprawling across the back seat.

“Yeah. She’s picking out girls she thinks you might like. Says she’ll be right out.”

I snagged Donnie at a street festival a few blocks away, after I secured Vin in my ride. She flung her arms around me and started crying when she saw me. I quickly pulled her off me and lead her to Vin. Donnie cares as much as someone like her can, and mostly for all the wrong reasons. I know this and, maybe, she does, too, which is why we’re outside a strip club Vin owns waiting on her and whoever she’s recruiting to lift Vin’s spirits.

“How many girls is she bringing?”

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