Page 47 of Salvatore

Chapter Thirteen

Salvatore

The sit-down Vin has with Raphael goes as well as I thought, which means everything goes to shit. Raph didn’t mince words and told Vin flat out he wants his domain. Vin, being who he is, answers with an immediate nod that gives Lucca the okay to shoot Raph point blank in the face.

We had a plan, me and Vin. Hear Raph out, give him the terms. “Stay loyal or pay the price.” Vin jumps straight into pay the price, so now me and Raph’s enforcer are fucking each other up.

Monster?no shit, that’s what he goes by?takes a swing. I duck out of reach, but he still catches me in the skull, sending me flying into the wall. My foot nails him in the gut when he hurtles towards me. He stumbles back just far enough for Benny to empty his clip into him and not shoot me.

Vin is still hiding beneath the desk where I shoved him. I stagger to him, holding tight to my upper arm where the Monster stabbed me. Inches. He missed my heart by inches. If I hadn’t turned when everyone started swinging?

The barrel of a gun comes flying out over the desk. I dive out of reach when Vin sets off three rounds. Benny isn’t so lucky.

“Mother fucker,” Benny howls, falling to the floor.

“Vin?Vin!” I shout. I’m ready to kill him my damn self. I keep it together enough to control him. “It’s over, boss,” I say.

Vin stands, blood pouring from his mouth from his brief interaction with Raph’s second. What the hell would this little bitch have done without me? He can’t do shit right. Problem is, he knows it, which is why he demanded I show. I mutter a swear, nailing him with a glare as I address his men.

Everyone is breathing hard from the fight and from the rush. Eight dead. Two of them ours, and now Benny’s lying on the floor bleeding. I kneel next to Benny, ripping what’s left of my jacket off and pressing it to his thigh. “What do you want us to do, boss?” I ask.

It’s my way of giving control back to Vin. His men are looking at me, waiting for me to make a decision. He needs to answer and call the shots, and he needs to do it fast before he loses any more face. “Boss?” I question, louder. Like his men, I can’t wait to get the hell out of here.

Vin hurries out from behind the desk, but it’s not to talk. He kicks Raph’s already mutilated face. “Mother fucker!” he yells.

Christ.

The men gathered look from Vin to me, their expressions hard, annoyed, but mainly pissed. This is the man they took an oath to. The one they’re risking everything to stay loyal to. Almost in unison, they meet my eyes. I swipe my face, knowing there’s nothing left to do but lead. “Sam, Dino, Mattie, you’re in charge of clean-up. Lucca, call the doc, tell him you’re bringing Benny over and to be ready. Tony, you help.”

They nod and move. By now, Vin’s stopped kicking. He’s breathing hard from the breakdown, but also because he’s pissed, probably at himself. I want to fly out of here. I want to rage. I want fucking out!

I glance away from the bodies, from the splatters of blood painting the walls like I’m forming a plan. I’m not planning shit. My head is pounding brutally from the stress, and from how hard I had to fight to stay alive.

I can barely see straight. Each heartbeat is like a stab through my lungs. I’m ready to lose it, but I know I can’t if I’m going to survive.

Without trying, my mind fills with images of Aedry. We had dinner at that converted church where they make brick oven pizza a few nights back. The pressure in my skull lifts the more I focus on the details, how she looked in that dark dress. How she laughed when I dripped sauce on my chin and how she smiled when I kissed her goodnight. It’s the only thing that keeps me from falling to my knees and heaving.

I don’t speak again, not until the bodies are taken away and the rest of the crew files out. “You can’t pull this hysterical shit again,” I tell Vin. “We’ll both end up dead if you do.”

He lights a cigarette and takes a long drag. “I wanted to go big, make a statement. It would have worked if . . .” He drifts off and, for a second, it’s like he’s no longer there.

He’s crumbling, falling apart. I bring him back with the truth, fast. “You looked weak,” I tell him, meeting his narrowed eyes with my own. “You want to play big, then play big, go strong. Don’t pull this half-assed shit.”

“I have to do something, don’t I?” he asks, understanding where I’m going with this.

I nod, but I don’t offer anything, even though I know that’s what he wants.

He lifts his cell phone from his pocket and makes a call. “Dino, it’s Vin. Cut out Raph’s heart. Send half of it to Leo, the other half to Marlo . . . yeah, that’s right. The other two bosses in New York . . .”

Aedry

“How’s it going with tall, dark, cranky, and hot?”

I grin as I place the roast in the oven. Autumn always has a fun way with words. “Good. It sounds silly, but I feel like a teenager.”

“Because you’re horny?”

I laugh. After two weeks of only kissing, she’s not far off. I’m ready for more. “He’s taking things slow.”

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