Page 37 of Assassin's Obsession

"You don't got yours ordered?" Derian asks. "Better to have shit like that taken care of and not leave it to your grieving mamma."

"Cut the crap and hand over the stripper," Mr. Give-a-Lot-of-Orders-and-Do-Nothing says. "She's seen too much."

"You looking to lose a hand,stronzo?" Mario asks.

Oh, I know whatstronzomeans. Bianca uses it a lot. Derian just called the murderous goon an asshole.

"Or worse," Derian says in warning, his voice low. "Bat chen an tann mèt li."

"What the fuck did you just say to me?"

"Literally? Beat the dog, wait for its master. It means that if you touch Ms. Candi, you'll have to deal with Death."

"I'm nobody's dog and your boss isnotmy master," I grouse.

"No offense intended. It's one of my mamma's sayings." He sounds like he thinks that anything his mom says can't be bad.

That kind of reverence for his mother makes him referring to me as a dog owned by a master almost forgivable. Apparently, he didn't mean it literally. It's like one of those old-timey sayings everybody knows the meaning of, but doesn't actually make sense in literal translation.

"Last guy that really pissed our boss off over Ms. Candi ended up with both hands sawed off and choking on his own dick before being tossed in the soup," Mario says with unmistakable approval.

These two don't just revere their mothers, they have some hero worship going on where Angelo is concerned. That shouldn't give them points in my book, but it does.

"Ronnie didn't die," I point out. He lost his hand, but he's still alive.

"That perv didn't piss Angelo off as much as your old boss," Mario offers with way too much candor to be good for me.

He wouldn't be this forthcoming if he and Derian planned to let me go, would he?

Shit. My goose isn't just cooked. It's spit-roasted without lube.

But if Angelo didthatto the man who tried to force me to start selling my body, he isn't going to be okay with his underlings hurting me either.

Will he?

"Death ain't going to do shit when our boss approves the hit." It's Do-Nothing putting his nose in again.

"Our boss is a capo," Freddy says, like that should impress the other men. "Gino's right. He'll approve the collateral hit. You know the rules. We don't leave witnesses."

Gino? Are you kidding me? This jerk's name is the same as my dead boss? Why are all the Gino's I meet assholes? If this one kills me, Angelo will probably disappear him like he did the smarmy ex-assistant-manager that tried to coerce me and Bianca into turning tricks.

That isn't going to miraculously bring me back to life though.

Which is the only thing keeping my hysteria at bay. Derian and Mario aren't going to kill me, but they've got to have some plan for keeping me silent. Probably threatening my family.

A pit forms in my stomach, and I remind myself that life is never perfect. But even if I don't get happy endings, since I'll never say a word to anyone about what I know, my sister and mom are safe.

Me, not so much.

Gino twists a silencer onto his gun, getting ready to follow through on his murderous intentions.

Derian chuckles. "You're just now putting a silencer on your weapon?"

"Death would have our asses for being so sloppy," Mario says.

They think this is funny? I'm about to be murdered and they're making jokes?

"Yeah, well the rest of us don't spend all our time killing. But since you work for Death, you're good at disposing bodies. You can take care of hers." Gino swings the gun toward me like a pointer. "And the cretin here too once we've offed him. Do your part for the family."

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