Page 66 of Don't Let Go

“Who is it?” Lizzy shouted from the living room.

I had five seconds to make a decision. I could slam the door in his face and have him shoot me through the front door. If I turned him down, I had the feeling he’d rush me and hold my sisters hostage until I agreed. That left only one option. I agreed and went with him quietly.

I grinded my teeth together and looked over my shoulder. “It’s Paolo. I forgot we were meeting up. I gotta go.” To Vincenzo, I whispered, “I’ll go with you if you go back to the car and wait so I can change and put on shoes.”

He made a point of checking out my body, paying special attention to my chest. “You have one minute otherwise, I’m coming inside and visiting your sisters.” He patted the gun on his hip and turned his back on me.

I closed the door and made a break for the stairs.

“But Rory! We’re watching a movie!” Lizzy shouted after me.

“I’m sorry! I’ll be back soon!” I yelled from the second floor.

I dashed into my bedroom and took off my PJ bottoms, shoving on some jean shorts. My Marilyn Monroe shirt was fine. I grabbed a brush to fix my hair before sliding on a pair of socks and stepping into my sneakers.

“Carmen! You’re in charge of Lizzy. I have my phone on me. Call if you need me!” I said, running down the stairs.

“Yeah. Yeah,” she replied, not bothering to look up.

Lizzy stood in the living room with her arms folded across her chest and a pout on her cute little face. “We’re watching a movie, though,” she said again quietly.

It broke my heart to ditch her. Maybe one day when she’s older, she’ll understand I left so a big scary Italian guy didn’t come in here waving a gun in their faces.

“I’m sorry, Liz. I’ll make it up to you. I promise.” I blew her an air kiss. She looked at me before reaching up and pretending to grab my kiss.

“I love you!” Lizzy said as I walked out the door.

“I love you more!” I replied before locking the front door and jogging toward Vincenzo’s Jaguar.

I reluctantly opened the passenger’s side door and got in.

He chuckled as he put the car in gear. “You’re on time. Paolo said when it came to your sisters, you're a bleeding heart.” He shook his head as he pulled onto the street. “He got you pegged well.”

I balled up my fists and swallowed the bile rising in my throat. “Whatever this is, it better be important.”

“Just a quick heist of sorts. In and out, I promise.” He winked.

I felt filthy like I was riding in the back of a garbage truck. “Great. Whatarewe doing?”

He flashed me a sinister grin. “You’ll see.”

I had a horrible sinking feeling I got myself into a giant pile of shit not even my mamma could cover up.

“You want me to do what?” I asked, staring at the brand-new silver Porsche. It was so shiny its paint was like a mirror.

Vincenzo slapped the hood of the Porsche and tossed the key fob at me. “I need you to drive this car, and I’m going to drive the Lamborghini. We need to drive the back roads for a couple miles and meet up with the buyers who have a semi. Communication channels got screwed up, and that’s all you need to know,” he said dryly as if I did this all the time and was acting out of sorts today.

I pressed my lips together, holding the key fob too tightly until pain tingled up my arm. “I’m sorry, but I’m lost. Why are we doing this?”

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Paolo said you’d be like this after the incident with his drive to supply a dealer. You clean up blood and brains at crime scenes. Why can’t you wrap your head around this?”

Excuse me? Did he seriously think this was the same as cleaning up events that already occurred? What the hell did Paolo get me involved in? I knew he was going to punish me for ditching him during that drug deal.

“My mamma does the crime scenes. I help sometimes. I’m not sure what Paolo told you, but I’m—”

Vincenzo stepped extremely close to me, making me take a step back. He towered over me. A smile curled his lips. The stubble on his chin scratched my cheek as he leaned forward to whisper, “Baby, Paolo told me all about you.” The back of hishand brushed my upper arm. “He said I could have you for a night if I asked. He says you’re a pretty good lay.”

I slapped him across the face before realizing it. “Don’t you touch me,” I said through clenched teeth, crossing my arms over my chest to prevent me from going into attack mode. “I’m not with Paolo anymore.”

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