Page 15 of The Devil's Deal

That gets my father to face Faro, letting go of my brother.

“I’ll kill you, then take every one of your sons and kill them too. The Cavaleri bloodline will die with you.”

“Please,” my dad pleads. “Don’t kill my boys. You killed one. Let the others go.”

Faro chuckles. “You should’ve been smarter than to get involved with my wife.”

Pop.

My eyes go round, tears flooding them, as the bullet enters my father’s forehead. And when he falls, that’s when I snap out of it. I’ve failed them, but I can’t fail my other brothers.

With my pulse beating in my throat, I creep back down the wall I was hiding behind, quietly taking each step backwards until I’m back outside.

As I run, my feet are doused with adrenaline, needing to save my brothers before we all die. Taking out the cell from my pocket, I call home, and Dante immediately answers.

“Hell—”

“Listen, go get that black duffle bag from Dad’s closet and pack some clothes for us three. We’ve gotta go.”

“Why?” Dante sounds worried.

“Just do it! Unless you wanna die.”

Click.

The line goes silent as I continue to run. My feet are moving so fast, I didn’t even know I could run this quickly.

Once I’m at the front door, I put the key in the lock and run inside.

“Dante! Enzo!” I call out upstairs. “Let’s go!”

“Why? Where’s Dad?” Enzo asks as he comes down the stairs, his brows pinched over his green eyes.

“I don’t have any time to explain. Do what I say for once! It’s life and death.”

“Help me with the bag,” Dante calls from upstairs.

I’m running up, grabbing the handle, the wheels on the bottom slamming harshly over the wooden steps.

“Wait here,” I tell them, rushing into the kitchen, hitting the cookie jar and taking out the two grand my dad had stashed inside for emergencies.

That’s all we’ll have until I can find a job wherever we end up.

“Ready,” I say, grabbing the duffle and hoisting it over my shoulder.

As I’m about to lock the door, my phone buzzes with a text.

I release a big sigh when I find Chiara's name, hoping I can tell her what happened after we get to wherever we go. I hope she forgives me for leaving her behind.

But when I read the text she sent, when I scan over the ugly words, I feel colder and even more alone. How could she say that to me?

“Come on!” Dante shouts as I read the message for the second time.

Chiara: I talked to my dad today and I decided I don’t want to be your friend anymore. I don’t want to see any of you.

Dom: What? You don’t mean that.

Chiara: I never actually liked you, Dom. I never liked your family either. I was only pretending because I felt sorry for all of you. You're all losers like my dad always said you were. I had a lot of fun laughing at you all behind your back.

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