Page 106 of The Devil's Pawn

But where?

I force myself to dig through my memories, but I’m still unable to figure out where I could’ve seen him.

He stares at me, his almost-black eyes cutting into mine, as though recognizing me. And when he rotates toward the grill, I gasp as I find the tattoo of a sparrow on his neck.

CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE

RAQUEL

“Babe? Are you okay?”Dante questions, but his voice might as well be miles away.

I can’t pull my attention off the man. I’m frozen in shock.

My mind spins with questions.

Why is he here? Is it for me?

And before I can find my voice to warn them, he spins toward us with a gun in his grip, his aim on Chiara.

And then he shoots.

Pop.

The bullet roars to life before everyone realizes what’s happening, and it punctures Chiara from the side of her stomach.

Her eyes grow wide as she glances down to where the bullet hit.

“Chiara!” Dom screams, running to her.

She starts to fall backward into the pool while blood trickles down her hip, her fingers coated in red. She hits the water, and a deafening splash paints the air.

The man who shot her, the one pretending to be a chef, is a man I now realize is Carlito’s cousin. Before he has a chance to strike another person, the weapon still raised, Enzo draws his gun and fires a deadly bullet between his eyes. Joelle cries as he pulls her into hiding behind a tree.

I hear my own screams as I run toward the pool to jump in with Chiara.

She can’t be dead.

And the baby! No!

The sobs crash over me. Heavy. Shattered.

They did this to her. Our family. They hurt her.

“Chiara!” I wail.

A hand slams around my stomach from behind, dragging me as I shriek in protest, and places me behind a bush as more men run out from the other side of the yard. My family’s men.

The camera. It must’ve been them.

The shouting. The gunfire. The chaos.

It all ensues quickly around us.

“Stay here, God damn it,” Dante warns.

But my eyes are on my cousin, who I can see from where I am.

Dom’s men shoot back, forming a protective line, while water drips from his clothes as he checks her pulse, then lifts her up in his arms, shielding her with his body while running into the house.

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