Page 35 of The Devil's Secret

The people continue to fight, the groans and loud scuffle slowly easing, the shooting finally diminishing until it ends. But the men, they’re still here.

“Fuck,” someone groans, “I’m hit.”

Oh God. I hope that means they’ll leave soon.

I need to get out of here before they find me.

My heart tosses inside me as some of the men continue talking about getting their friend some help.

“Let’s load up and get the fuck out of here!” one shouts to the other.

Relief washes over me, and without realizing, I let out a small whimper.

Oh no! What have I done?

“Did you hear that?” a man says, but that voice…

It can’t be…

My skin tingles, a sudden coldness hitting the very core of me. The fear, the shock, it all comes to the surface.

I refuse to believe that the man I’ve grown to care for, the one I was forced to let go of, is the one in the midst of all this violence.

I’d seen him at the club in these last months, with a different dancer on his lap each time, taunting me.

He’d show up with the same man he’s normally with, both of them always with Carlito and his crew. Why he hangs out with those men when he’s never been anything like them still makes no sense.

Every time I was forced to dance for Carlito or one of his people, the look on Enzo’s face was one that could kill. I was kinda afraid he would.

Is him having two names related to this? Is he a cop or a rival mobster? So many questions swirl into my mind and I’ll probably never get the answers.

Say something again.

But hushed whispers are all I hear now.

I hold the gun tighter in my palm, swallowing away the dread coursing up from the tight knots in my stomach. Would he harm me?

Before I can even compose my thoughts, there’s a loud crash over the bar, and the next thing I know, someone leaps over it, his black pants and matching sneakers the first thing I see.

My eyes go round, my hand jittering, the weapon almost slipping out of it. “Get away from me!” I scream, before looking up, finding a man wearing a black ski mask.

Clutching the gun in the jerkiness of my grip, I slowly raise it to him, aiming it at his stomach. Whoever this is, he better leave because Iwillshoot.

Where’s Enzo? If he sees it’s me, I’m sure he’d let me leave. No matter what he thinks I did, I refuse to believe he’d hate me enough to cause me harm.

The man raises his palms out but I keep the gun where it is.

“We’re not going to hurt you. Come on out.”

I suck in a breath.

“Enzo?” I whisper it so low, he probably doesn’t hear me.

“I’ve got my brothers out there,” he continues, his tone even. “Plus a bunch of the men who work for us. We swear we won’t do anything to you.”

Is he serious? I’d never go anywhere with him knowing what I know now. “I don’t care! You need to leave before I blow your fucking brains out.”

I raise the gun a little higher, aiming it at his face this time. If they leave, I can finally get out of here before Faro or Agnelo shows up.

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