Page 23 of Love Without Control

I noticed his hand slowly inching toward his jacket pocket, and I pretended not to notice. “Was it Luca?”

I could read the answer in the fearful gleam of Guido’s eyes, but I wanted to hear it anyway. His hand finally reached into his pocket, and I tried not to smile.

“Looking for this?” Rodrigo asked, walking around Guido and dangling the idiot’s gun by two fingers. Rod was a slick motherfucker, I’d give him that. He tapped a button on the wall, and the hangar doors began to close.

The man with my gun barrel still pressed against his head began babbling as tears poured down his face. “I-I didn’t want to. I swear, I didn’t. I like you, Damiano. You know how Luca is though. He’d kill me with a snap of his fingers.”

“Why does he want me dead?” I asked, my voice cold even as I burned with hurt inside. I knew my father didn’t give a shit about anyone except himself, but hearing the actual words… Yeah, not a great feeling.

“Don’t know. H-he called me in the middle of the night and said he found out something, and this was the only way to fix it. He was fucking crazy. Sent me a flight plan and told me to set up the device so it would blow up over the water. Then called again a little while ago to make sure I’d done it. That’s all I know.”

“That’s why this asshole was so anxious for us to leave,” Rodrigo noted, meeting my gaze. “The timing.”

“I’m sorry,” Guido blubbered. “Please don’t—”

Blood sprayed from the back of his head as my bullet shut him the fuck up. Permanently.

Rodrigo stared down at the body. “How long till it blows?”

“About an hour and a half.”

“Where’s Evie, and does she know?”

“Yes, I showed it to her and then had her go get in the car.”

“Fuck, you’ve gotten yourself into a goddamn pickle, son.” His worried brown eyes rose to mine.

“No shit.”

“Let’s go check on the girl while I think this through,” he said, pushing the button for a couple seconds to open the doors a crack. “Do you think Luca found out about what happened at the house last night?”

We walked swiftly across the concrete floor. “No clue. I made sure to shoot the guard inside the house because, even in New Orleans, a dead body on the back porch would draw alarms.”

“What made you think to check the bird out?”

“Got a tip.”

Rod nodded, knowing without me telling him that it had come from my brother. He opened the back door to the car, and I was relieved to see Evie sitting there, her thumbnail in her mouth.

“Why the hell is there a bomb on that helicopter?” she demanded to know.

“We’re still trying to figure that out,” Rodrigo told her in a soft tone. “We’ll make sure to get you out of here and safe before it goes off.”

Her crystal-blue eyes jerked back and forth between us, and then she nodded. “Okay, what then?”

I don’t have the first fucking clue.

“Rodrigo’s working on a plan,” I told her, my hand going to my pocket when I felt the phone vibrate with a call. “He’ll stay in here with you while I take this. Might be more information.”

My finger pushed the button to answer as I heard Rod climb into the car and shut the door. “Yeah.”

“Jesus fucking Christ. This is a nightmare, bro. Do you have any idea who that girl is?” My brother sounded as frantic as I felt on the inside.

I strode to the hangar, leaning my shoulders back against the metal wall and keeping an eye on the car. “Her name is Evie.”

“Yeah, Evie, which is short for Evelyn.”

“Okaaaay?” I drew out.

---