Page 9 of Conall's Reign

“Don’t. Please don’t.”

He lurched over the console, pressing his hands against the back of my hair, twisting hard enough to bring tears to my eyes as he ground his mouth to mine. His hands tore at my dress just before I instinctively brought up the knife as Angelo had taught me and drove it into the side of his neck, watching in horror as he struggled to pull back, yanking at it until he managed it. Blood sprayed from the wound as he held a hand to it, his eyes round with horror.

Was he dead? I had just wanted him to stop.

“I …” I stuttered. “I…” My hands were clasped to my mouth as I watched the blood spurt against the interior of the car as I shrank as far away as I could. He was dead in minutes. “Fuck. What do I do? What do I do?” I babbled out loud. I’d killed someone. “Oh my God.”

Okay. This was a disaster. The car, the dead body, my dress—all of it was terrible. My brother dealt with dead people, so I should call him, right? Right. My fingers hovered over his name, hesitating before changing direction.

Theo picked up immediately.

“What’s up, babe?” Her gum popped loudly on the line, a habit she’d developed that I despised.

“I need you to tell me what to do.” I turned my face to look out the window. Thankfully, the asshole had parked down a side street, and his windows were tinted, so hopefully, nobody would notice the car. I could move it, I suppose, but then I’d have to get on his side of the car.

“Okay,” she drawled. “About?

“I might have killed someone.”

“Might have?” she popped another bubble.

“Did. I did kill someone.” My breath came in sharp gasps. “A guy.”

“Are you okay, Frankie? They didn’t hurt you, did they?”

“No.” The words emerged shakily, and I fought to hold back tears, knowing that once I began, I wouldn’t be able to stop.

“Who is it?” She popped another bubble as if I were boring her.

“I don’t know.” Well, fuck. I went with this man and didn’t even know his first name. I stared at his pale face and that shock of hair across his forehead, the hand that had slipped limply from his neck smeared with blood.

“Well, does he have a wallet?” There was a pause on the line, then she whispered, “Did you really kill someone?” I couldn’t tell if there was admiration or disgust in her voice.

“I really did. I’m going to hell.” I sniffed.

“You aren’t going to hell. If you killed someone, you did it for a reason. Fuck that guy. Look for a wallet,” she ordered. “Don’t cry. We got this.”

“Okay.” I tried to motivate myself. “We got this. I got this.” Theo was right. I could handle this. “Hang on. Gross.” I placed the phone on speaker and tried not to gag as I opened the suit jacket and pulled the wallet from the inside pocket. “His name is… Goddamn it. Fausto Oliveto.” I double-checked the license.

I threw my head back against the seat. This was bad news. I could hear Theo cursing on the line. The Olivetos were one of the five Italian mafia families in New York. There was always infighting in the city, especially among the Italian crews. I didn’t know enough about my brother’s business to understand if there were issues with the Olivetos, but I didn’t want any to start because of me.

“I didn’t have a choice, Theo. He was going to rape me,” I confessed. “I swear.

“Pin your location. I’ll be right there. We’re going to handle this. Tell no one else. Nobody, Frankie. Do not involve your brother. He needs total deniability.” She hung up abruptly, leaving me to sit with the weight of my crime and the actions that had led to it.

All my partying had led to this, I thought gloomily. If I hadn’t been so drunk, I wouldn’t have been so careless. A kernel of anger sat in my gut as I looked at the man, and I tried to ignore that way of thinking. I wasn’t involved in my family’s business, but he knew who I was. He could claim that I was drawing attention to myself, but that was bullshit. This wasn’t my fault. Still, the body steamed, and the blood dripped with accusation.

Headlights pulled up thirty-five nerve-wracking minutes later, and my phone rang.

“Alright, here’s the plan. I’ll send you to a location, and I need you to follow me there.”

“Theo,” I whimpered. “The body is in the way.” I glanced at the chilling body draped in the seat beside me. How on earth was I supposed to move it?

“You’ll need to figure it out. I guess you should get between the window and the body and shove it over to create enough space for yourself to drive. It’s not far,” she said sympathetically.

It took longer than expected to move the corpse enough for me to start the car. My muscles ached, and my stomach churned, but I had managed it. Theo’s taillights blinked as I followed her, eventually stopping in an empty lot near the abandoned warehouses.

Theo’s car door opened, and she knocked on my window. “Open up.”

---