Page 134 of Brutal Legacy

“Mrs. Santori, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you. I’m Massimo, and I’ll be accompanying you on your flight.”

I backed up a step, and Massimo smiled. There was something utterly terrifying about his calm amusement.

“She doesn’t like to fly,” Toni’s voice came from just behind me.

I whirled around to take her in.

She appeared faded somehow. Defeated but resolved.

“Is that right?” Massimo asked, his voice suddenly closer than before.

I twisted around to see him, but it was too late. He was right there. A sharp pain pricked my neck. Coldness flooded me, turning the world blurry. I stumbled, but Massimo was there, holding me up.

“She’ll have a tracker somewhere,” Toni said from a million miles away.

“Of course she will. Santori is a thorough bastard, and this woman is his wife. Don’t worry about it.”

The world tilted. He’d picked me up. I couldn’t move.

“He’ll come for her,” Toni called, somewhere behind us.

“Yes, he will. And I’ll be waiting,” Massimo said, dark certainty in his tone.

It was the last thing I heard before I went under.

38

ELIO

The plane ride had been tense. Now, I was holed up in a De Sanctis safe house just outside of Naples, preparing for the next step.

I’d chosen to send the bulk of my trusted men with Georgia. Sure, she was only driving to Casa Nera, but with her went my only reason to live.

If they hurt her, or she died… I’d lay down and die, too. It would finally be time. But first, I’d take out Sergio Ravelli for all the trouble he’d caused me.

I pulled out the small snapshot I had of her from my wallet. It was just a picture from her apartment that I’d cut Conti out from. She was smiling at the spot where her former husband had been standing. I wanted more pictures of her. Albums’ worth. I wanted to capture her smile again and again, and I wanted that smile to be reserved for me. I wanted to see it every fucking day. I wanted to see it every morning, and every night… fuck, I wanted it so badly it felt hard to breathe.

For the first time in fourteen years, I wanted to live.

A rap sounded at the door, and one of my men appeared.

“Boss, Giada says she’s been trying to get through to you.”

“I’ll call her back.”

It had been a few years after I’d left Col Moschin that I’d started to employ my former squad mates. Experiences in the Special Forces bonded people on a soul-deep level. When they’d gotten out, at a loose end and trying to fit themselves into civilian life, I’d understood their struggle. Renato didn’t worry about my team. He understood the compulsion but also knew my first allegiance would always be to the De Sanctis family. He was the man who had gotten me out of prison, after all. He’d also delivered the news about Georgia.

The news that had sent me into hell… news that had turned out to be a lie. Renato hadn’t known, of course. I supposed that no one outside of Conti and Georgia had known. I hadn’t even suspected that Conti was gay. It hadn’t crossed my mind, because in my mind, he had to be infatuated with Georgia, because who wouldn’t be?

I pinched the bridge of my nose and stared at the darkness beyond the window of the jet.

She’d been living with her husband and his partner for thirteen years.

She’d never replaced me.

She’d thought I’d left her… taken a bag of cash and run away.

“I guess I want you to save me, Santori. I want you… I just want you.”

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