Page 139 of Brutal Legacy

As we walked, a house came into view.

I stumbled. It was the house of my childhood.

We went past the front gates and across the gardens. Men with guns were dotted here and there, watching us.

Massimo pounded on the door and waited, just behind us.

The door swung in, and a man I’d never met stood there.

He smiled deeply at me and stepped back.

“Welcome, Georgia. I’ve been waiting for you.”

Inside was nearlyunchanged from the place I’d grown up in. The same art lined the walls, and even the same pictures were hung. Me as a teenager riding a horse. Me graduating high school with my wreath of laurel leaves.

My father holding me as a baby.

“Come through here.” The man led us deeper into the house to the sitting room, where there were drinks laid out on the coffee table.

“Help yourselves.”

“This isn’t a social call, Sergio. This is the end of a job.” Massimo took up too much space in the room. A black hole of darkness and violence.

“It’s not the end, since Elio Santori is still alive and kicking.”

Massimo nodded. “Yes, that’s true… but I’m sure he’s on his way. It wasn’t my idea to put him and his men in the hospital so that cops could be watching them around the clock.”

Sickness lurched through me again, and I barely managed to fight it down.Elio was in the hospital?

The Ravelli man, Sergio, sneered. “You were taking too long.”

Massimo just stared at him. “And now, thanks to you, it’s taking longer.”

Sergio tightened his fists and looked like he was about to argue.

“The job is practically done, so you can go ahead and give me the name now,” Massimo said, staring a hole through the other man.

Sergio shook his head. “Practically done isn’t done. After. I’ll give you the name after… if you can even manage to kill Santori.”

“Such confidence.” Massimo glowered at Sergio. “It’s like you really think you have nine lives, Ravelli, and you can afford to irritate me.”

Massimo stepped closer and loomed over him. Silence fell.

“Now, before you piss me off, why don’t you be a good fucking host, Sergio, or we might fall out.” Massimo’s tone was chilling, and clearly, I wasn’t the only one to think so.

Sergio turned to me and Toni.

“Since you came through, your little girlfriend will be released. You can leave.”

Toni glanced at me. “I want a guarantee.”

“A guarantee?” Sergio laughed and then jerked his head toward his man, who was on the phone.

A cell was put in her hand, and she listened to someone talking on the other side.

She closed her eyes, the relief visible on her face, and then handed back the phone.

“Happy? Now, get out of here.”

---