Page 233 of Boyfriend of the Hour
We all turned to find Lis Antoni and his son, Ares, standing in the doorway behind us. Lis carried a gun, which was pointed directly at me.
“Going for a little swim?” Lis asked, his accent stronger than ever. “Too bad you can’t take Vamos with you. He’s bleeding out on my carpet.”
None of us denied it. Nor did we move.
“Please,” I whimpered. “Just let us go. We won’t tell anyone, we won’t say a word, but we have families, and?—”
“And I don’t care,” Lis cut me off.
“Is this all really because you want a few more cars stolen?” I couldn’t help but ask. “A shop to run? If that’s all it is, we’ll give you the cars and the shop! Whatever you want, really!”
“Cars?” Lis snickered. “You think this is about few measly cars? This is revenge! For Benjamin Vamos.”
Behind him, his son shook his head. “It’s your brother,” Ares said quietly. “Last year, he and his D.A. cronies put away Benjamin Vamos.”
I frowned. Who? As a former D.A., Matthew had put away his fair share of criminals, but what did that have to do with me and Mike?
“You didn’t know about that?” Lis taunted. “He was your friend Shawn’s father too. Though maybe not your friend no more, eh?” He cackled, a horrible, evil thing that made my gut twist. “I don’t care about them. But I do care about my business. No more girls. No more trade.” He shoved a fat finger at me. “Youcan take their place. And your brother”—he gestured toward Mike—“can give his life to teach the rest of them. It’s only fair.”
My lower lip began to tremble. “But—but?—”
“But what?” Lis demanded. He held up his gun. “Come on. Inside, now. All of you!”
I might have done as he ordered. But just as I was about to take a step forward, Ares shook his head ever so slightly. His eyes flickered to the water behind me, his meaning clear as he withdrew a gun from his own belt and tilted it toward his father.
Nathan stood next to me, his arm still holding Mike up, who was close to losing consciousness. On my other side was Carrick.
“All right, boys,” I said as I took their hands. “Time to go in.”
Mike looked at me as if he knew exactly what I was thinking. “Tell my wife I love her,” he croaked.
I nodded and willed myself not to cry.
The gun didn’t waver, but Lis’s hand did seem to relax as he smiled. “Good girl.”
At that, I turned and mustered the biggest, brightest smile I’d ever given in my life. “You have no idea.”
And then I yanked on the two Hunt brothers’ hands as hard as I could and fell back. Gunshots rang out as we fell into the ocean. I kicked as hard as I could, down and away, praying none of the bullets would reach me through the dark, kelpy water, though just through the wavering green light, I did see something that looked like Ares Antoni turning and shooting his father just as the other gun went off.
Something grabbed my shoulder. A hand. I almost screamed, but didn’t before a mask was placed over my face. Oxygen. Just enough to get me by.
I looked through the water just enough to see other bodies receiving similar treatments from people in wetsuits, oxygen tanks strapped to their backs. Nathan and Carrick kicking easily. Mike floating, his eyes closed, being tugged by another man.
They pulled us away from the boat. Down, down.
And then the shadow of the boat was gone.
And so were we.
FIFTY
SISTERS IN ORDER OF MOST TO LEAST…WHATEVER
#1 Lea. 10/10 woud recomend
Several hours later, I was sitting in the surgical ward of a hospital in Atlantic City along with Lea and her kids, Matthew, Kate, and Nathan. Three of the four mini-Scarrones were splayed on the carpet and chairs of the waiting room, dead to the world while the rest of us waited for news of their dad’s surgery. The only one who wasn’t asleep was Tommy, the oldest, who sat resolutely next to his mother. He didn’t touched her, as if he knew she was like a bomb that might go off. Still, he checked on her every so often nonetheless with a new wisdom in his ten-year-old eyes that had no right to be there.
Mike’s injuries were substantial, to the point that it was a miracle he had even made it to shore in the care of the divers and stayed conscious long enough for an EMT to load him into an ambulance. Nathan and I had arrived just behind them only to discover Mike was already being taken into surgery.
