Page 128 of The Mafia Assassin's Redemption
There’s a sob, and Harry’s sofa explodes with a shower of feathers.
And Harry makes a sound this time. I glare down. “Quiet,” I mouth.
I have to fucking glare because that tremor’s still there, waiting, and I’m still fucking terrified for Harry.
I focus on the floorboards, then look up. “We can talk.”
“You love her.”
I make myself stare at Harry’s stricken face, the fury at the edges. “I don’t do love.”
“She doesn’t deserve you,” Siobhan says, her voice gritty and raspy.
Shiv’s right about that. Then she lets out a small cry of pain. Fuck,maybe I shot her.
“I’m coming out. So get ready.”
I start moving to the side of the sofa, away from Harry, and this time I make noise. Another cushion explodes.
And then Harry, fucking Harry leaps up and points my gun at Siobhan, which makes me move fast, my gun on Shiv, too.
“Drop the gun, Shiv,” I say.
She grips her gun tighter and she’s bleeding from where I clipped her am. But Shiv can deal with a lot.
I have a decision. Blink of an eye fast. Move. To Harry. Away. I choose to draw Shiv’s attention away.
It’s a risky move. But anything is. So I bait it. I stare at Shiv and offer her the shit-eating grin I own, this time aimed at her, and she makes a low sound, following me with her gun and gaze.
“Careful now, Harry, you’re dealing with a silly, crazed creature. She hasn’t changed much.”
Shiv screams at me and shoots, narrowly missing. But I see the trajectory, moving myself just enough to not get shot. I want her confused. I want?—
“Try and shoot Torin again, and this time I’ll kill you for real,” Harry says.
My guts go tight like my chest and my throat. I can barely stop the tremor. Fuck.
“Don’t listen to her. Stay with me, Shiv, and maybe I’ll change my mind.”
She turns to me as Harry says, sounding horribly like me, “That’ll earn you a bullet.”
For some reason Siobhan doesn’t laugh like I think she will. Color drips from her face. “Kill me and I’ll haunt you. You won’t be able to bear it. Worse, he’ll stop loving you.”
“I think,” Harry says, “I’ll deal with your haunting. He haunted me for years and I survived. You’re nothing like that monster.”
“And she doesn’t want my love, Shiv. She hates me.”
“You don’t love me.” Harry flicks a flare at me.
I flick one right back as I widen the gap between us even more. “And you don’t love me. You hate me?—”
Shiv suddenly moves, pulling her trigger. I’m so terrified she’ll go for Harry that as she pulls, I leap toward Harry and the bullet nearly hits.
But in that moment, time slows. Harry’s lined her shot up, pulled the trigger, and she hits Shiv.
It’s a good shot, only slightly off. I land almost on top of Harry, knocking her down, and as I go with her, I can see what Harry can’t.
She’s killed her. I grab Harry, pull her to her feet, and drag her to the door. I snatch Shiv’s gun and shove them all in the bag by the door. Harry yanks her door shut as I tug her down the stairs, calling the cleaners as I go. We pass her neighbors, and I tune them and the noise out.
