Page 15 of The Mafia Assassin's Redemption
FOUR
harry
Every daysince I ran away at ten years old, I’ve been waiting for that monster, Quinn, to show up again. To finish me off.
It’s stupid because I’m sure he’d have found me by now.
For years, the fear of possibility haunted me, the screams and fire. The gunshots. The man with the cold blue eyes and curling black hair. Taking me, hurting me.
Quinn. It’s Quinn.
Those words are etched into my brain.
Along with hisI’ll take care of you in the morning.
Shh. Run.
Those new ones, too. The ones that were spoken by the stranger in the alley. Was he another monster?
I shiver, even though my coat’s thick. There’s a coldness snaking through my insides, plunging me into a deep freeze.
I fucking hate Quinn with everything I am. He took my father. Probably killed my mother, too.
Shh. Run.
Why the hell did the voice in the alley sound like Quinn’s? That Irish accent? Was I imagining it?
Jesus, when am I going to learn that not every man with an Irish accent is him?
In the alley, nausea surged through me like a tidal wave, and everything in me lurched into a place of such awareness, even my nerve endings tingled.
That electric touch when the stranger’s hand slammed against my mouth lit fires inside of me and set off memories I didn’t want to recall.
Death. Murder. Mayhem.
He killed Bernardo.
But I did what he said. I ran and didn’t look back. I ran to Father Luigi. Not too long after, men stormed into the church. Three of them. Two stood by the door. The third stormed up to me.
Salvatore.
I didn’t even need an introduction, I saw the resemblance.
You killed my brother.That’s what he said.
N-no, I didn’t. Someone else…That’s what I said, stumbling like a fool.
Who?
Shame burns hot in my cheeks. I could have lied, given out the description of Quinn as I remember him. Or just said he was some Irish guy.
But I didn’t, and all the man said to me was,If I find out it was you, I’ll come back and shoot you myself, little girl.
That’s when Luigi stood up and positioned himself between us.This is a house of God. I won’t have that talk in here. Remember your place. Respect the Lord and His home.
Salvatore took a step back, apologized to the priest, and left.
I wanted to ask him about Lara. He didn’t seem worried; he didn’t seem to thinkof her at all.
