Page 75 of Deadly Target
As she pretended to hug Alfie back, she saw Victor rise to his knees and relief flooded her. There was so much blood, she didn’t know how he was standing. He motioned for her to move as he started to creep up on Alfie, but as she had told him all along, this was her case, her very life purpose.
In one swift movement, she made a fist and jammed it into Alfie’s balls. At the same time, her other hand ripped the gun from his grip. He yelped and fell sideways, grabbing his nether region.
Blinking through the tears, Olivia pointed the gun, her hand steady even though the rest of her was shaking.
“Liv…” Alfie reached a hand toward her, a grimace on his face. “I love… you…”
Victor staggered toward her “Don’t do it, Olivia. He’s not worth—”
Olivia pulled the trigger.
* * *
The bullet hitBarone square in his right kneecap.
The man howled in pain, grabbing his bent knee. Roman rushed in, pushing a handcuffed woman in front of him. “Caught the sniper that shot you,” he said to Victor. “She’s the one you were looking for, once again helping out Barone. You all right?”
Victor nodded, his right hand useless thanks to the bullet that blasted through his shoulder. He hadn’t counted on Marisol Riva joining the party as a lookout.
He dropped to his knees next to Olivia, who still held the gun pointed at Alfie. She turned a tear-streaked face to him. “I can’t do it. I want to…God, how I want to! He deserves it…but...”
“I know.” Gently, Victor eased the gun out of her stiff fingers, the digits so cold, he wondered if she was going into shock. “You did good, Liv.”
He handed the gun to Roman then reached for her. She fell into his good arm, sobbing, and he held her as tight as he could. “It’s over,” he reassured her. “I swear to you, I never had anything to do with DeStefano or the Fifty-seven Gang.”
“I think I may have blown my case against Gino and Frankie.”
Victor chuckled. Sirens blared in the distance. Thomas and Ronni ran in. “You okay, there, boss?” Thomas asked. “You’re looking a little like Papa Smurf, blue around the edges. Or maybe that’s from all those blue paint samples on the wall in the living room.”
Lightheadedness threatened to topple him over. His blood dripped onto the floor, seeping into his pant leg. “Where’s the girl? Is she okay?”
Ronni bent to check on Felix. Roman shoved Marisol into a chair and put a hand on Victor’s shoulder as if to steady him. “She’s safe with Polly. Ambulance is almost here.”
Olivia looked at her father, back to Victor, seemingly torn between the two of them. Victor nodded for her to go to her dad. She peeled away, and he grabbed hold of the table to keep from falling over. Roman’s hand tightened on his good shoulder, helping to steady him.
Liv dropped next to her father, feeling for a pulse in his neck. “Don’t you die on me, Dad. Swear to god, you deserve some ass-kicking from me, and you better not think for one blessed second dying is going to keep you safe.”
Alfie continued to yell and curse at all of them, even as Roman pulled him into a sitting position and handcuffed him. Victor shrugged off Thomas’s help to get into a chair, but nearly keeled over from his stubbornness. The wallop Barone had given him on the head, combined with the loss of blood, was about to take him under. Black spots danced at the edge of his vision.
Flashing lights whipped through the broken dining room window. The previous gunshots had left him half deaf in his right ear, but now the ambulance siren was too loud in his head. As Barone began another tirade against Olivia, Victor found an extra ounce of strength, and, balling his left hand into a fist, reached over and punched the guy in the mouth, knocking the asshole flat. “That’s for lying to Olivia about me.”
Ronni moved out of the way to allow the EMTs access to Felix, coming to stand next to Victor and help him regain his balance. She pointed at the woman Roman had brought in. “This the one who shot Coop?”
She wasn’t wearing standard Suarez Kings clothing or colors, but her dark eyes and general appearance were similar enough to her sister, Victor was sure. “Marisol Riva. Her sister is an ex of Frankie Molina’s, and Marisol is one of the Kings.”
Ronni turned an evil eye on the woman. “Well, aren’t you something special.”
Thomas was also staring the woman down, but he put up a hand to stop any designs Ronni had on taking revenge. “While I love a good vigilante smackdown, we’re going to let Marisol enjoy the long stay in prison awaiting her.”
The EMTs asked Olivia to turn loose of her father’s hand, but she gripped it harder and shot daggers at them. “Work around me. I haven’t seen this man in ten years, and I’m not letting him out of my sight now.”
The female EMT glanced at Victor, her eyes pleading for assistance. Against his better judgment, he pushed out of the chair and made his way to Liv, touching her shoulder with his good hand. “They can’t do their job and save your father if you’re in their way. You can ride in the ambulance with him, and maybe they can check your wounds on the way.”
She resisted, and he saw her bite her bottom lip, conflicted, but then with a heavy sigh, she released her father’s hand. Victor slipped his into hers and guided her back a couple steps, leaning on the wall to help keep him upright.
He mentally poured steel into his legs to lock them in place. Olivia turned and grabbed him around the waist. “You’re the one who needs medical treatment, not me.”
Even with her bruises and the gash on her forehead, she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. Her hair was sticking out all over and there were dark circles under her eyes. Her shirt was torn and splashed with blood. “You are the most incredible woman…I’ve ever known.” The black dots grew bigger. All he could see was her face as his back began to slide down the wall. “I need to know… that you don’t believe Alfie. I would never…work with the mafia…”
