Page 41 of Take Me (Dark Odyssey 5)

I grab my gun and snap my gaze to one of the men who retreats through the roof. Adrenaline moves me and I go after him.

I get up the stairs lightning fast and see him running over the warehouse rooftop. I follow leaping, jumping, bounding forward like a wild animal. He’s too far ahead of me though. Much too far.

He trips and falls, making his balaclava shift over his face but since he can’t quite fix it, he pulls it off. I’m shocked to shit when I see I’m chasing the devil himself. Falcone!

Seeing him gives me strength to push faster, harder, fiercer.

“Motherfucker!” I shout after him. “I’ll get you.”

I shoot at him, but I miss. He’s still too far ahead of me.

He continues his escape and jumps across to the next building. I jump too when the time comes but what I don’t expect is for him to have an escape bike ready to help him get away.

He jumps on it and the moment he does I know I’ve lost the game. I shoot, doing the only thing I can, knowing it counts for shit because he has the upper hand.

He leaps off the roof and I’m left standing there with the gun in my hand.

Fuck. He fucking got away.

Falcone got away and he’s working with cops.

Shit.

Chapter Thirteen

Christian

I head back with Vincent and Salvatore to Giordanos Inc. While Gabe and Nick take the men on the street to continue the hunt.

It was Georgiou who sent them.

We took files from the warehouse that need to be looked over and I managed to download more files from the computers but the fact that we’ve gathered in Vincent’s office first is a tell that he’s going to wail on me.

“Sit your ass down Christian,” Vincent says giving me a hard stare.

I’m quick to be the defiant one when it comes to my father and Georgiou, but Vincent is a man I respect at the deepest level. Even when he’s getting ready to chew me out. So, when he tells me to do something I do it.

Grabbing the nearest chair, I lower to sit and focus on him.

He remains standing while Salvatore does his habitual thing by leaning against the wall with his foot pressed against it, head tilted to the side.

“Christian, you fucking know what you did right?” Vincent says.

I’ve done so many wrong things over the last few days that were always considered no nos. Today was just another wrong. It all boils down to going to enemy territory without the right amount of back up.

“Yeah,” I answer.

“Great. Glad you know. So, tell me why the fuck it took Georgiou’s phone call asking me to watch your back, and another from Tony alerting me that shit was going down at the warehouse? Why was there no call from you?” A line etches at the edge of his jaw and the hardness in his face looks more pronounced the longer he stares.

I look from him to Salvatore and see they both share the same expression. They both know what could have gone down today and that my end nearly came once again. They already lost Frankie, and everybody has been on high alert since. I would be no different to them. I’m their cousin, but they treat me the same as a brother. That’s why I’ve always been close to them. That’s why I’m gonna be real with them now.

“I wanted to sort it out myself. Me and my guys. I didn’t want to involve you. The shit that’s happened is my fault and I don’t want the reason for losing business from clients who have trusted us for decades,” I answer. That’s the honest truth.

“Christian, I’m glad you wanted to take matters into your own hands to fix the shit, but I’m fairly certain I told you to contact me at the first sign of trouble. At no time did I tell you to go into enemy territory guns blazing. I never told you to put your fucking life on the line,” Vincent snarls.

“No, you didn’t, but… my father did,” I say. I didn’t actually mean to say that and show any form of weakness.

Weakness is not a work associated with Christian Giordano.

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