Page 64 of Sinful Mafia Prince

“Ready, boss?”

Vincenzo looked at the shut door ahead of them and felt a thrill skate down his spine. Only three more doors stood between him and that fat fucker Fiore.

“Ready.”

Tony gave a clipped nod then headed for the first door. It was open, just as they’d been told, and as they stepped into the empty exam room, Vincenzo gestured for Gino to wedge a chair beneath the handle. The last thing they needed was a nurse or doctor getting curious and sticking their nose where it wasn’t wanted.

Just because Fiore lived by zero principles didn’t mean Vincenzo had to, and his number one rule was, and always would be, that no innocents would be harmed by his—or his men’s—hand.

They slipped through the second door, and his adrenaline pumped as he drew one step closer to the man who had taken so much from him. He’d been waiting years for this moment, decades. Tony opened the third and final door, and Vincenzo stopped in the center of the exam room and took a moment.

Breathe,he told himself as he stared at the anatomy chart pinned to the wall, scanning the diagram as he imagined all the places he could shoot Fiore to cause maximum pain. But then he remembered the employee’s words—be quick.

“Boss?” Gino stood by the door.

Vincenzo closed his eyes and pictured his Serafina’s beautiful smile that day, and baby Giuliana’s giggle. The little blueberry-covered hands and his wife kissing his cheek before she waved goodbye—then the nightmare that followed. The loudBOOMof the explosion ripping through the markets, the devastation it left behind, and finally…the fiery shell of their car and the melted frame of Giuliana’s stroller.

A red haze of fury clouded his vision as he reached for the gun at his waist and nodded to Gino. The door was pulled open, Vincenzo slipped inside, and Gino shut the door behind him.

Vincenzo zeroed in on the recliner in the corner, an IV pole with meds hanging from it. Fiore raised his head.He struggled to get the recliner upright and his feet on the ground. But with the IV in his hand and his portly stomach in the way, he floundered and missed the lever.

Vincenzo shoved the feet of the IV pole under the recliner, then he raised his gun and aimed it at Fiore’s temple.

“Hello, old friend. You up for a little chat?”

Fiore’s cheeks reddened, his gaze darting over Vincenzo’s shoulder to the door.

Vincenzo looked in that direction and then back to his hostage. “Are you expecting someone? Because, I have to tell you, I don’t think they’re coming.”

Fiore glared up at Vincenzo.

“But perhaps you’re right.” Vincenzo straightened and grabbed hold of a chair. “We should really keep this conversation between you and me.”

He wedged the back of the chair under the door, making sure it was secure, then turned back and set his gun aside for the moment.

“This is a surprise,” Fiore said before a coughing fit began. As he struggled to catch his breath, Vincenzo narrowed his eyes.

“A surprise? Really.”

“I thought we were even.”

“Even?” Vincenzo struggled not to raise his voice. “There’s not a world that makes the murder of women and young children even to anything.”

“You killed my heirs. Two for two.”

In a flash, Vincenzo had Fiore by the throat. “You should be thanking every fucking saint that I didn’t chop every last one of you into pieces. You’re nothing but a scourge on the Earth, a dishonorable disgrace to the families who abide by the unspoken rules with integrity. Instead you cross every line, undermine every deal, and still can’t admit when you’ve been beaten.”

Vincenzo ripped his hand away, and Fiore began to wheeze and cough again.

“Look at you. It’s almost a mercy to kill you. Close to death, are you? Is that why you reached out for the son you threw away?”

“Didn’t…throw…”

“Sure you did. And can I let you in on a little secret?” Vincenzo put his hands over Fiore’s on the arms of the chair, pressing down on the hand with the IV. “Luca doesn’t want anything to do with you. Not you, not Gabriella, not the miscreants you rule. You made a big mistake with that one. Once you’re gone, everything you built will be dust. How does that feel?”

Fiore clenched his jaw, and his face flushed with rage.

“It didn’t have to be this way, you know. If you’d been civilized, if you hadn’t killed my wife and daughter, then I wouldn’t have had to take everything from you. You understand that, right? Why I deserve my revenge?”

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