Page 130 of Gin & Trouble

Whatever she’d said seemed to rattle him because he went wide-eyed and the color drained from his face.

“Tell them.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” His voice rose in pitch and volume.

Sophia glanced at Frankie, looked down Tommaso’s body, and back at her sister. “Want to help me out?”

“I’d love to.” Frankie scooped up a discarded gun and aimed it at Tommaso’s crotch. “Tell them what you did.”

He smirked. “You don’t have the guts.”

“Oh, I have the guts.” She fired a shot to his right. “But my aim sucks. I wonder how many times I’ll have to shoot you before I manage to hit that tiny dick of yours?”

I didn’t know whether to be proud or horrified. I went with pride. For a woman who’d damned near fallen apart in the car, she was doing a fine job holding herself together.

Frankie moved closer and made a show of aiming the gun at Abruzzo’s family jewels.

He made a strangled sound. “Okay. Okay. I rigged Joe Marchionni’s SUV. Sophia wasn’t involved.”

Frankie lowered the gun.

Giancarlo motioned for his men to take Tommaso from Sophia. “Marco, it is your right to demand retribution when othercaposmeet. I want him dead.”

Marco nodded in agreement.

Sophia surprised me when she shook her head. “No. Death is too easy for a man who sold his own sister to a monster. I want him locked up for the rest of his life.”

Marco’s expression softened. “You heard the lady. Get him out of here.”

Frankie rushed to her sister. “What happened? Do you need a doctor?”

Sophia choked back a sob. “The wedding… Valentina wasn’t the bride. I was. Miquel Salvo… He is my husband.”

“No, Soph. It can’t be legal. We’ll get it annulled. I swear it.” Frankie pulled her into an embrace.

Giancarlo cursed under his breath before moving to the sisters. He lifted Sophia’s face and inspected her bruises. “Salvo did this to you?”

She nodded and looked away.

“I will make him pay.” The tenderness in his tone made me wonder if he’d offered to marry the wrong sister. After all, he had stood up for Sophia at the airport.

Not my circus, not my monkeys.

I glanced back to Enzo and Marco. “Are we done here? I, for one, want to spend what’s left of Christmas with family.”

“I need to make some calls, but we should make it home before midnight.” Marco stared at the dead as if memorizing their faces, turned, and strode into one of the Marchionni offices.

He’d been a borderline ass since the business with Tommaso had started, but there, in that hallway. I got it.

Marco had men’s lives in his hands. Men with wives and children counting on them. He’d never wanted to be the capo, but he’d stepped up and taken on more responsibility than any one man should have to bear.

“Giancarlo, I believe you have something of ours.” Frankie gave him a watery smile.

“Ah yes. Mia and Arianna. They are waiting in my quarters.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Perhaps it is better to meet them there?”

Sophia said, “Valentina is here as well. She’s in Tommaso’s office.”

One glance and I could all but read Frankie’s mind. She wanted to be with her sisters.

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