Page 36 of Merciless Desires

“Gio!” Conti yelled. “Get down.”

I didn’t want to take my eyes off the shooters, but I could feel Cinzia moving behind me. I turned and pushed her back into the corner by the steps of the building. A bullet blew by my ear, catching me off guard. I lost my footing and fell to the ground. I stayed still as my men took aim at the car. Several more rounds were fired before I got my bearings.

“Gio,” Cin’s soft voice called to me. “Gio.”

I stayed low, making my way to her, and shielding her with my body.

“Thank God.” She held me tight. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, but we have to get inside.”

“No.” She tensed against me. “We’ll get shot.”

“Trust me, remember?” I turned and gazed into her eyes. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“Gio.” Conti stood in front of us, covering me so I could get us back into the building. I tugged Cin up by her hand and then pointed my gun at the car.

“Run!” I told her before getting off two shots, shattering the back passenger window.

She yanked my hand, taking me up the steps with her. I opened the door and hurried her inside, shoving my gun in the back of my pants so that the horrified and frightened people in the lobby didn’t think I was a threat. I didn’t need anyone to confidently identify me as one of the shooters.

“The shooting has stopped.” I gazed out the doors. “The car took off.”

“Why were they shooting at you?”

“I don’t know.” Business had been quiet, and things were running according to schedule. Now that Romero and I had come to somewhat of a truce with Luciana’s family, we weren’t constantly dealing with threats.

“Does it have something to do with Papa?”

“I doubt it.”

“Gio,” Conti said. “We got the plates.”

“This was a botched and sloppy job.” I shook my head. “If I was the target, why didn’t they hit me?”

“Thank God they didn’t.” Conti pushed the button on the elevator as sirens sounded in the distance. “You have to get upstairs before the police get here.”

“Call Romero.” I ushered Cinzia onto the elevator. “He’ll get Rocco or Santino to handle the police.”

When we stepped into the elevator, Cin’s grip on my hand hadn’t eased up.

“Hey.” I held her close to me as the doors shut. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” She glanced down at herself, noticeably shivering. “I banged my knee, but I’m fine.”

“Sorry about your knee, but that’s not what I meant.”

“I guess I’m okay.” She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “You’d think I’d be freaking out or something, but it doesn’t seem that foreign to me.”

“Because you grew up in this world.” As much as her father shielded her from the violence, she was aware of what went on around her.

“I’ve never been shot at before.”

“I have.” I shrugged. “Many times.”

“You need to find another line of work.”

“It’s too late for that.” When the doors opened, I guided her toward the penthouse. “We’re going to find out who did this.”

---