Page 49 of Mafia Betrayal

But it was no use. Tommy was on my ass with his goons. People were shooting at the car, breaking the back windshield, glass flying everywhere. I sped through the city. All I could feel was adrenaline and pain, heartbreak that Dad had set this up.

Even if he hadn’t set this up … Tommy would kill me tonight for what I had done to him the last time I saw him. He would kill me, hide my body, and take the money from whoever had posted the reward.

One of my tires blew out. Then another, then another. I cursed and prepared for the absolute worst. I grabbed the gun, made sure I had mine, and sprinted out of the car as it came to a complete stop.

Bullets still rained down around me, and I dodged them as best as I could, sprinting to the only place where I knew I had extra ammo and more guns. My apartment.

34

chiara

It might’ve beenstupid to go to my apartment, but I had nowhere else to go. Alessandro’s place was across the city, and I wouldn’t be able to get there in time before someone shot me dead. I swallowed up my fear and hurried down the back alleyways toward my apartment.

Tommy knew exactly where I was headed, so I couldn’t take any detours.

After taking a deep breath, I willed my legs to move faster and faster. The bullets had stopped whizzing past my head, and I knew I had moments before they started back up again. We were in public, and while we had bought some of New York’s finest cops, the city wouldn’t allow the killing of an innocent woman in the streets by the mafia.

But even knowing that, I didn’t believe it.

Copshad killed people in broad daylight and gone without repercussions.

When I saw my apartment building, I hurried inside and took the stairs two at a time until I reached my apartment door. I wasted no time unlocking it, rushing inside, and putting the dead bolt on it.

After I pulled up a floorboard in my bedroom for the ammo, my heart dropped. Tommy must’ve come back and taken it all out. He must’ve known that this was going to happen, had planned for me to come here so he could kill me.

Oh my God.

Oh my fucking God.

Someone pounded on my door and then blew the locks right off it. I hid in the closet and prayed to God that they wouldn’t find me even though I knew they would. Tommy would find me, kill me, and reap the rewards.

I closed my eyes, grasped my guns to my chest, and thought about Mom. About her smiling face. About how I would see her soon. About how I’d never found the answers that I had been looking for … or maybe I had. Maybe these were all the answers I needed.

Dad was a liar.

Dad was a snitch.

Dad had killed Mom. Like he was about to kill me too.

The door opened, and I listened to footsteps entering my apartment. How many had I killed? Had I killed any while I was on the run? I must’ve killed at least a few, or they were still outside the door, waiting for us to come out.

I didn’t know how many bullets I had left. All I knew was that one gun was loaded, and the other was almost empty. I stayed as quiet as I could until someone opened the closet door. Then, without thinking, I fired off a shot, killing the guard instantly.

More began to file into the room at the sound of a fired gun. I put bullet after bullet into their bodies, trusting that my aim was good enough to kill the men. When another one came into the room, I tried to fire off another bullet, but the gun was empty.

I swallowed hard and stumbled back as Tommy walked into the room. Gun drawn and pointed at me, he had the evilest smirk I had ever seen.

“You wanted to be a whore while I worked? Going out with Alessandro. Thinking you were slick, Chiara. Thinking you were such a big girl in this business.”

He stepped toward me, and I stepped back, bumping into something and falling back onto my ass. I posted my hands behind me and scurried back until my back hit the wall.

This was it. This was the end.

Tommy took the safety off the gun, crouched down to my level, and put it right against my head. “You don’t know shit about this family. And what you do know is too fucking much. Your daddy wants me to bring you back so he can kill you himself, but I want to do it. Just like my father killed your mother.”

My heart dropped. Fear and anger and heartbreak ran through every part of me. Tommy’s family had killed Mom. Tommy’sfatherhad killed Mom. Mom was dead because of my ex-boyfriend.

I balled my hands into fists, but I couldn’t move. It hurt so fucking bad.

---