Page 58 of Mafia Betrayal

Alessandro swore under his breath, “Shit.”

Two figures exited the car. One of them stepped into a puddle near the curb.

I traced my initials on my gun with the tip of my finger, then wrapped my hand around the rubber grip. Alessandro pulled a single bronze bullet from his pocket and handed it to me. The bullet brought back memories of this past week. The haunting image of a car rolling into the river, the stench of gunpowder and blood seeping into the seats of my car, the bullets ricocheting off of my car.

One bullet, one death sentence.

Alessandro shifted in his seat and stared at me with those gray, dangerous eyes. “Do you think your father deserves to live?”

“Does anyone who has done what he has deserve to live?”

I hid my gun in my waistband and stuffed the bullet into my pocket. The only life that mattered in this business was your own.

An officer tapped three times on my window and shone a flashlight into the car.

“What’re you doing out here?” he asked.

“Just enjoying the weather,” Alessandro said to him, smiling at the man.

The officer looked further into the car at me, furrowed his brows, and frowned. “Do I know you?” he asked, giving me a weird look.

“No,” I said, suppressing an eye roll and smiling sweetly at him.

He must’ve been new.

I leaned forward and watched as his eyes dropped to my tits. “Do I knowyou?”

Eyes flickering to mine once more, he grimaced and looked back at Alessandro. “You shouldn’t be out this late. Go back home. A storm is coming.”

Then, without asking another question, the cops disappeared back into their car and waited for us to move.

“Hotel?” Alessandro asked.

“No …” My lips curled into a small smile. “Officer William’s home.”

44

chiara

Officer William sat,tied up in his home with a gag in his mouth and tears staining his cheeks. I didn’t give a single fuck about him, but I could tell that Alessandro wanted to kill his ass for ever sleeping with me. Alessandro paced the room with his gun in his hand.

I placed William’s cell phone on the table in front of him. “You’re going to call my dad,” I said to him, crouching by his side.

He stared at me with teary eyes and shook his head.

I grasped his chin and forced him to nod. “If you want to live, you’re going to call him and tell him to meet you here. Tell him you have me in your custody. Tell him that I’m being charged with murdering his guards. Don’t—do not—fuck it up. You do whatever you have to do to get him to come here.”

Alessandro grabbed a fistful of his hair and pulled it back so William stared directly up at him. “If you seem nervous or if he figures out that you’re lying, I’ll kill you and your entire family. Do you understand?”

After he nodded, Alessandro ripped the duct tape from his mouth.

William let out a whimper and looked at me. “Chiara, please, let me go. This isn’t you. Please, don’t—”

I picked up his phone and dialed Dad’s number, which he had on speed dial.

Almost immediately, William shut his mouth. The phone rang a few times.

“Make this quick,” Dad said through the phone.

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