Page 129 of Mafia Virgin (The Kings of Italy)

Virga gestured to an empty syringe on the hospital tray. “Morphine. He won’t be able to help you now.”

Shit. I swallowed hard. “The house is crawling with guards, as well as Enzo and his men.”

His withered face curled into a pleased smile. “I’m afraid not. They’ve all been called away on an urgent threat involving your twin.”

My heart actually stopped beating in my chest, blood rushing in my ears. I thought I might pass out. Gia was waiting in the hotel suite we’d rented last night to finalize our plans. “What happened to Gia?”

“Nothing, but D’Agostino doesn’t know that.”

That was a relief, but I still had Virga and Massimo to worry about. Maybe if I kept him talking, I could delay any further violence until Enzo returned. “How did you know I was even here?”

Virga looked at me like I was a fool. “Did you honestly think your father’s room was the only place I installed cameras?”

Crap. Yes, I had. We only disabled the single camera in my father’s room before laying our trap today. “You don’t need to hurt anyone else. I’ll come with you.”

“That’s a good girl.” He rose slowly out of his chair. “Your husband made me look like a fool. Did he honestly think I wouldn’t find out about him speaking to the other families, trying to turn them against me?”

I had no idea what he was talking about. What mattered was stabilizing Massimo, then getting Virga out of the house before Enzo returned. I couldn’t live with myself if Enzo or one of his brothers was killed because of me. My sister would be devastated. “Please, let me quickly help Massimo and then I’ll go back to Palermo with you.”

“I don’t care about that Napoletano pezza di merda. Get moving.”

“You have to let me help him. He’ll bleed out on the carpet if I don’t.”

Without waiting for Virga’s approval, I bent down to check on Massimo. Blood was everywhere and his skin was alarmingly pale. His eyes were screwed shut, face twisted in extreme pain. “Just hold on,” I whispered as I took his hands and placed them over the wound. “Press here as best you can.”

I spotted Massimo’s gun under his hip. Without thinking about it, I kept my back to Virga and slipped the gun into the pocket of my hoodie. I wasn’t sure I could use it, but there was a small amount of comfort in having a weapon on me.

“Go.” Virga shoved my shoulder. “Get up and walk toward the stairs.”

Crossing my fingers that Virga hadn’t noticed me taking the gun, I stood. “I’ll come. Just don’t hurt anyone else.”

“Amunì, amunì!” He pushed me from behind. “Hurry. I want to leave before the other D’Agostinos return.”

CHAPTERTHIRTY-THREE

Giacomo

Cazzo, it was cold here. How could people stand it? My Mediterranean blood weeped for sunshine the second we stepped off the plane in Toronto.

A high stone wall surrounded the large Mancini estate, the entrance gated and well-fortified. Roberto Mancini had taken security seriously, which was a relief. I hoped my journey here proved unnecessary.

But I wouldn’t draw a full breath until I saw Emma, unharmed, with my own eyes.

We drove slowly by the main gate. There weren’t any guards visible, but several cars were parked in the drive close to the house.

D’Agostino’s plane touched down about thirty-six hours ago. They would’ve come straight here, Emma to see her father and D’Agostino to kill Reggie Mancini as quickly as possible. “She’s there.”

“Thank fuck we beat Virga here,” Zani said. “One less problem to worry about.”

Zani’s contacts in Toronto hadn’t seen or heard of Virga’s arrival yet. But that didn’t mean anything. Virga was very good at not being found. “I hope that’s true. Because I will rip off D’Agostino’s balls if he puts my wife in any kind of danger.”

Zani parked the car on a side street. Surrounding the Mancini property was the wall Emma had once mentioned. It wasn’t terribly high, and I could easily imagine her sisters climbing over it to escape.

“What now?” Zani asked as he shut off the engine. He reached into the glove box and pulled out a pistol.

“We climb over the wall and sneak in.”

There were more guns in the trunk, so I got out and began tucking weapons into my clothing. When Zani joined me I pointed at the wall. “She once said they used to sneak out of the house, over this wall. So if Reggie’s men are watching, I don’t think they’ll see us.”

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