45. Angelo

Chapter 45

Angelo

" I t's not really me you care about," Tommy calls out as he shrinks further behind Serena. The fucking coward. "We both know it. You want my contacts."

"Simon wants your contacts. I want you, Tommy."

"Come on, you can't really still hold all that shit against me, can you? I mean, I was just doing what any rational human would do."

"You betrayed me. I lost five years of my life because of you."

"And I did it because I had the chance to build myself a nice little future. Hey, at least I didn't kill you, right?"

"Not for lack of trying."

He laughs, unhinged and wild. Serena's eyes are still begging and her shoulders shake with each sob.

"It's just business, Angelo. We all respected you, man. I still fucking respect you. We were like brothers, right?"

"Right. And then you stabbed me in the back. You really think I can let you walk away?"

"I think you need to be smart here. Spare me and you'll save Serena here. That'll really make your new girl happy, right? I'll tell Simon everything about my Serbian friends, and then I'll ride off into the sunset. Ideally, that sunset will be in Mexico, far away from any cartels that might want to do your family a favor by finishing me off. It's a good plan, Angelo. We all win that way."

My hand tenses on the trigger of my rifle. "We don't all win," I say, breathing nice and slow to keep myself calm. If my hands shake right now, if I'm not fast enough?—

"Come on, Angelo, it's finished. You got the others, right? You killed Paulie in his own fucking house, for fuck's sake. You survived at least two different ambushes too. Nobody can say you're not a scary motherfucker, so let it go. Don't make this hard."

Serena: please, please, please, please .

Five years flash through my head. Five long, hard years behind bars, five years where I wasted away. I could take the deal, maybe save Serena, maybe get Tommy alive, and it would be a win-win. We'd both walk away from this.

But I can't do it. I can't fucking do it. If Tommy lives, I'll never be satisfied, and I'm fucking kidding myself if I think Tommy's going to let Serena walk away from here still breathing. She's his only shield.

I bring the rifle up. He grunts in surprise as I squeeze off one shot. The stock bucks against my shoulder, and Tommy's skull snaps back as the bullet blows his brains out. Then his finger twitches, and his gun goes off, and Serena's screaming.

I leap into the truck. Seamus is right behind me, and I don't have any idea where the fuck he came from, but I don't care. I go for Serena and grab her, pulling her toward me, looking for wounds. "You're okay," I say, over and over. "You're okay, you're okay." She's covered in blood, but it's only coming from her cheek, an ugly furrow where the bullet ripped a long line.

Tommy missed. By inches, a millimeter really, but he missed.

"Hell of a shot," Seamus says, his fingers on Tommy's pulse. "One in a million."

"You're alright," I say, pulling Serena out onto the street. Davide's men form a perimeter and they're keeping the place locked down. No bystanders, no attackers, no onlookers.

"You killed him." She's still crying, but she doesn't look upset. I steer her over to my truck and get her into the passenger side where I can use a towel to clean off the worst of her blood. She holds it up against her face, still staring at me. "He told me he was going to murder me no matter what happened. He said he was going to enjoy it, too."

"Tommy's always been a sick fuck. I have a feeling he showed that side of himself to the girls he trafficked instead of you."

She releases a horrified sob and curls into herself. "I thought he cared," she whispers. "But it was always just the drugs. Fuck, it was just the drugs."

"I'm going to take you back to my place now," I tell her and gesture at Davide. He nods and some of the guys make room in the street so I can get moving. "We'll clean you up and stitch that face."

"And then what? Is Claudia there? I don't think I can look at her right now. I've been so fucking terrible to her."

"Yeah, you have, but now's your chance to make it right. Don't fuck it up."

She stares and gives me a slow, blank nod. "I'll try."

I get behind the wheel and start driving.