Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 80550 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80550 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
My face turns white as snow.
Oh my God.
Lucio’s men immediately get up, guns pulled and pointed right at Matteo’s head. But Matteo stays seated in a nonchalant manner, as if he’s not impressed at all. He simply sways his wrist back and forth and says, “Tell me … how fast do you think my men will storm in and litter this place along with your bodies in bullets after they find out my heart monitor is not functioning? I’ll wait.” When there’s no answer, he adds, “Do you think killing me will save you from hell?”
He smiles as Lucio gestures at his men to back down again. “Relax, relax. No one is getting killed here.”
“Very confident words for a man on death’s door,” Matteo responds.
“I realize how badly you have been affected by this situation.”
Matteo suddenly slams his fist onto the table. “Situation? My mother being killed by the likes of you is not a situation.”
So that’s what this is about.
“And I understand,” Lucio responds, “which is why I’m here, to pay for my debt in full.”
He nods at one of his men, who puts a giant box on the table and opens it up right in front of Matteo. But Matteo seems unimpressed despite the fact that there must be at least two million dollars inside that box.
What I wouldn’t do for that kind of money. But if I got up now and stole it right underneath their noses, a bullet would hit me before I’d even touch the doorknob. Lucio would never let me get away, especially not with his money, which is why I’m so surprised he’s willing to part with it. Matteo must be one powerful man.
“You think this will be enough for me?” Matteo asks.
Lucio flicks his fingers. Another box just like it is put on the table, double the size, double the amount.
Jesus Christ.
“How much do you want?”
Matteo gets up and grabs a wad of cash, feeling it in his hand. I wonder if he’s counting it.
Suddenly, he sweeps the box off the table along with all the cash. “Don’t fucking insult me. My mother’s life was worth more than petty dollars. She was priceless to this world, and you destroyed her light. I will never get that back.” He grinds his teeth. “The only thing I want is your fucking head on a platter.”
BANG! BANG!
Loud gunshots emanate through Club Triton, and I gasp in shock.
BOOM!
I close my eyes as rubble, smoke, and fire fill the room and cover it with dust, and I duck for cover on the floor, screaming.
What the fuck is happening?
More guns are pulled. From the corner of my eye, I can see Matteo’s men rushing into the room to protect him.
“Lucio, if this is your doing, your entire family will pay for it with blood,” Matteo says.
But Lucio is on the floor with me, three feet away, scrambling for his gun while his own men are fighting with intruders that storm into the room.
Some guy walks up to Matteo. “It’s an ambush, sir. We have to get out of here now.”
“I will see you soon,” Matteo says.
His eyes briefly connect with mine in the flurry of the attack, but then he’s carted off by his men while they take over the fight with whoever decided to blow the fuse to this negotiation.
But I still can’t help but wonder if he meant those words for Lucio … or me.
There’s panic everywhere, and I take the opportunity to crawl toward the money and pick up some, hoping I may be able to escape with at least enough to save me. But the second I get up from the floor and try to run off in the heat of the moment, Lucio grabs my ankle. “You fucking bitch. You’re trying to steal my money while we’re under attack? Don’t you dare leave me! You thought you could run away with my money?”
“Let go of me,” I scream.
Suddenly, three guys jump in through the hole created in the wall.
BANG! BANG!
More gunshots are fired. One of them runs toward me, and I shriek as he raises a gun at me.
Thwack.
The metal hits my head so hard, stars fill my eyes, and I fall to the floor, blacking out.
MATTEO
While I’m ushered out of the building, through the disorderly crowd of screaming people, I hastily glance over my shoulder at the room that was just blasted open. The girl, now unconscious, is thrown over the shoulder of one of Lucio’s henchmen as they make their way out the door through the back of the building, far away from me.
Goddammit.
“Let’s go, sir,” Franco says as we make our way through the crowd outside and onto the pavement.
“Who ambushed us?” I ask. “Was this a fucking setup?”
“No, Lucio knows not to play with us. He seemed just as surprised,” Franco responds.