Bow Down(62)

“I would expect nothing less.”

“Good. Now go, get out of here.” He turned back away from me, facing the wall, and for a second I thought I saw a tear in his eyes.

I stood up quickly, confusion moving through my body. I left the room, and the guards escorted me back to the gate.

This time, I couldn’t think about the men and their guns. I could only think about Arturo Barone’s emotional expression as he spoke about killing his own daughter. I never would have imagined that he was even able to feel sadness, but apparently I was wrong.

Arturo was a monster, but apparently he was still at least somewhat human.

None of that mattered. Whatever Arturo was feeling was none of my concern. In the end, he was still willing to kill his own daughter over this feud. He was a dangerous man that bought and sold women into slavery. The city was better off under Louisa.

He was going to show. As the guards deposited me outside of the gates and I began to walk back to the spot where I’d meet Ethan, I had no doubt that Arturo was going to show up. That sort of emotion wasn’t something a man could easily fake, and I doubted Arturo was in the practice of faking his emotions anymore. He wanted to see his daughter and to work out peace, or at least to murder her in cold blood.

I couldn’t help but smile to myself. We were going to get the drop on him, and he had no clue that it was happening. I couldn’t let myself be fooled by his momentary display of emotions.

Arturo was a bastard and a demon, and we were going to destroy him once and for all.





32





Louisa





The night was dark and full of terror. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, feeling the pressure of the bulletproof vest straps against my chest. I glanced over at Wyatt and he smiled at me reassuringly.

The meeting was happening in an empty lot in the middle of nowhere. We were well outside of the city, and it took us an hour to drive out there. I had no clue why Arturo chose this spot, but it didn’t matter.

We got there with plenty of time. Kasia, Roger Dean, and my two best snipers were in position around the lot, easily hidden in the trees and on top of an old apartment building nearby.

Wyatt and I stood alone in the field, waiting. We were ten minutes early, and I could feel my nerves spreading through my body.

“You okay?” he asked.

“I’m good.”

“Good.” I looked at me and grinned, bumping my shoulder with his shoulder. “You’re going to be fine.”

“I’m not worried about me. I’m worried about the city.”

He nodded and looked off into the distance. “Arturo asked me why I came back.”

“What did you say?”

“I said it was because I wanted revenge on you.”

“How’s that going so far?”

“Not great.” He grinned at me and then looked back into the distance. “I lied, of course. I didn’t want to tell him the real reason.”

“What’s that?”

He looked at me. “I’m in love with you Louisa. Have been since the moment we met.”

I blinked, shocked at his words. Suddenly, everything that had happened, everything that was going to happen, it all made sense. I felt like my life just clicked into place at that moment. A small smile spread across his lips as I stared at him, a fountain of emotion welling up inside of me.

I felt like I was going to burst. My entire life was spent alone. Even when I was a young girl and the little darling of the mafia, I was always alone. I was separate from everyone else because of my gender, and I could never be close to anyone because of that. I was the boss’s daughter, the off-limits mafia princess. People respected me, but only because they had to.

My girls respected me. Kasia respected me, maybe even loved me. Lucas was the only person in the world that I thought really gave a shit about me, at least until this moment.

It was true. Wyatt had risked his life for me by setting up this meeting. I argued against him going in person, but he said that was the only way, and I had to respect that. They could have killed him on sight, and part of me thought they would, but Wyatt was willing to make that gamble for me.

He was willing to do whatever it took, all for me.

“I love you too,” I said, nearly a whisper.

He nodded. “I know you do.”

“I never should have sent you away. I’m sorry, Wyatt. I’m so sorry.”

He took my hand briefly and squeezed before letting go. “I’d kiss you right now, but I don’t want to tip our hand in case your father is watching.”

“Good point.”

He grinned at me then. “But when we survive this, I’m going to show you exactly how I feel about you.”

I smiled back, and all of my nerves were shattered and gone. The only thing I felt was desire and love for this man, this incredible, strong man. I’d never met someone with such an amazing resolve before.