Inferno(95)

‘We’re going to kill them,’ he said. ‘And finally teach you the meaning of loyalty.’

His eyes were fathomless pools, polluted with his scheme. I tried to twist out of his grasp but he clamped down harder. He stalked to the other side of the kitchen, through to the serving area, so he could glance through the windows again. Sheets of rain crashed against the windows, but outside all was still.

Or so it appeared.

I had to get out. If I could get out, I could flag someone down. I could get us out of there. I struggled against him.

‘You can go,’ he said. ‘But you’ll have to take your chances with the assassins outside.’

There was a deafening crash from the kitchen – something was colliding against the metal door. Jack had been right – the Falcones had come around the back, where their attempts to get at him would be hidden in the darkness of the alleyway.

I seized this distraction and bolted into the serving area. The furious thudding of Jack’s pursuit jolted me faster. I sprinted across the floor, pulling tables behind me as I went, hoping to slow him down. He bounded over them with wild abandon.

I reached the front door and managed to free the lock with fumbling hands. Jack grabbed my T-shirt. We tussled and he yanked me backwards, clenching my shoulders. ‘They’ll kill you!’

I stomped on his foot. ‘Let go!’

Two loud cracks rang in the air outside. Closer than thunder, more frightening than lightning. I stumbled backwards, hitting my head against Jack’s chest. He gripped my arm again and pulled me with him, knocking over a table.

Another crash rang out back in the kitchen, the door clanging against their attempts to demolish it.

They were everywhere.

The front door swung open in front of us and Donata Marino swept into the diner, bringing a flurry of wind and rain with her.

‘There you are,’ she said, holding her gun high. ‘By happy coincidence you are already exactly where I want you to be.’

‘You lied to me!’ I spat. ‘You used me!’

‘Like a carrier pigeon.’ She took a step closer, blocking my way. I could see the beads of rain sliding down her face. ‘As if I would ever expect you to betray the boy that gives you flowers and looks at you like you’re worth something.’

I gaped at her.

‘I have eyes everywhere, Sophie.’ She shook her head. ‘And I am no fool.’

‘Why? Why send me there?’

‘Don’t you understand power structures, silly girl?’ She lowered her gun and tucked it in her pocket. Her smile was a patronizing slash of red lips. ‘Our strike tonight is only as good as the highest-ranking member we kill.’ Her smile grew as she saw comprehension move across my features.

She knew she could never get to Valentino. But Valentino was one half of a whole.

So …

‘Luca is the target,’ I whispered.

She nodded. ‘I wanted the underboss to know we were coming so he would come out of that mansion and stand with his brothers, where I can get at him.’

As she shut the door behind her, I caught a glimpse of Gino Falcone slumped against the doorframe, his gun held limply in his hand as rivers of crimson pooled across his T-shirt.

I knew in that split second that I had made the gravest mistake of all, and that tonight we would all pay for it.





CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

THE GAS



Donata seized me by the collar and dragged me with her like a dog. ‘The others are at the back door?’ she asked Jack. There was another bang from the kitchen and she smiled, her question answered. She indicated behind her with a flick of her wrist. ‘Giorgino Falcone was too busy playing with his phone to see me. Imbecille. Libero and Marco will cover the front now. The others are en route. The Falcones have backup, so we’ll have to be quick.’

God. There were so many of them moving around in the darkness, seizing the storm and harnessing its protection.

I struggled out of Donata’s grasp and tried to crane my neck to search the doorway again. She pushed me back into the kitchen, where Jack was lifting the bursting duffel bag on to the island. My mother’s eyes were closed but she was still groaning softly, reality filtering back to her, piece by piece. Donata ignored her.

‘Sophie, I am going to do for you what I could not do for my sister many years ago. I am going to get those demons out of your head. Tonight is the beginning of the life you were meant to have. Tonight you will become a Marino.’

The door heaved again, and this time a dent formed in the centre of it.

Jack stretched his body over the stove and flicked the gas on, one burner at a time. I watched the air above them start to ripple.

‘What the hell are you doing?’ The realization came upon me like a bed of nails in my back. Before I could scream at them, Donata had clamped her hand across my mouth, suffocating the air as I tried to suck it in.