I looked around at the twisted metal of the two smashed cars and the bodies of our two men. The two Russian guys were still alive. I walked around toward them.
I put my boot on the stomach wound of the one man. He screamed in pain. I put a bullet in his head.
I walked over to the other one.
“Think your guy can get away?” I asked him.
“Fuck you,” he said.
“Wrong answer.” I shot him in the skull.
“We could have used them alive, boss,” Rafa said.
“We’ll catch the guy on foot.” I walked over to the SUV, opened the door, and grabbed the briefcase from the floor. It was dented and covered in blood from thug who hadn’t bothered with a seat belt, but otherwise it was fine.
“What the fuck was that?” Rafa asked. “Why just one car?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe they were going after the money. Or maybe they didn’t know we’d be out in force like that.”
“Shit,” Rafa said. “Bastards.”
“They just made this war real,” I said. “Come on.”
I walked toward the other SUV. I pointed at two of my soldiers. “You two, go make sure that Russian guy gets hunted down.” They nodded and ran off to join the chase.
Rafa climbed into the driver’s seat of the now-empty SUV, and I got into the passenger side. We had four trained guys out hunting for that Russian; he wouldn’t last long.
Rafa pulled out, and the last SUV met up with us at a stoplight. We drove together back toward the compound.
My heart was fucking pounding. That had been an incredibly close one. We were lucky that last SUV came back to check on us, otherwise we might have been dead in the street.
But we’d made it, and with the money, half of what we needed to make good with Bao and his people. Hopefully Arturo would front the other half, but you never knew with that cheap bastard.
I felt fucking amped from all the adrenaline flowing through my body. It was almost as good as how I’d felt after fucking Kaley earlier that day.
But I couldn’t think about her. She was just a distraction. This war was real and getting more dangerous every day. I’d figure out what I wanted with Kaley soon enough.
But first, I had to get money and fund this damn violence.
19
Kaley
My head was buzzing as I walked through the hallways, Alexei in my arms. He was squirming more than usual but seemed content and happy to get a ride around the plush halls.
And I felt like I needed to be moving. After watching what had happened with Louisa, this war was becoming suddenly more real.
It was early the next day, and I was exhausted. I hadn’t slept well the night before, mostly because I was so worried about Vince and about my own family. I’d never wanted any of this to happen, never wanted a war between my family and the Italians.
I stopped walking and leaned up against the wall, looking down at Alexei.
“What do you think of your daddy, Alex?” I asked him. “Think he’s big and strong? You’ll be big and strong one day.”
He just kept squirming and looking around, and I smiled. Every day he seemed to get more and more interested in his surroundings, smiled more, laughed sometimes, and just seemed like he was learning. He was growing so fast, too. Every time I felt too stressed and worried, I needed to just think about Alex and remember why I was doing this.
It was for the future, for his future and for my own, too.
Just then, a door near us pushed open and two staff members walked out. They were clearly maids, both pushing carts. One was tall and the other was short, both woman, both probably in their forties. They stopped in the hall and huddled together, talking quietly but still loudly enough that I could hear what they were saying.
“How much blood?” she asked.
“A lot. Tons of it.”
“Wow. That’s scary. I mean, I knew we worked for the mob, but seriously, blood?”
The taller one nodded. “I know. I think there was some sort of attack last night.”
“Really?” the shorter one asked. “These guys always seem so nice. I mean, tough guys and all, but nice.”
“I know. I think someone died. Can you believe it?”
“Geez.” They began to walk slowly down the hallway, and their conversation faded out of earshot.
They must not have noticed me standing there. I was partially hidden by a big plant and they had turned away from me. Otherwise I couldn’t imagine they’d say that stuff in front of me.
But I was glad they had. I felt terrified as I moved back down the hall, walking fast. Fear ran up along my spine as I pictured the worst-case scenario.
What if my baby’s father was dead? He could be lying in the street, stiff and dead, all because of me. Even if it wasn’t him, someone had died because of this war. The shots were no longer digital, clearly.