The Woman in the Wrong Place (Grassi Framily)

“And you expect me to believe his Family just went along with that?” Luigi asked.

“I expect you to believe that he didn’t want the rest of his Family to know he was being blackmailed by one of his own employees because he was so inept at his job that he let himself be seen doing a hit.”

“Shakes out,” the bushy-browed man said, shrugging.

“But if you were blackmailing him and that was it, why have you been at Matteo’s house since your little… accident?” Luigi asked, and I couldn’t help but wonder if one of these guys standing around was the one to beat me. Or to be there during the attack and do nothing.

“Because the cops were swarming,” I said, bringing up pieces of the script I’d practiced in the trunk. “Matteo was worried I would talk, so he wouldn’t leave my side. When his Family had questions about that, he made up a story about dating me as a cover.”

“So let me get this straight. You blackmailed him. But then he, in a way, kidnapped you?”

“In a way. But not really. I went along with it because I wanted to get my money. If his Family found out the truth, I would be gone. Besides, I figured if I was on the inside, I could get even more information to use against him.”

“Is that so?” Luigi asked.

“Oh, you know these powerful men,” I said, looking right at him. “They have all kinds of secrets they don’t want getting out.”

“Do they?”

“They do,” I confirmed, leaving the mystery hanging, wanting him to be chomping at the bit for more. Enough so that he kept me alive long enough to be saved. Or to save myself.

“You can’t be believing this bitch,” the evil-eyed guy said, throwing a hand out toward me.

“Just for the record, boss,” the bushy-browed man piped in. “She was trying to save the guy I shot when I grabbed her.”

“I hardly think allowing Matteo’s family member bleed out in front of me was going to do me any favors,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Matteo agreed to the blackmail instead of just getting rid of me because his Family has morals about involving women. But I think those morals would go right out the door if they thought I stood by and did nothing while one of their loved ones was bleeding out in front of them.”

“Got a point,” the bushy-browed man said, nodding.

“And I had no idea who was breaking in. You could have been a garden-variety rapist or home invader for all I knew. Not someone I could have a mutually beneficial business relationship with.”

“Don’t know if I’m gonna need that, doll face,” Luigi said, making my stomach clench, but I kept my face impassive. “Since my plan is to put every one of those fuckers in the ground.”

Anger, bright and burning, singed through my system as the images of all the Family I’d met crossed my mind.

Were they, by society’s standards, moral men?

No, I guess not.

But they were good men.

You couldn’t convince me otherwise.

Better by far than these men who were completely fine with an innocent woman being beaten to a pulp for no reason.

I had no idea how I could do it, what I had to offer, but I would do anything in my power to make sure that if this was some sort of war, and there had to be winners and losers, that the Grassis came out on top, and these bastards were fertilizing the ground in the woods somewhere.

That was the only outcome I could let myself even consider.

The other, even if I managed to survive—which was not likely—was too horrific even to think about.

Luigi sighed, rolling his neck.

Something was weighing on him, but I had no idea what.

“Anyone hear from my brother?” he asked, and my mind immediately went to the guy I’d dragged into the basement. Had that been his brother? Had I condemned him to possible torture, and therefore created even more problems between these two Families?

No.

If that guy was this guy’s brother—the boss’s brother—there was no way bushy-brows would have left him behind when he took me.

Where was he then?

My heart twisted in my chest at the idea that there was maybe another hit squad hiding in the shadows, waiting for Matteo to come home.

“Not answering,” the evil-eyed guy said, shrugging. “Probably a good sign.”

It better not have been a good sign.

And not just because I was hoping Matteo would save me.

No.

Because I wanted him to live, no matter what happened to me, I wanted him to live. The same went for Luca and Lucky, who had wives and babies at home. And Massimo and Aurelio and Milo for their mothers and siblings.

At least if something happened to me, there wouldn’t be a lot of people left behind grieving. Maybe Matteo and his family would be a little sad. And, sure, my friend Marcie would be a little sad. Possibly even some of my coworkers.