The Woman in the Trunk

I lifted my chin, staring up at my father, who somehow managed to look like an even smaller man at that angle.

"You are not the mother fucking boss of the Costa family, boy," he roared, lifting the gun.

I'd seen him shoot many men in my life.

From a car.

From a street corner.

From a window.

Across a room.

He didn't often do up-close-and-personal killing.

I was starting to see why.

His fucking hand was shaking.

Hard enough that the gun was trembling, and his aim was for shit.

Maybe I could make that work to my benefit. Turn just right at the exact right second. Get a graze instead of a direct hit.

I doubted he would shoot me when I was down. It wasn't a power move. His men were watching.

"You want to be a Capo dei Capi, you need to kill the current one," he added.

In that moment, it sounded a lot like an invitation to my ego.

But it wasn't that easy. It never was. If I killed my father to take his place, the other families would decide to kill me for my disloyalty. And then they would all go to war to pick the next Capo dei Capi.

If I went that route, there was no way I was going to make it out of this.

At least I stood a chance that my father wouldn't feel the need to be lethal.

"Family over everything," I countered, shaking my head. "Always," I added.

They were good final words, if this was the end.

The men would repeat them.

My father's reign would be questioned.

Especially if he killed me after them.

There was a rumbling sound coming from my father before his finger slid to the trigger.

My hand moved outward slightly, looking like I was bracing myself.

When his gaze didn't follow the movement, I slid the saved item out of my hand, passed it to a confused Giana, feeling her slide it into her own fist, hiding it.

There.

It was done.

Come what may.Chapter TwelveGianaThe handcuff key was still cool in my palm when the shot rang out. The sound was deafening in the small, enclosed space, making my ears ring so loud that I didn't even realize I was screaming until I heard Arturo snap, "Someone shut that bitch up," a second before a palm slapped across my cheek, the hot pain seeming to snap me out of my shock, making my gaze fly to where Lorenzo was sprawled on the ground, bleeding from a gunshot wound right above his left ear.

Oh, God.

No.

No no no no.

This couldn't be happening.

He couldn't be bleeding to death right in front of me.

It wasn't until right that moment that I realized he had started to mean something to me, despite my efforts to keep him at a distance.

He'd been good to me, considering.

He'd sided with me against the family.

The biggest taboo of all.

And then he'd... he'd murdered the man who had raped me.

Who did that?

He told his father it was about the family's honor, but I knew that wasn't all.

He'd done it for me.

He'd killed for me.

He'd gotten the revenge I wanted, but knew I couldn't stomach to get for myself.

And then his final act before staring down the barrel of his father's gun was to hand me a handcuff key, to grant me my freedom when the opportunity presented itself.

"Get him the fuck out of here," Arturo growled, waving down at Lorenzo's body.

Arturo's guards were the first to the body, grabbing him, lifting him, hauling him out of the room.

Chris stayed with me.

While Emilio and Chris and some of the other guards I had met while stuck at Lorenzo's penthouse technically belonged to Arturo, it was clear to me that their loyalty was to Lorenzo.

Once Lorenzo and the guards were gone, Arturo stormed out too, followed by his remaining guards, leaving just me and Christopher.

We both stayed in numb silence for a long couple of moments, hearing all the movements upstairs. I was pretty sure I heard Arturo going up the stairs to the top level, could hear his men getting back to work on the dining room floors.

Only then did Chris turn to me.

"Was he still breathing?" I whispered, my heart thudding so hard in my chest that my ribcage hurt.

"I don't know," he admitted, sounding remorseful about it.

"Is Arturo going to kill me?"

"I don't know," Chris said again, shoulders falling.

"Are his men going to rape me?"

"No," he told me, straightening, chin lifting, a stubborn move I knew well.

"You can't say that for sure."

"I'll be standing right outside this door."

"For what? Forever?" I asked, shaking my head.

"If necessary. And there's Emilio too," he added, shrugging. "Lorenzo would want us to do this."

My heart shrank smaller in my chest, felt like it was drying out, becoming brittle.

"What happens now?"

"My best guess? Arturo hits the bottle. Which means he will pass out for the rest of tonight."

"Will his men leave?"