Angelo (The Marchesi Family 2)

Fuck. He wasn’t getting revenge on us because he loved his father. He’d wanted to kill the man himself. Damian Ricci had really been a piece of shit.

I brought my leg up, slamming it into his stomach. He gasped, but he didn’t let go of my neck.

I slammed my head up into his. My vision darkened, but I ignored it as his grip loosened. I flipped us again, pinning him to the ground.

“You won’t have to worry about any of this after tonight,” I snarled. “You’re going to die, right here, right now.”

The color had drained from his face. Blood loss from his wound was weakening him. I shifted my grip on his arm to squeeze right over the gunshot. He screamed and bucked under me, but I held on.

“No,” he croaked out. “I w-win this. Not y-you.”

“You’re so fucking wrong about that.” I kept his wounded arm pinned and punched him in his fucking face. His head snapped back, and he tried to use his legs to free himself, but he was much too weak.

I grabbed his shirt, lifted him, then slammed him back against the floor. His head cracked on the hardwood.

I stepped back, and he didn’t move. He was barely conscious as he looked up at me. I lifted my gun and shot him in the chest. He opened his mouth to scream, but hardly any sound came out.

I turned to Devil, and he handed me the gas can. Holding Sergio’s gaze, I began pouring it all over the floor around him.

He coughed and sputtered, blood leaking from his mouth.

“You like games with fire, and now you get to burn.” I pulled a book of matches from my pocket and lit one, holding it up as Devil and I backed out of the room.

Sergio gasped for air and collapsed back, unconscious.

I threw the match at his feet, and Devil and I ran. We stopped several yards from the house, watching and waiting. I knew Sergio was dead the moment I pulled the trigger the second time, but I still had to make sure he didn’t somehow escape the fire. Flames had begun to engulf the house, and sirens sounded in the distance.

“That’s our signal to leave,” Devil said. We hurried back to the bikes. As I gripped the handlebars, I saw that my ring was gone. “Oh fuck. No.”

Devil turned to me. “What’s wrong?”

“My ring. It’s not on my finger. It probably came off when we were fighting. Lucien’s going to fucking kill me.”

Devil pulled his matching ring off. “Take mine. You’ve been through hell today. You don’t need to deal with Luce being pissed at you for leaving evidence behind.”

“But he’ll be harder on you. He expects you to screw up.”

Devil shrugged. “I can handle it. I’m used to it.”

“You know he loves you.”

“Yeah, I know. He just wishes I wasn’t so… like I am.”

“Impulsive? Fucking insane?”

Devil laughed. “Yeah. That.”

I twisted the ring so it sat right. “Thank you. You know I’d do anything for you too, right?”

“I do.”

“Including listen to whatever happened with Detective Daniels.”

Devil looked down and kicked at the dirt. “I just can’t tell you.”

I laid a hand on his shoulder. “I won’t tell anyone else, not even Lucien.”

“This is… I just can’t.”

“I can tell how much it’s bothering you. You shouldn’t keep something like that to yourself.”

He shrugged. “Marco knows. He was there.”

Interesting. “So that’s why you hate him?”

Devil nodded. “Maybe I’ll tell you someday, but not right now.”

He swung a leg over his bike and cranked the engine, so I followed suit, and we took off. When we were far enough from the house not to be noticed, I pulled off to the side of the back road we were using and called Lucien. “It’s done.”

“Any problems?”

“No. All good.” I didn’t need to mention the ring right then. It was too late for any of our people to prevent the authorities from finding it in the ashes. We’d handle it later.

“I’ve got some men on four wheelers ready to destroy the tracks you left on the trails. Get back to the main road as quickly as you can, and get the hell home.”

“Yes, sir.” I ended the call, and we took off again.

Lucien was waiting for us when we got to the house. He demanded a play-by-play of the night. When I finished, he looked pleased.

“Depending on who’s investigating this, we may be questioned, but if there’s no evidence and our stories match, it won’t be an—” Lucien stopped abruptly, and I realized he was staring at Devil’s hand. “Where the fuck is your ring?”

Devil looked at his bare finger like he’d never seen it before. “Ring?”

Lucien’s face went red. “Did you lose your fucking ring at the fucking crime scene?”

He shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. I probably lost it in the woods.”