“Perfect.”
He nods agreeing. “We’ve had eyes on the house since Amadeo popped back on the radar. He’s inside and there’s more guards, we have enough men here to back us up, and snipers to clear the path, but we’ll need to be careful.”
“I’ll take care by killing his ass,” I answer. More than ever, I’m determined to end this today. I won’t allow Amadeo to flee and hide, or continue this hunt for me and mine.
Alex smiles. “I like that plan. This has gotten way past shit. He had men looking for your girl. Saul and Lois took down three men who were trying to get to her aunt.”
Shit. “Jesus, really?”
“Yeah. They were waiting for her outback at her restaurant. Then I took down another at her house. Same night.”
“Fucking hell. Damn it,” I hiss.
“You know the ropes. I left Lois and Saul on guard with some other men. She doesn’t have any idea what took place so don’t worry about that. The cleanup crew took care of the mess before anybody could blink.”
I raise my fist and bump it with his. “Alex I can’t tell you how grateful I am.”
He dips his head. “Don’t worry about it. How’s your girl? She okay? Your text was off.”
I draw in a deep breath. “She’s not okay. The situation isn’t ideal that’s why this has to end today. She can go back to her aunt and pretend none of this ever happened. Pretend she never met me.”
He narrows his eyes when I say that. “That what you want?”
“Doesn’t matter what I want. It’s for the best,” I answer, still trying to convince myself. I can see he wants to ask me more but time is of the essence. “Let’s do this.”
“Alright, let’s go,” he answers and we head to the other side of the cave to join Dante and Gio.
“What’s the plan boss?” I ask Dante who’s loading his gun with bullets.
“We’re going in as one unit,” he says with a wild smile. “Straight through the front door. Everyone else will fall in line.”
“The bullet that gets Amadeo is mine,” I tell him. I’m well aware that these guys are higher than me in the business and while I might be running the show here, I’m supposed to take orders.
Today is different. I’m stepping up.
Dante nods his dark head and the sun glistens on the cross tattooed on his neck. “Bullet that gets this motherfucker is yours,” he agrees. “You ready?”
“I’m ready.” I pull out my guns, ready for action.
“Okay, men let’s move,” Gio chimes in and we head out to battle.
The area is covered with mangrove trees and my boots push into puddles caused from the storm and the brackish water from the estuary.
I have to give Amadeo credit. He picked a good spot to hide out. The house is quite hidden away amongst the caves and the trees, well enclosed within the beach.
Dante gives the signal for us to wait so we stop behind a thicket of trees. As we do I see some of our other guys heading to the left of the house. We’re close now and I can see the guards stationed on the front looking out with machine guns.
“Here’s where things are about to get heated guys,” Dante says with a smile. I watch as he gives a command in the receiver on the device he’s wearing.
Not a second later the four guards at the gate go down as our snipers get them. It’s almost without a sound. Not so quiet though because another guard from inside sees what’s happening and alerts the others.
“Let’s move guys, we’re covered,” Dante calls out and we jump out from behind the trees.
We move forwards going toward the entrance of the house. The gate is open so we just run through. Bullets fire above us from our snippers, taking down anyone who comes out and shoots at us, clearing the path.
I know though that we’ll be on our own once we get inside the house. I’m pretty sure by now Amedeo must know something is going on.
We get inside and take formation back to back covering each other, guns raised one in each hand. I’ve seen the way Alex, Dante and Gio move. They’re like one unit and one brain, one man. They seem surprised when I fall in line doing the same, showing I’m as badass as they are and I can hold my own.
“Donny, you and me head to the left,” Alex says and we move while Dante and Gio go to the right.
Fuck am I’m glad we went to the left as I look through the floor to ceiling glass windows and see Amadeo running across the garden carrying a briefcase. I shoot the glass just as a guy jumps Alex.
“Go!” he calls out to me, sending a fist in the guy’s face as they tumble to the ground.
I look back to the window and snarl when I see Amadeo continuing his flight to a van in the distance heading toward him.
No way am I going to let him get away that easy. I fire several more bullets, smashing the glass so I can jump through. Then like a feral animal out for blood I run after him, leap over the hedge and climb the metal gates he tried to close on me.
He’s no match for me. I’m faster, leaner, and I’m about to show him I’m not the grunt he thinks I am.
I shoot at him and my bullet catches the briefcase. It falls out of his hand and the contents scatter sending paperwork flying in the wind.
Clearly the paperwork must be more important than his fucking life because he tries to pick it up. That’s when I get to him and lunge on top of him knocking him to the ground.
He yelps as we land hard and I hit him with the back of my gun. I’m killing his ass but I’m going to give him a good beating first.
“You fucker, I got you!” I shout in his face punching him right between his eyes.
“You don’t got shit. You think this is anything.” He balks and knees me hard in my gut.
His strike catches me off guard and I fall giving him the advantage to get out of my grasp. He sends a kick to my midsection and I drop my guns.
I send a kick to Amadeo’s neck snapping it back and he staggers backward but doesn’t fall. I can see he’s going to be difficult to put down but I have a fight in me raging with fire.
“You threatened my girl, you motherfucker,” I bellow.
“That whore you picked up at the club? I’m touched you’re still with her,” he spits back.
The comment throws me. It suggests I was always being watched. Right from that first night I met Willow.
“Fuck you. You’ll fucking die for that.” I bolt forward, surprising him and ram my head into his, knocking him back to the ground. He pulls his gun on me and cocks it ready to fire.
I jump out of the way as the bullet comes, tucking and rolling right to where my gun is. I pick it up and in one move fire a shot at the same time he shoots.
He misses. I don’t.
My bullet gets him right in his chest and he grips over the wound as blood seeps out and covers his white shirt.
He lifts his hand to shoot me again but I send another bullet to the same spot.
Kill or be killed. That’s the one code we lived by. The first thing my father taught me.
You kill to protect yourself and those you love. That’s what I’m doing now.
The bastard however starts laughing like he finds something funny. Motherfucker.
Blood stains his teeth as he gives me a horrifying smile.
“You think this is over? That you can run your bosses operation in Italia. You fucker, you couldn’t be more wrong for the job. It’s out of your hands. You think it’s just me? That I’m the only loose chain in the link?” He laughs and gurgles out some blood. “There’s so much more of us in this alliance that are dirty. Are you going to get them all grunt?”
I’m listening. I’m fucking listening and hearing what this bastard is saying to me. His hands start to shake and the gun falls from his grasp. He falls back and stills.
I walk closer to look at him. As his eyes close and blood runs out of his mouth I
think of his words. I was right when I suspected there could be more people in the alliance as dirty as he was. It’s hard when yo
u don’t know who to trust, worse when you don’t know who will screw you over.
I turn away to head back up the path but stop short when a gunshot sounds.
Ahead of me is Alex with his gun out. It was him who just fired the shot. I turn back and see a bullet hole in Amadeo’s forehead and him falling to the ground for a second time. His gun in his hand. The gun I saw him drop a few seconds ago. The bastard nearly got me.
Alex rushes up to me and frowns.
“Jesus Donny, you know you have to shoot them in the head to make sure they’re dead.” It’s a halfhearted joke.
“Fuck… thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
I glance back at Amedeo. “Alex, he said there’s more. More dirty bastards in the alliance. Not just him.”
Alex looks worried on hearing that. “That all he said?”
“Yeah.”
“Well it looks like you’ll have your work cut out for you, boss.”
I nod. “Mario next. I’ll find out who the others are later.”
I have an idea to shake things up. I can’t work with men I don’t trust, no matter who I upset.
“Mario next. We get him, we can rest.”
“Yeah,” I agree.
One more glance at Amadeo and I know there’s one thing left for me to do. I have to make the call to Pa to release Willow. I don’t have to go back to the beach house tonight. They can go home. It’s still early so they can make it back in time and Willow can go back to her life.
Pa can bring her back, but…I won’t be the coward and back out of seeing her. I’ll go see her one last time.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Willow
“I thought I might not see you again,” I say to Donny as he walks into the house.
“No… I was gonna come and say goodbye properly,” he says with a small smile, but apprehension fills his eyes.
Goodbye… I wish it was as easy for me to even think the word as it is for him to say it.
I’ve been home since last night. Lurlene was here when I got in and left early this morning for her day out. So much happened over the last few days but it’s like nothing different happened here.
“You okay?” he asks.
I study his face and look at his cut. It looks better today. The swelling it had around the area is gone and the bruising less.
“I’m okay,” I answer and we hold each other’s gaze. “I made something for you.”
The painting I did yesterday was for him. At first when Armand and I went out to the beach I wanted to paint the sea but as I started I thought of the picture of Donny’s mother.
“Me?” he asks.
I raise my shoulders into a little shrug. “Yes. I guess something to remember me by. I was going to drop it off at the club. Just give me a sec and I’ll get it.”
His eyes follow me as I go into the kitchen and when I come back out with the large square travel bag I placed the painting in.
He takes it from me when I give it to him, looking over it with curiosity. When he pulls the painting out of the bag the awe in his expression grips me. His eyes take on a glassy look and he looks from me to the painting then back to me.
“My mother…” he states.
“Yeah. I don’t usually do replicas. I’m more of a watch and paint live kind of girl, but the picture of your mother at the beach house was so moving and beautiful that I thought it would be nice to do it.” I painted it on the beach from memory and it was the first painting I’ve done this year that had my emotion filled style embedded within it.
“Thank you. I really appreciate it. Willow…” He reaches out and touches my face briefly. Too brief. “I… There were two instances in my life when I felt helpless. The first was when I was twelve. I watched my father’s enemies kill my mother. They shot her right in front of me and there wasn’t a thing I could have done about it.”
My lips part and shock slams into my chest. I wondered how she died. I should have known that it must have been horrible for neither Donny nor his father to talk about it.
“Oh Donny… oh God. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to stir up painful memories with the painting.”
He smiles at me. “No… I know you didn’t and it doesn’t. The picture you painted was of her last happy memory. That’s why I keep it in the house. That was the month before she died. It means a lot that you did this.”
“I’m really glad you like it.”
“I do.” He pauses for a few moments and swallows hard. “Willow… the second time in my life when I felt helpless was when that threat was made on your life. I didn’t know what to do or how it was going to turn out. That’s why I did what I did. I’m sorry it happened that way and I’m… sorry I… can’t be with you.”
I just nod. It’s the best reaction I can give him because he’s decided what’s best for the both of us. Maybe he’s right.
I can tell just from looking at him that the loss of his mother in such a violent way is something that’s influencing his decision. I know him well enough now to guess that he wouldn’t have told me if it didn’t.
“I understand,” I say. “I… understand.”
He dips his head with reverence and that look in his eyes allowing me to see his soul. One last time.
He said I wouldn’t see him again. So this is it. The last time.
“Be safe Willow,” he says and surprises me with a chaste kiss to my forehead.
With that he leaves and tears stream down my cheeks as the door clicks shut.
* * *
“Hi sweetie,” Mom says.
“Hi Mom.”
This is the first time that we’ve spoken in weeks and it feels weird to talk to her.
I called her just like I promised myself, deciding not to put it off any longer.
I’m willing to admit too that I probably called because part of me needed her.
“I’m so glad you called me. I’ll be flying over next week to see you.”
I straighten up against the sofa and gasp. “What?”
“Willow. You are my daughter and I’m aware that our relationship has been tense. There are many things I’ve said that I shouldn’t have said to you and I know you have some feelings toward me that are perfectly expected after the way I’ve behaved.”
I can’t believe what I’m hearing or that I’m speaking to the same woman. I almost feel like asking her if she’s her.
“Mom, you don’t have to fly out to see me.”
“I do, I actually do. I’m going to come and see you and be your mom. You shouldn’t have to go to Lurlene when you need somebody, that’s my job. I heard all that William’s done and I’m so sorry for everything that’s happened.”
“You don’t think it’s my fault?” I have to ask since everything else seemed to be in her book.
“No… how can it be. I’m aware now that he was cheating on you before the wedding. That is completely unacceptable. I just wish that we’d been a little more insistent on you getting the correct paperwork when it came to business. That was the worst mistake made. I guess I just thought he was giving you the gallery as a gift.” She sighs.
It’s good to hear her talk like this. I needed it. I really needed to have her support.
“I know. I think we all did.”
“Don’t worry about him anymore. I’m in agreement with your father for you to stay in Italy for as long as you want. It’s good to get away sometimes and have a break. We’ll come see you as often as we can, when you do come home we’ll help you get back on your feet and start over. We’ll pay for whatever you need.”
“Oh no, I can’t ask you to do that.”
“Willow don’t be ridiculous. I’m serious we’ll help you. You’ve had a very rough time and if we can make life a little bit easier then allow us to do it,” she says with insistence.
I sigh and feel some relief. “Thanks Mom. I appreciate it.”
“Good. Tell me what’s been happening with you. It’s been weeks.”
&
nbsp; I pull in a sharp breath and start talking. I tell her everything that happened except what happened with Donny.
We talk for longer than we have in years and I feel a burden lift from my shoulders after the call ends. I never realized just how much I wanted us to be okay. I hated the angst between us. It was awful living that way. Talking to her and feeling less tension about our relationship certainly helped me get through the night.
Lurlene didn’t come back until the next evening. She’d had a really good time away and I was happy for her.
She spent over an hour telling me all that happened and that it was serious enough between her and Lorenzo for her to want to introduce me to him. I happily agreed.
All the time she talked and I smiled pretending I was fine when inside I was crying. In my mind Donny was never far.
By the third night it became clear something was up with me and I could no longer keep up the pretense.
I went into the living room after dinner and read through some fashion magazines. Lurlene came in a few minutes later with a bowl of ice cream, the first sign that she knew I wasn’t okay.
“Alright sugar, spill it. What is wrong with you?” she asks.
“Nothing,” I lie.
“Bull shit. I don’t know who you think you’re talking to.” She shakes her head at me and sits opposite in the love seat. “Come on. Talk to me. I’m here for you. You haven’t mentioned Donny in days and I’m pretty sure if all was okay with you, you wouldn’t be here. What’s going on?”
“We… um… aren’t seeing each other anymore.” I answer.
“Aww sweetie,” she muses with sympathy. “I thought that you guys sorted it out.”
“No…not so much. But it’s okay.” I give her a smile I don’t feel.
“How must it be okay? Look at you, you really felt for him. I could tell.”
“I did. I do. But it just didn’t work out.”
“Why? Tell me why. I really want to know. You look like you’re eager to talk about it but holding back.”
I hold back because there’s very little I can tell her. She won’t understand that. I know I have to tell her something though. Lurlene won’t just accept me trying to find a way out of the conversation.
The Sting of Love: USA Today Bestselling Author Page 18