Page 68 of The Don

“You can’t be thinking of letting him go.”

I sigh again, but this time in deep irritation at Aldo’s whining. A number of the capi join me to Aldo’s great distress.

“Someone call Pedro,” Liguria starts, but just then, the door bursts open, and Pedro walks into the room.

There’s a playful smile on the man’s face and a gun trained at the back of his head.

25SHAE

Without Salvatore,I decide that being kidnapped is boring.

I mean, I’m still scared, but after a relatively good night’s sleep and a few orgasms, I find that it’s actually hard to hold onto the fear. Maybe it’s the surroundings — there’s not even a television in the room! — and my absent cell phone — I haven’t eventhoughtabout my cell phone in days!

But now that I’m alone, all I can think about is all the other shit I could be doing. Like Salvatore, for instance!

I also might be making my life harder because I’m just sitting on the foot of the bed, staring at the door, praying for Salvatore to come back as softly as I can. And I guess because I’m paying such close attention to the door and there’s nothing else to make any noise in this room besides my pounding heart, the sound of a commotion in the hallway sounds loud as hell.

Loud and none of my damn business.

I jump up from the bed and sprint toward the bathroom at the sound of someone’s — maybe many someones — grunting yells. Sounds like a fight to me, and I kick the bathroom door closed with my left foot. There’s nowhere to hide in here, but I lock the door behind me and crouch inside the bathtub in the corner of the room.

I wrap my arms around my stomach and talk to the avocado. “It’s okay! We’re going to be okay. Your daddy is going to take care of us. And if he fails, Zoe and Zahra will avenge our deaths, probably. And then I guess we’ll all be together.” I frown and squint at the ceiling as my stomach rumbles. “I didn’t even get a last meal!”

Someone shouts in the bedroom. I crouch down as if they can see me. Okay, now there are many people shouting.

“Shae.”

I don’t recognize the voice, so of course, I don’t respond.

It’s only when someone tries the doorknob that I realize I should have grabbed something, anything I could use as a weapon.

“Shae, are you in there?”

I gasp. “Lorenzo?!” I shoot up from the bathtub, my foot slips, and I almost faceplant on the tile floor. What a way to damn near kill myself. I cry out.

“Shae!”

Lorenzo starts pounding on the door, but loud, so I assume he’s using his shoulder and not his hands.

I hop out of the bathtub. “I’m okay! I almost fell.”

The pounding stops. “Open the door.”

I’m panting when I turn the doorknob and pull it open.

“Oh my God, you’re okay!” I burst into tears and throw my arms around his waist.

“Aww, Lorenzo, you made a friend,” Federico teases.

I sigh in relief at the sight of Federico holstering his gun. I see Alfonso standing there, rumpled, breathing heavily, a bead of blood in the corner of his mouth, and I feel safe.

Salvatore sent his army for me.

* * *

Giulio

I have a gun in each hand, and my arms are hanging, limp but ready, at my sides. No one knows better than me not to aim a gun until I’m ready to use it, and we’re not there yet, I think. But I want to get to the good part. The part that will leave these pistols in my hands hot to the touch. I want this all to be over so I can present Shae to Zahra. So I can keep hold of this fragile new thing we are creating.