Page 78 of Havoc

“Kill me and you’ll never find out,” Raul repeated. His eyes were wide and he was breathing heavily. He was the one who was scared now.

He had to know he’d never get out of here alive. Nico wasn’t about to let him go. Three out of the four of us in this room knew this to be true. I faced Paolo again when he huffed out a breath.

“Think you could quit digging into my wound? It’s a bit painful.” He gave me a half smile and leaned his head back against the wall.

I laughed softly, but shook my head. “Sorry, I need to keep pressure on it.”

“Tell me where he is and you won’t die slowly...”

I snorted inwardly at that.

Raul must have thought the same way because he laughed out loud. “I don’t trust you.”

“Whether you trust me or not, you’ve got no options. Do you hear that?” We all strained to listen. It was quiet. Gone were the gunshots and shouting.

“It’s only a matter of time before more of my people come in here. It’s over Raul. Give me Dante and maybe I’ll consider killing you quickly for what you did to my wife.”

“She deserved to die,” Raul said.

I looked over my shoulder at him again. I couldn’t believe he was saying something so awful about an innocent woman. Raul had a huge shit-eating grin on his face now. My heart hurt for Nico, having to listen to this lunatic rave couldn’t be easy.

Nico didn’t bother to answer.

“I’d been watching you for years, trying to find a way to get to you. Years,” he said almost to himself, “and she never ventured out of your house.”

My gaze flicked to Nico and he looked… tormented.

“Finally, she left and I knew that was my moment.”

“So, you sent others to do your dirty work for you,” I said in disgust.

Raul’s gaze darted over to me and his grin widened further. “It’s their job—to kill for us.” He looked back at Nico. “Isn’t that right?”

Nico’s jaw clenched and I saw him begin to pull the trigger. He paused and I knew he was thinking of Dante.

“I may not have personally killed Maria,” Raul told us. He sounded happy, like he was a little kid about to step into Disneyland. “That doesn’t mean I can’t take care of your little whore now.”

Everything happened like it was in slow motion. Raul swung his gun in my direction and his words clicked in my brain too late. I couldn’t move fast enough, then I was being tackled. Three gunshots sounded, making my ears buzz. They’d taken a beating already today with all the noise, so now everything was muffled and the ringing wasn’t helping.

I waited for the pain to come, and it took me a minute to put two and two together. Paolo was heavy on top of me and something warm and wet was seeping in past my sweatshirt. I looked at his face and felt the blood drain from mine. He was deathly white.

Glancing across the room, I saw Nico kick Raul’s gun away from where he was laying on the floor. Raul’s eyes were open, but vacant. It’d been a cleaner death than he deserved.

I shoved Paolo off of me and managed to roll and cradle his head, so it didn’t hit the floor. My other hand went to his chest and I jerked it back when it made contact. It was bright with blood. A copper smell filled the air.

Tears fell freely down my face. “Paolo,” I whispered.

His eyes opened and I felt a spark of hope ignite in my chest.

“Carina,” he murmured and reached a shaky hand up to brush the loose strands of hair from my face.

The spark died as surely as my friend was about to. His breathing had started to take on this rattle as his lungs filled with fluid. I put my hand over his where he cupped my cheek.

“Ti amo, babygirl.”

“I love you too, Papa,” I sobbed. I knew he thought I was the daughter he lost. While I was mourning a friend he was seeing her and if that gave him comfort I’d play the part.

Paolo’s hand dropped and his eyes closed. I sucked in a breath and my gaze dropped to his chest. It wasn’t moving. Grief stabbed me through the heart. “NO! Paolo, please! Don’t go,” I choked on my tears. I fought as strong hands pulled me away. I couldn’t leave him.