AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Opening the door with her nondominant hand made her awkward. Enzo trailed behind her as she headed up the stairs. She’d only been up there once before, when Luka had taken her to Giovanni and Nera’s room that first morning. That felt so very long ago.
The diner had been another lifetime altogether. Imagining Meg’s angry glare made it easier for her feet to move to the door where voices came from.
“Look, Di Salvo, I get this assassin means something to you, but that’s not the same for me.” Alina didn’t recognize the voice, and not just because the door muffled it. The voice was deep with a strange lilt at the end of the sentence. “Hell, he almost killed me not that long ago. And he shot Vespa.”
“Really?” Antonio’s amused voice made her lips press together. “I didn’t think little Luka had it in him. Something about not hurting women.”
The higher-pitched voice of a woman followed. “So different from you. You’ll hurt anyone if it’ll give you a leg up.” A sigh followed. “But the Di Salvo’s right, Montrell. It was the pakhan who shot me.”
“Because the assassin distracted you, Vespa,” the deeper, lilting voice, Montrell’s, said. “Don’t give him a pass.”
“It’s the pakhan we’re discussing.” She could barely hear Giovanni’s calm voice. Calm. As if he wasn’t worried about Luka at all.
Alina’s hand pressed harder against the door.
Antonio was louder. “All La Cosa Nostra families agree that the current pakhan has to go.”
“But it’s not all the families you called here, is it?” Montrell asked. “It’s just the Coronellas, and I’m down my best soldier.”
Antonio laughed. “You can’t be serious.”
There was a rustling in the room. “You doubting I’m the best, Di Salvo?” Vespa’s pitch had become a growl.
“No. I’m not counting you out of this fight.” His smile moved into his voice for once. “I bet you outshoot at least half of us with your nondominant hand.”
A sniff followed from the woman Alina still couldn’t picture. “All right then.”
“Like hell, Vespa!” Montrell shouted, making Alina flinch from the booming volume. “The doctor said three full weeks. Don’t make me lock you in a room.”
A snort followed, but the woman didn’t argue.
“I’m sorry, but the answer’s no, Di Salvo,” Montrell said.
“I thought we had an alliance.” There was no longer any smile in Antonio’s voice. “The information we gave you was solid.”
“That’s still to be seen,” Montrell said.
Enzo laid a hand over Alina’s shoulder, causing her to jerk back from the door. His smile faltered and fell away as they moved down the hallway.
“You’ll hear nothing good listening at doors,” Enzo said. “Don’t worry, doll. This was only one of Giovanni’s ideas. They’re winding down, and then I’ll talk about another option with him.”
The door clicked open. Alina stared down at her cloth-covered feet. She’d worn the sneakers Luka had purchased for her. Much bigger and shinier black shoes paused in front of her.
“Who’s this, then?” Montrell asked.
Alina forced her eyes up. The man in front of her was larger than any she’d seen—with a barrel chest, broad shoulders, and thick arms straining the sleeves of a dress shirt. Even his beard was big, reddish-brown like his hair. Brown eyes stared into her own, studying her.
“Looks a bit like Giovanni, doesn’t she?” His eyes slid to the Di Salvo boss.
Antonio laughed, coming up beside the man. “This is the assassin’s girl. You know, the one you’re not going to help us save.”
Montrell frowned. “Guilt won’t move me.” His eyes scanned Alina from her feet back up to her face. “A Bratva then, is she? That going to be a problem?” The seriousness of his expression made Alina’s chest tighten.
Antonio continued to grin. “If it is, it’s a Di Salvo problem. You sticking around, Coronella?”
Montrell snorted. “Hell no.” He turned away.
Giovanni didn’t glance at Alina at all as he walked with the large man toward the stairs.
