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“I’d really rather you didn’t do that, brother.”
I glare at him. “Too fucking bad. She deserves that meeting.” Trudy is Enzo’s wife. They’ve been together for thirty years. Enzo was my father’s man. He should have retired but after I took over last year after my father’s death, he refused. He became my driver instead of an enforcer with the crew.
That should have made him safer so this is a bitter pill to swallow. I squat beside him and lay my hand on his cheek, my heart aching.
“I promise you, my friend, I will find out who did this and I will end them myself.”
Tomas grunts. “I know you think that you can hunt them down yourself but we don’t know who did this. I don’t like the way they had the information on where you were. We came here on the spur of the minute for this meeting. They also didn’t try and kidnap you or anything along those lines. They were intent on killing you. I think you need to get the hell out of town so that I can do my job and hunt these fuckers down in peace. I don’t want to have to worry about you while I do this.”
“What makes you think that I’ll be safe anywhere? Maybe I go off by myself and maybe that’s the damn plan.”
“That could be true. We’ll send our most trusted man with you. He will not travel with you so that if he makes a move, he’ll get him. But he will keep you under surveillance. At all times.”
I growl and run my hand through my hair, standing. “I don’t like this whole idea.”
“Too bad. Tony will take care of all this and then he’ll get packed up and ready.” My brother turns away, snapping. “So find somewhere to go that is as far off the grid as you can handle and then get the fuck out of town.”
Glaring at him, I put my hand over my eyes as headlights blind me. Tony pulls up alongside me and I can see the pain in his eyes when he sees Enzo’s crumpled body on the ground.
He nods towards him. “Are you sure he’s…?”
I nod my head, sighing. “Yeah. He’s gone. Can you get him to the proper place and make sure that there’s a story why he was shot? I don’t need the police investigating this. We’ll take care of this on our own.”
“Trust me, boss. I’ll make sure the bastards don’t bother looking into it. Obviously it was an accident.”
I nod my head, wishing that we didn’t have to do this. Obscure the way he died. It will not be nice.
But Enzo would understand. All of us know that if there’s a problem, there might be a cover-up of our deaths. But that doesn’t mean that there will be no retribution.
There absolutely will. And I’ll be the one who delivers justice for my friend, my family.
CHAPTER 2
Scarlett
Isigh and close the door behind me to the bookstore that I love more than anything on this planet. My mother ran it before me and my grandmother before her. It’s always passed down to the oldest woman in our family.
My mother passed away two years ago and I came home to Wildwood, Colorado to take over our family’s legacy. It’s been hard work because she didn’t tell me that the store was doing badly. So when I took over, I was shocked but I also knew that there was no damn way that I was going to let my mother’s legacy fail. It took long hours and a lot of work but it’s finally starting to turn around and I’ve been pleased with that progress. I feel like I’m doing justice to my mother’s legacy.
But I still work late some nights and this is one of those nights. It’s already dark outside and the streets are quiet in Wildwood. The rush of people shopping in this small town is already fading from the day and I smile at it.
I love this time of day. Wildwood is the safest place that I know. Considerably safer than the city I was living in. New York City was a nice place to visit but living there was another story. I was always nervous when I was out late at night on the streets. I didn’t like taking the subways and I totally didn’t like to walk around amongst the crowds.
But I don’t have the same complaints about Wildwood. It’s quiet and safe. Even when I walk home at night, there is nothing that makes me feel nervous.
The air is cool and comfortable but earlier in the day it was sticky and I hear thunder rolling over the mountains above us. The street lights are on and I make sure that the door is locked before stepping out of the doorway.
I hear a shuffle in the alley next to me and freeze, a chill skittering on my skin. I shiver and stare at the darkness, searching, my eyes narrowed.
“Hello?”
Nobody answers. But I swear there’s somebody there watching me. I turn around and try to push the edgy feeling washing over me away.
“It’s nothing,” I mutter to myself, “There’s nobody there. It’s all in your imagination.” Storms make me nervous so it’s probably just the storm playing on my ingrained fears.
I walk away but as I take the first couple of steps, I hear another scuffing noise and my heart skips, my fingers tensing on the strap of my shoulder bag. I suck in a shallow breath, trying to pretend I didn’t just hear what I thought I heard.
“You’re fine. Just walk, dammit!” Whispering to myself, I keep moving and pick up my steps until I’m power-walking through the night streets, hoping to reach my house in the middle of town before whatever it is catches up with me.
