AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He’ll manage,” Matteo says. “Plus, you’ll look after him.”
“I—” Where my hands were steady seconds ago, they now quiver. “Okay?”
“Good girl. Give him some of those painkillers.”
Matteo reaches for a ziplock bag and picks something out of his jacket pocket. He plops it into the clear bag.
An eyeball is staring at me through the thin clear film. Shock ripples through my body and I dry heave. Matteo drops in another one and follows it up with a finger that still holds a gold signet ring.
“What is that?” I breathe, managing to keep the bile down.
Matteo says nothing. Two ears join the rest and that’s when I spot the diamond earring, blinking where it isn’t smeared with blood.
You’re not the first order of business I’ll attend to in Sicily. Holy… holy… fuck.
I look up, scared to meet Matteo’s eyes. He pins me down with a frank stare and a quirked brow as he zips the bag closed and tosses it to the side. “Evidence.” He peels off the surgical gloves, shakes off his jacket, and takes some wipes to clean speckles of blood and battle dust off his face and hands. “I have business to wrap up, so I’ll see you on the yacht.”
“What? How?” It sinks in that Matteo isn’t coming with us. “Where’re you going?”
He picks up his baggie of body parts, this time putting it in a black shopping bag. I don’t want to know what he’s going to do next, but he can’t go out there. Not after what he’s done. Not while carrying that with him. He’ll be hunted and slaughtered— “Don’t leave?” I beg, the anguish in my voice real. “Matteo, I can’t…”
He touches my chin, gently tipping it to the side to see my cheek. “Whatever you do, kitten, don’t mistake me for the good guy.” He rubs his thumb over my bottom lip. “And no more shenanigans, understand?”
It isn’t a request. It’s a command. No more cliff jumping. Look where it got me. “Yes,” I whisper, caving into him, his warm touch the balm I didn’t even know I needed. “Understood.”
“I won’t be long, and when I’m back we’re going to have a little chat.” The way he says it forces all the warmth to leave my body, his tone making chills run up my arms as he drops his hand away. “You know the drill, Burley.”
“Yes, boss,” he groans, but it sounds like it comes with an eye roll.
Matteo clambers into the black car’s passenger seat and gives the okay for the driver to go. The barn door rattles open, and the car drives away into the late afternoon heat.
38
MATTEO
The dinghy is waiting for me at the agreed spot and soon I’m heading towards Don Trapani’s yacht. It was the right call and I have to give it to the Don. After shooting up Randazzo’s place, taking a plane out might have involved too much paperwork. It was a last-minute change to my plans, but I found it easy to navigate. When people want someone dead, they are eager to help you in whichever way they can.
It’s almost midnight. I planned to be here four hours ago. The yacht is hardly lit up, only a soft yellow glow coming from the helm. The rest of the yacht is shrouded in darkness, with only the navigation lights visible. As we approach, the dinghy stops next to the side-boarding platform. I bid my skipper goodnight and climb up to the main deck.
I’ve had feedback from Burley once they boarded the yacht. Another bodyguard is with Tasha since he felt too woozy to keep an eye on her with the pain meds he took.
We’re not letting that one go rogue again. After what happened today, she’ll probably think twice about trying to escape again.
I make my way over the main deck to the sliding doors that open to a sleek lounge area. A crew member waits for me. “Mr. Scalera?”
I nod.
“Welcome. Is there anything you need? Can I prepare you something to eat? To drink?”
“My wife?” Might as well stick to the farce.
The man must read something in my expression because he indicates I should follow him. “This way.” He leads me to a closed door, knocks, and opens it after a second.
I walk inside and spot the guard sitting patiently on the sofa in the ring of a reading light, as if bodyguarding in times like these isn’t the most boring shit you can get paid for.
“Matteo?” Tasha is in bed but sits up and rips the covers off.
“Leave us.” My tone stops her from getting out of bed. She looks like a deer in the headlights.
