His to Possess (Mafia Kingpins #4)

21. Blake

21

BLAKE

M y heart sinks. This is not good. We’re surrounded by enforcers and my fellow bounty hunters who are extremely persistent when it comes to cashing in a very large check. My mind is working fast, trying to come up with a plan to get Angelo and I out of here safely. His brothers will be fine from my fellow hunters—the only one they want right now is me—but they might have to blast their way through Gallo’s men.

Vixen smirks when Angelo steps in front of me.

“You aren’t taking her,” he growls.

She smirks. “Aww, you found yourself a protector, Butterfly. A very nice-looking protector,” she murmurs, her attention moving from me to Angelo and raking down his body.

I roll my eyes.

“I’m glad they took your name off the list, Angelo Rossi, because it would’ve been a shame to have had to put a bullet in you. You’re too…” Her words trail off seductively and she sighs. “Yum.”

“Uh, thanks,” he responds and, if the situation weren’t so dangerous, I would’ve laughed. Only Vixen would flirt with her prey before removing them from the scenario and only Angelo would be polite enough to thank her.

“He is rather adorable,” she continues as though confiding to me, “but, you’re also in my way. So, step aside or I will hurt you.”

There is only one thing that will deter Vixen, Fury and Beast from taking me. And that’s the promise of more money. An idea pops into my head and I hope to God that it works. Because time is running out fast.

“Don’t waste your time with me when there’s a bigger paycheck out there,” I tell her, reaching into my jacket and removing my phone.

Her eyes narrow suspiciously. “What’re you talking about? Last time I looked, your name was at the top of the Kill List.”

“Look again…in about two minutes.” I lift my phone to show her the secret number I’m dialing and she places a hand on her hip, lowering her gun.

“You have my interest.”

“What’re you doing?” Angelo asks.

“I’m flipping the script.” On the other end of the line, a mechanical voice answers. “I’d like to add a name to the Kill List.”

“Who?” the steely voice asks.

I can feel all eyes on me.

“Carmine Gallo,” I answer without hesitation.

“Payout?”

“Five million dollars for whoever brings him in within the next hour,” I respond easily and feel my hopes lift. That ought to turn everyone’s attention away from me and direct it somewhere else.

“Holy shit,” Angelo murmurs.

“Hold for funds verification,” the voice says.

I have more than enough money, so I’m not worried that my request will be denied. Meeting Vixen’s surprised look, I toss her a crafty grin, and her green eyes shift, filling with greed. She’s already looking for Gallo.

“That’s an awful lot of money,” she says, returning her attention to me.

“Way more than you’d get for me,” I remind her.

“Not even a comparison,” Angelo adds, backing me up. “I’d be going after Gallo right now if I were you. Get a head start on your boys down there.”

Vixen glances down to see Fury heading toward the bottom of the spiral staircase. I have no idea where Beast is lurking. Meanwhile, Gallo is scurrying off in the opposite direction and I can see Vixen’s clever brain working fast, calculating what her best move will be.

I turn the speaker on and lift the phone in her direction just as the electronic voice comes back on the line and says, “Funds verified.”

“Good luck,” she says, then sprints away from us, clearly heading after Gallo. The power of money and greed always amazes me. Why settle for only $250k when you can have $5 million?

Oh, thank God. My shoulders slump in relief then I grab Angelo’s arm and pull him forward. “C’mon!” We aren’t out of the woods yet.

But the moment we turn the corner, we run right into Beast. The man is huge and daunting, and I can only imagine what happened to him in his past because of the amount of scars that cover his body. Of course, I can only see the visible parts, but I’m sure there are more. The long slashes over his arms, neck and face, must’ve hurt terribly. I’d almost feel bad for him if he wasn’t trying to kill me.

“Where do you think you’re going?” His voice is so deep, almost rusty-sounding as though he doesn’t talk much other than the occasional grunt or groan.

“Leave her alone,” Angelo warns him, moving in front of me again. My heart swells at his fierceness. Even though Beast is a good foot taller than him, Angelo is fearless. My warrior.

“You’re going to want to check your phone,” I tell him and, as if on cue, his cell phone beeps with an incoming message. One that I know is from our handler, Fox.

His dark eyes narrow, but he doesn’t reach for it. Instead, he moves closer, lifting his gun. “You’re coming with me.”

“Like hell she is,” Angelo growls.

“Check your message!” I yell.

Beast lifts his other hand into view, dangling a pair of handcuffs. “Dead or alive. We can do this either way, Butterfly.”

“I just offered $5 million for Carmine Gallo’s capture!” I blurt out. “Do you want that or do you want to sit here and waste your time on me?”

“You’re going to have to go through me first,” Angelo states in a steely voice, looking more formidable than I’ve ever seen before. God, he’s so brave and I want to throw myself in front of him, protect him like he’s guarding me, but he won’t allow it.

The moment I mention five million dollars, Beast reaches for his phone, opens his messages and seems to consider. But, it’s taking him too long.

“Gallo just ran that way,” I say, hoping to get him to change his mind about taking me in. But, Beast hesitates. If I learned one thing about the man, though, it’s that he likes a good challenge. “Vixen just went after him. And I’m sure Fury isn’t far behind.”

I’m hoping by dangling that little fact in his face, he won’t be able to resist.

He finally takes a step back. “It’s your lucky day, Butterfly.”

Then he moves past us and heads back downstairs and into the chaos.

Angelo presses a quick kiss to my temple. “Smart girl.”

“I try,” I whisper. He reaches for my hand and we start down the hallway, ready to get out of here. This place is huge, though, and it takes us a minute to find the main staircase. The moment our feet hit the first step, there’s a popping sound and something whizzes past my head.

Oh, God, a bullet.

“Get down!” I yell, and we both drop to the stairs, flattening our bodies to make ourselves a smaller target.

“Who the hell is shooting?” Angelo slides closer, covering me with his big body. I peer out from beneath his broad shoulder and get my answer.

Gallo is slowly stalking up the staircase. Blood runs down the side of his face and he looks furious. “You bitch,” he seethes.

I don’t see his enforcers anywhere, but I hear shooting coming from a different part of the house and I smell the acrid scent of smoke. All I want to do is get the hell out of here, but now we’re going to have to deal with Gallo.

“You might want to hide,” I tell him, moving out from beneath Angelo, standing up to face the asshole slowly walking up the steps. Angelo gets up, standing right by my side.

“You’re wanted for quite a lot of money,” Angelo says, goading him, “and there are some very scary characters on the hunt looking for you right now.”

“What did you do?” Gallo snaps.

He isn’t looking very good and I notice his hand is shaking. The hand holding the gun which is still pointing at me. Not good.

“Gave you a taste of your own medicine,” I say, regretting nothing. If I hadn’t turned the tables on him then I have no doubt that Angelo and I would probably be dead.

“You’re going to pay,” he snarls. As he climbs up, I take a step back. “His family is going to suffer, too. I’m going to make sure my revenge is sweet and vicious. I won’t stop until every last Rossi is buried and then my family will sit at the table.”

“You’re delusional,” Angelo says, slowly ascending back up the staircase with me.

“And you’re dead!” Gallo declares, a wild look in his dark eyes.

The gun swings in Angelo’s direction and I do the only thing I can—throw myself into him, knocking him out of the line of fire. A searing pain rips across my back shoulder and, for a stunned moment, I realize the bastard shot me. I hear the echo of his feet pounding up the stairs, heading straight for us, but I’m feeling dizzy and when I look over at Angelo, my vision is blurred. There’s a look of horror on his face that is quickly replaced by a fury that I’ve never seen him exhibit before.

A hand slides down to my boot and I realize Angelo is pulling my knife out. But doesn’t he know a knife is no match for a gun? I’m trying to dig deep and pull myself up the last few stairs, attempting to crawl to safety, but every movement is like fire on my skin.

Speaking of fire, I swear the scent of smoke is getting stronger. I just wish I could get up and move faster, but everything is hazy and the pain in my shoulder is stinging like hades. All of a sudden, I’m picked up into Angelo’s strong arms and he’s running away from Gallo…away from the stairs…but the smoke becomes even stronger and I force myself to focus.

“Angelo!” I gasp, bouncing up and down against his him.

“You’re okay, you’re okay. I’m going to get us out of here.”

“I smell smoke.”

“The mansion is on fire,” he informs me.

I’m assuming Fury set the fire—he has been known to do it before to cause a diversion—because he’s intent on smoking Gallo out so he can capture him. Or, kill him? Who knows? All I do know is that it’s getting harder to breathe and my shoulder hurts like a bitch.

“I’m going to put you down, okay?”

“Okay.”

He sets me down on a bed and I squeeze my eyes shut, trying not to wince and willing myself to shut out the pain. I need to gather all of my strength and help find a way out of here before the flames can reach us.

“Where’s Gallo?” I manage to ask, coughing.

“I stabbed him with your knife and the next thing I know, one of your co-workers appeared and Gallo took off.”

I would laugh if I wasn’t in so much pain. Then a horrible thought hits me as I look over at the window Angelo is opening. What if we don’t make it out of here alive? What if we die and I never had the chance to tell Angelo that I love him? That would be downright tragic.

Pushing up off the bed, I stagger over to the window and fresh air hits my face. Breathing deeply, I slap a hand against the wall, trying to hold myself up.

“C’mon, we’re getting out of here.” Angelo picks me up and I try not to show how much it pains me. “I’m sorry, kitten, I know it hurts. Try to hold on, okay?”

He grimaces, as though he can’t bear seeing me in pain, and I nod, realizing no one has ever saved me like this before. All of my life, I’ve always had to depend on myself. Now, for the first time, I have a Knight in Shining Armor and he’s slaying my dragons and getting me out of the burning castle. I feel like fucking Cinderella. Or, maybe Sleeping Beauty? Hell, I don’t know. No one ever read me any bedtime stories growing up.

Burying my face against his chest, hating how useless I feel, I cling to him as he steps onto the balcony. Fire engine sirens scream in the distance and I glance over the wrought iron railing to see a crowd of people standing below us, including Angelo’s brothers, Carlotta and Leo. No sign of Gallo or my fellow bounty hunters. I’d be willing to put they are hot on his trail, though, and that asshole is currently running for his life. And I don’t even feel a little bad about it.

The pain in my shoulder has become a non-stop dull throbbing sensation, and I’m hoping it was just a graze. A bad graze is better than a bullet lodged in my body.

The smoke seems to be getting more intense behind us, but I don’t see any sign of flames yet which is good.

“Hold on!” Miceli yells up. “They’re almost here and will get you out of there!”

I assume he’s talking about the firemen, but my head is a little fuzzy. Even so, I feel a second wind come over me, renewing my strength and hope that we’re going to be out of here very soon.

Until I hear a low voice behind us, and I look over Angelo’s shoulder. Oh, no.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Carmine Gallo threatens in a low voice, stepping into the bedroom. He’s covered in blood, limping, and looks like he just got run over by a semi truck. His gun is gone, but he lifts his hand which is clutching my knife. The very same knife Angelo stabbed him with earlier.

Oh, God. The situation just went from bad to worse and I have no idea how we’re going to escape this maniac again. The determined look in his eyes tells me all I need to know—he won’t stop until he kills us.