Episode Twenty-Five
K illing— hunting —it isn’t always fun. Until you’re hunting someone who’s threatening your family. That’s when it becomes downright fucking entertaining. Someone wants to get to my daughter. Which means they’re either fucking stupid… or they’re fucking stupid . There isn’t another option, because anyone who thinks they can touch one of my kids is already taking their last breath.
“You sure he’s going to show?” Luca asks. My brother has really stepped up into his role as underboss. We don’t tend to get our hands dirty too much these days, but when the threat is this close to home, you can bet your ass I’m going to be the one pulling the trigger.
“He’ll show,” I reply as I continue to stare out the windshield of the car. I didn’t want to tip the fucker off. That’s why there’s only two of us. It’s not like the fucker is going to be able to get past us either way.
“How’s Josie holding up?” Luca asks.
“She’s scared of something happening to Dante,” I groan. “If that little shit does something stupid and ends up dying, I’m going to find a way to bring him back so I can kill him myself for breaking her heart.”
“You know that little shit is your nephew and was your nephew long before you adopted Josie.” Luca laughs.
“Doesn’t matter. Daughter trumps nephew every time.” I shrug.
“Right. That him?” Luca nods to the figure approaching the meetup spot.
I pull up the picture Dante sent through of the guy he suspects. The last foster parent, or boyfriend of a foster parent, or whatever from Josie’s old life. Dante made a list, a hit list, and this guy is the last name on it.
“That’s him,” I tell my brother before opening the car door and stepping out. A shadow catches my attention out of the corner of my eye and I hiss under my breath as I quickly draw my gun. “Fuck no.” I aim at the fucker staring back at Josie, who is only a few feet away from us, pointing her own gun at him. Even from this distance, I can see her hand shaking. My finger squeezes the trigger and I rush forward, my brother’s footsteps slapping the concrete right behind me.
I watch as the guy’s body falls and Josie turns towards me. The gun she’s holding drops to the ground by her feet. That’s when I see the fucker’s arm move before his fingers reach out.
“Josie, get down!” I yell at the same time I jump on top of her, my body shielding hers.
I hear a gunshot and then my brother cursing right before another shot rings out. Luca is standing over me. Holding his leg with blood dripping down his hand.
“Really? Again, Luc?” I ask him, quickly pushing to my feet. I pick Josie up and check her over. “Are you okay?”
“I—I’m okay.” Her voice trembles as she stares at the now-lifeless body sprawled out next to us.
“Good. Now, what the fuck were you thinking coming here?” I growl. “Do you have any idea what could have happened to you?”
“I know. I’m sorry. I just… He threatened Dante,” she says.
“Dante can handle himself,” I tell her. “And Dante isn’t my daughter. You are. Which means if I tell you to stay in the fucking house, that’s where you stay.”
“I’m sorry,” she repeats—although I know she’d risk her life again if she thought it would save my nephew.
“Yo, kinda bleeding out here,” Luca groans from behind me.
“It’s not my fault you don’t know how to dodge bullets.” I laugh. It’s just a graze. I’m pretty sure he’s going to be fine.
“Fuck you, asshole. This shit hurts like a motherfucker.” He glares at me.
“Get in the car, Josie,” I instruct before wrapping an arm around Luca’s waist and guiding him back to the car.
Once Luca and Josie are situated inside, I send a message to the clean-up crew to come and deal with the body we’re leaving behind.
“How bad is it? Hospital or home?” I ask my brother.
“Home. Call the doc.”
I nod as I stare up into the rearview mirror and eye the back seat. Josie is pale. In shock. I hit the button on the steering wheel. “Call Dante.” The sound of a phone ringing comes through the speaker.
“He’s not going to answer,” Josie says quietly.
“Why not?” I ask her, hitting the button to disconnect the call.
“I… ahh…” She stops short.
“You what, Josie?” I press her.
“I put sleeping pills into his drink,” she says while looking out the window.
I hide my smirk. Because that was fucking smart of her. I was curious as to how she managed to escape without him noticing. “You drugged him?”
“Well, when you say it like that, it sounds worse. They were just sleeping pills,” she tells me.
“ That was reckless, Josie, and Dante is going to be pissed when he wakes up and finds out what you did,” Luca interjects.
“He can be angry. At least he’s alive,” she counters.
By the time I pull into the driveway, the doc is waiting in front of the house. I round the car, open the door, and help my brother out. “He caught another one, Doc.”
“I see that,” Doc replies while looking down at Luca’s leg. “Let’s get him inside.”
“Josie, go and check on Dante. Make sure you didn’t kill him,” I tell my daughter.
Her eyes go wide. “What?”
“You gave him sleeping pills. Go make sure he’s just asleep for now and not permanently asleep forever,” I tell her.
“That can’t happen… can it?” she asks, sounding more panicked.
“I’ve seen it before.” I shrug. I’m bullshitting, of course, but if it stops her from doing it again, I’ll use it.
Josie runs inside the house, and my brother and I watch her go. “You just scared the life out of her,” Luca tells me.
“Good. Means she won’t drug anyone again. Come on, we need to get this bullet out of you before Katy finds out.”
“Shit, she’s gonna be pissed,” he groans as we walk through the front door.
“No doubt.”
I help my brother into the basement, where there’s a hospital bed and equipment set up. He lies on the bed before gesturing to the minibar. “Get me a drink.”
“This will work better.” Doc pulls out a small vial and needle.
“I’d rather a whiskey,” Luca grinds out.
“I’d rather you stopped getting shot,” Doc counters, and I chuckle. “Hold him down.”
I’m not very emotional and have a reputation for being cold. But seeing one of my family members in pain, that always gets to me. I can’t fucking stand it. Anger takes over at the fact the asshole landed a shot.
Once the doc does Luca up and I watch my brother’s eyes close, I walk over to the sofa in the corner of the room and pull out my phone. I need to call his wife. But first I need to check on the clean-up crew.