11. India
EARLIER
“What movie did you pick, Sinéad?”
I get comfy on her super king-size bed and shove a few pillows behind me.
Propped up beside me, she sips water via a long straw and shakes the remote control.
“Ugh…Why won’t this thing work?”
“Dré!”
I throw a cushion, watch it soar over the top of the bed like a missile and wallop his tattooed chest.
“You’re standing in front of the TV.”
Letterman snatches the cushion before it falls, his reflexes sharp. He fires it straight back, making a ninja sound as he does it.
I catch it and laugh. “Move your ass, Letterman. You two are in the way of the remote signal.”
André angles his bare torso around, his muscles tanned and his ink dark.
“Did you just throw a cushion at me?”
“Uh-oh,” Sinéad laughs. “He’s going to kill you, Indy.”
“He can try,” I quip playfully.
“Gio isn’t here to help his little ball and chain.”
When he starts to prowl around the bed, I scramble onto my knees and grab a pillow.
“I can handle you all by myself, cabron,” I taunt, waving it at him.
“Oh, big words from such a sweet kid.”
He snatches a bolster cushion and faces me, both of us ready for war.
“You sure you want to take on the pillow fighting champion?”
“Hold on a minute, Dré,” Sinéad calls over my shoulder. “I’m the champion. You can’t get me pregnant and steal my title too.”
“Dré!” I fake a gasp. “You’re a monster.”
He smirks at me, and as quick as lightning bops me on the head.
“I’m going to take you down, kid. If my brother won’t teach you manners, I will. Prepare to die.”
“Take him down, Indy.” Sinéad sucks the rest of her water dry, making slurping noises.
I waggle my brows at him.
“Who says Gio doesn’t teach me how to behave? Ask him yourself when he comes back with my popcorn.”
“Jesus fuck, Indy. Stop.”
He lunges at me and clobbers me over the side of the head with a feather filled cushion.
“I don’t ever want to hear that shit.”
Giggling, I take a swipe at him next.
“But it”s okay when we have to watch you maul Sin. You’re like one of those big drooly dogs.”
“He’s a dog all right.” Letterman chucks another cushion, smacking André in the face. “Woof!”
“Motherfucker.”
André shakes his head and then, out of the blue, catches me off guard when I roll my eyes.
He grabs my ankle, drags me to the end of the bed, and flips me onto my stomach like a rag doll.
“Any last requests before you die, little girl?”
The mattress dips under his weight as he moves beside me and gently presses a pillow to the back of my head, pretending to suffocate me.
“Got anything my brother should hear before I show you who the real champion is?”
I’m laughing too much to speak. Sure, I could retaliate and kick the fucker in the balls, but I’d rather not bump into Sinéad. If that happened, he might just kill me for real.
“If I die today, tell my husband he has my permission to strangle you. And then let him know he’s the best sex I’ve ever had.”
“He’s the only sex you’ve had, Indy.” Sinéad laughs.
“Right…fuck…enough…fine…”
André rears back and takes the pillow with him.
“You win, Indy,” he groans. “You women are vicious together.”
On all fours, he crawls up the bed and settles alongside his wife, stroking her pregnant belly before he grabs her face and covers her mouth with his own.
Their kiss is hot, violent, and so full of lust he practically sets her on fire.
“I can’t wait for the day you throw me around the bed again, Dré,” Sin whispers. “I feel like a ridiculous China doll locked up in a doll”s house.”
“Six more weeks, Wifey.” He winks. “Then your body is all mine again.”
Letterman’s radio crackles and a male voice announces the arrival of a female doctor.
“She’s early,” he says into the device while catching André’s eye. “The doctor is on her way up. She’s ahead of schedule for your checkup, Sinéad. Are you okay with that?”
Sinéad sighs. “Yeah, let”s get it over with so we can watch a movie. I’m craving sweet popcorn now too.”
“Don’t worry.” I smile. “I’ve no doubt Leo’s arms are full, with enough bags of popcorn to last the week. They’ll be back any second.”
André doesn’t move from her side when the door knocks. I sit upright and slap his shin.
“I’ll go and entertain my husband while the doctor is here. Sin, text me when she leaves.”
I scoot off the bed and pat my pocket, not finding my phone there.
“If I don”t reply straight away, Gio is probably teaching me how to behave.”
“Doctor!” André sits upright when the smartly dressed woman enters the room. “I’ll give you a hundred bucks if you stitch this little girl”s mouth up.”
I turn away from the straight-faced woman, stick my tongue out at André, and make a stupid face as I pad over to the nightstand and collect my phone.
“Hey, who the fuck are you? Where’s Dr Barone?” Letterman’s voice turns serious, deadly.
“Dr Barone is sick,” the woman answers. “Please wait outside the room. All of you.”
“I’m not going anywhere, se?orita,” André tells her, low and threatening. “Letterman, go grab my stash from downstairs. I’ll need a smoke on the balcony after this.”
I check my phone, quickly getting distracted by the screensaver slideshow.
The first image is Leo and his toothy, sweet grin. Next are my brother, Reno and André together. They had taken the picture a few months before he was murdered and before I fell in love with his best friend”s twin brother. A little wave of sadness washes over me. Grief still haunts me, even though I’m happier than ever.
“What the fuck!” André’s deep bark rips me out of my daydream.
My head snaps up where the doctor holds a suppressed semi-auto pistol aimed at Sinéad. It all happens in slow motion and my blood turns cold.
While André reaches behind his back to draw his engraved gold handgun, he simultaneously dives across his wife.
Instantly, my reflexes fire up. A bullet cracks at the same time as I unfasten the dagger fixed to my thigh and dart to the end of the bed.
Sinéad screams André’s name, and chills scurry all over me. I launch myself at the assassin seconds after another bullet leaves her gun.
Using all my strength, fury, and training, I stab the razor-sharp blade into the soft fleshy part of her neck and shove her sideways.
She stumbles, the blade still wedged and her expression blank. The bitch doesn’t even look shocked.
I’m breathing heavily and my heart is thundering when she turns to me, pointing a gun at my face, undeterred in her mission.
“India!” Sinéad screams.
Out of the corner of my eye, Sinéad struggles beneath André’s protective body, grabbing his gun.
At that moment, shots are fired and blood splatters over my face. I’m trembling when the fake doctor drops to the carpet.
Beyond her, my gaze settles on the love of my life—my ferocious looking husband. As he leaves the shadowy doorway and enters the suite, he empties his full clip into the dead body.
When he’s finished, an eerie silence creeps around me, all of us stunned.
Giovanni’s wide-eyed gaze sweeps from my head to my toes. His chest rises, his breathing barely controlled.
The pelt of unshaven scruff on his jaw looks darker now, depicting the volatile mood he’s lost in.
Thick ebony hair sits on top of his head, combed back from a swarthy forehead that furrows as he advances.
His fast approach kills the distance between us in a heartbeat.
Daenis bolts into the room and circles my feet. Giovanni drags me into his arms and squeezes so tightly I forget to breathe.
“Are you hurt?”
“No…but…”
While he nuzzles his face into the side of my neck, André’s name scrapes from Sinéad’s throat in a strangled sob.
“No, no, no, no…Dré…say something…Dré…”
Giovanni’s hand squeezes mine, and he takes a controlled step back, letting our fingers separate. His nostrils flare as he inhales and rotates towards the bed.
“Don’t leave me, Dré…speak to me…” she cries, panting hard. “Fuck! Help him…Gio… please…get an air ambulance…take him to the hospital. FUCKING HELP HIM!”
The instant Giovanni stalks away from me, all I feel is coldness––and dread.
Petrified tears spill down my face and I mindlessly follow my bare feet, clambering over the blood-soaked comforter to reach André.
Sinéad’s bloodied hands are pressed to the hemorrhaging bullet hole in his chest.
“Let me help,” I say on a shaky breath.
Her face dives into the crook of André’s tattooed neck and then her lips feather kisses over his coarse haired jaw.
“I love you, Dré. Please…don’t leave me. I can’t do this without you…I can’t…”
I carefully position the heel of my hand on his wound and bare down, using my weight to seal it.
Letterman’s husky voice comes from behind me.
“I need an air ambulance…NOW! Not in twenty fucking minutes. It’s an emergency.”
“We’re not waiting. He doesn’t have time. My pilot is ready to go. Help me carry him, Letterman.” The tone of Giovanni’s command gives me chills.
“Oh…God…” Sinéad whimpers.
I lift my head and find her hunched over, holding a hand to her belly.
“Oh my God, no…the babies…Indy, the babies are coming early.”