Chapter 29
Even as my lungs filled with air, I knew screaming wouldn’t do a thing. Not with a cold, heartless monster like Sal D’Angelo.
There was no light in his eyes of the man standing before me, no hope. Not even the sick, sadistic pleasure that had glowed in Hollis’ gaze. The only thing visible on Sal’s face was cruelty.
Enough of it to make my stomach twist in horror.
Ignited by panic, I whirled back around and tried again to throw open the door. I’d barely cracked it an inch before Sal squeezed the hand he’d cupped over my dislocated shoulder.
It was a small action. Compared to Hollis’ kicks and backhand, it barely qualified as violent, but it was viciously effective.
A bolt of electric pain shot through my chest, and I collapsed, falling to my knees in misery. Sal quickly kicked the door closed before I could cry out.
“Sorry, Kiera,” Sal said dispassionately. “We can’t let you leave the party just yet.”
We?
The realization that Sal and Hollis were colluding was enough to rip the last shred of hope out of my hands.
It had taken everything I had to escape Hollis. I could barely walk. Only one of my arms worked. I ached from head to toe. I had nothing left in the tank for a literal boss battle.
Still, I somehow found the strength to start crawling away.
Inching away from the door, I headed toward the kitchen. Even though I knew there was no escape, I had to do something. It simply wasn’t in me to just sit there and wait to die.
To my surprise, though, Sal didn’t make a move to stop me. Apparently, I was too pathetic to worry about in my current state.
Instead, Sal surprised me by turning his frustration toward Hollis, who still hadn’t stopped rolling around in the hallway.
“Fucking pathetic,” Sal grumbled under his breath before striding over to the man, grabbing one of his arms, and forcibly hauling him to his feet. “I thought you said you were an FBI agent.”
“I…am,” Hollis huffed out between labored breaths.
Sal shook his head. “Are all feds this incompetent, or are you a special case?”
Still bent over at the waist, Hollis raised his chin just high enough to shoot Sal a withering glare. “Watch your mouth, D’Angelo. Especially if you don’t want me bringing you in on a whole list of charges after all this over.”
“Is that supposed to frighten me?” Sal let out a humorless laugh and shook his head. “Here’s the thing about threats, asshole—they’re only as effective as the man making them.”
“You think I’m bluffing?” Even injured, Hollis puffed up at the insult.
“No. I think you’re a fucking idiot.” Sal turned his back on him and started walking away…back toward me. “Your job was simple—kill the girl and pin it on Dorian. But you couldn’t even manage to get her out of bed without screwing everything up.”
“She bit me!” Hollis gestured angrily toward his leg—the one that was currently dripping all over Dorian’s hardwood floors.
“You fucking pussy,” Sal muttered under his breath, stopping in front of the couch.
Whatever partnership these two had, it wasn’t a strong one. It was clear there was no love lost between them. I wondered if I might be able to use that to my advantage as I kept slowly moving across the floor.
“Don’t try to blame this on me,” Hollis protested. “If we’d gone with my plan and shot her in the head while she was still asleep, the bitch would be dead by now.”
“Even for a fed, you’re stupid.” Sal’s mouth flattened into a hard line as his annoyance with my ex-brother-in-law grew. “Dorian doesn’t use guns. Everyone knows that. If you shoot her, no cop or jury in this city will believe he was the one that pulled the trigger.”
“Juries love me. They’ll believe anything I say,” Hollis argued, hobbling across the room until he was inches away from Sal. “Besides, we need to be quick. We don’t want to be here when Dorian finally gets home.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Sal said with a confident wave of his hand. “He won’t be back any time soon.”
“How can you be sure?”
“I planted a bug when I was here yesterday and have been recording everything,” Sal said. “Dorian left to interrogate Russo a half hour ago. Once he discovers the idiot’s dead, he’ll be wrapped up in family business all day. He won’t be home to find her body until this evening.”
Despite Sal’s assurances, Hollis still looked antsy. His natural fear of Dorian proved he wasn’t as stupid as Sal thought. “I still think we should hurry,” he said.
“Then get to fucking work, asshole.”
“Why the hell are you complaining?” Hollis griped. “I’m the only one doing anything. You’re just fucking standing there.”
“You don’t think I’ve done anything?” Sal’s eyes went wide with anger. “I’m the one who called you. I handed over the fugitive you’ve been trying to track down for over a year on a silver platter. I even paid off the locksmith to get us access to the fucking apartment. And you have the balls to say I haven’t done anything?”
Tempers and voices were rising. Sal fumed as Hollis further invaded his space, getting right in his face as the pair kept right on trading grievances and insults.
I, on the other hand, couldn’t have been happier with the turn of events. The men had become so absorbed by their own argument that they’d all but forgotten about me, and I was able to scoot the rest of the way into the kitchen unnoticed.
Once there, I pulled myself up and went straight to the knife block, drawing out the longest chef knife I could find. A sliver of hope returned the instant I gripped the weapon in my hand. It was enough to give me the courage to start back toward the living room.
Sure, the odds were against me. There was no pretending otherwise.
Standing between me and freedom was an armed FBI agent and a major mob boss. Chances were good one of them would take me down before I ever reached the door.
But still, I had to try.
If I had to die, then those bastards were coming down with me.
The men were still at each other’s throats when I stumbled out of the kitchen with the long blade gripped tight in my one good hand. Sal’s back was to me, but Hollis immediately went silent the second he caught sight of me.
At first, I thought I must have looked pretty intimidating, given how wide his gaze went. But a second later, he rolled his eyes toward the ceiling, letting out an exasperated breath.
“Great,” he grumbled, throwing his hands up. “Now she’s got a fucking knife.”
“What?” Sal spun around, his expression instantly turning cold and murderous as his eyes zeroed in on the blade. “Where’d you get that, you sneaky little bitch? Put it down before somebody gets hurt.”
“That’s the idea, asshole,” I said, shaking my head. “Let me walk out that door, or I’ll gut you like a fucking fish.”
Sal laughed, taking a step toward me. “Knife or no knife, if you think we’re just going to let you leave, then you’re even more of an idiot than your brother-in-law.”
“Stop right there,” I warned him, jabbing the tip of the blade out a couple more inches. “Believe me, I will kill you.”
“That’s the problem…I don’t believe you,” Sal said with a shrug. “See, after I heard Dorian say your name the other day, I looked into your past. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the frightened little mouse he’s been hiding was wanted for murder herself. And not just any murder but the cold-blooded killing of her own sister.”
“I didn’t do it.” The denial fell from my lips without thought.
And Sal shocked me by nodding.
“I know,” he said. “Anyone who’s spent two seconds with you can tell you’ve never hurt anyone. Especially those of us who have actually killed before. It takes a special kind of resolve to put a bullet in someone’s head or a knife in their chest. I’m guessing Hollis learned that the day he killed your sister. I certainly found out the night I killed my brother.”
“You killed Giuseppe?” My mouth fell open at the bold admission.
“Of course,” he said simply, like it was the most natural thing in the world to murder your own family so you could inherit their wealth and power.
“Dorian will kill you when he finds out.” That wasn’t even a threat, just a statement of fact.
“Which is why I can’t let him find out,” Sal said. “I’ve already gotten rid of Bonetti and Russo, the two men who helped me that night, so there are no more witnesses for him to talk to. But Dorian’s always been a crafty bastard. He already suspects my involvement, so as long as he’s free, I won’t be safe.”
It was such a monstrous plan that, even though I was the only one in the room holding a weapon, my hands started to shake.
“So you’re going to kill me and frame him for my murder,” I said.
“Exactly.” Sal smiled, though somehow the expression only made him look more evil. “That way, both the feds and I get what we want. Your brother-in-law gets to close the case on the only living witness to his crime, and I can stop looking over my shoulder, wondering if tonight’s the night Dorian finally catches up with me. You understand.”
A cold shiver ran up my spine as the realization sank in that there was no way in hell either of these men would let me leave this apartment alive.
I’d have to kill them both if I wanted to survive...and I wasn’t entirely sure that was something I had in me.
Dorian had said as much himself that day that I’d told him my story as I stitched up his wounds.
You just risked your life and livelihood to patch up a man you barely know. You’re no killer.
He was right. I wasn’t a killer.
But I was a fighter.
I might not have any control over my death, but I could try to save Dorian.
When Sal and Hollis came at me, I was determined to stab and slash and splatter their DNA all over the damn crime scene. I might not live to be a witness to their crimes, but I could make sure I left enough evidence behind to point the detectives in the direction of the real killers.
I lifted my chin defiantly, staring Sal D’Angelo in the eye as I slowly walked toward him. “Fuck you. Touch me, and I’ll cut your goddamn dick off.”
For all his tough words, Sal didn’t waste any time stumbling backward to get away from the tip of the blade.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Hollis groaned impatiently as his partner tripped over a side table. “Can’t I just shoot her now?”
“Do it.” All it took was for me to get within striking distance with the knife for Sal to relent. “Go ahead and kill her already.”
Seeing Hollis reach toward his waist for his weapon, I knew time was running out.
I made one last rush, frantically swinging at Sal’s chest as I went. At the last second, he raised his hands in a defensive posture, and the blade sliced across his palms.
He howled as thick blood splattered onto the floorboards. I prayed I’d be able to get one more slash in before Hollis unloaded his clip of slugs into my chest.
But before I could bring the blade down or Hollis could pull the trigger, the front door flew open with enough force to bash into the wall behind it with a thunderous crash.
For a second, everyone froze.
Then, a wave of supreme satisfaction washed over me as I watched the color drain from both men’s faces. In an instant, all their bluster and swagger disappeared, and they stared in shocked terror at the man standing in the open doorway.
I wanted to cry in relief.
Because Dorian Marchetti was home.