Page 38 of A Madness of Crows

And Salvatore Asante pumped that poison into her without giving a fuck. And Stefano… he stood by and watched it happen.

I pull the barrel of the gun back and whip that fucker straight across the face. A thin line of blood opens up immediately, his skin shredding beneath the metal edge.

He doesn’t make a sound.

“You’re a dead man,” I snarl. “When this is over, Asante.”

He doesn’t look up, ignoring the blood trickling down his face. “When this is over, I will already be dead.”

Ignoring him, I turn back to Cat, letting my gun clatter to the floor. She slurs more words as I cradle her shoulders, lifting her up. “How long?”

He spits a mouthful of blood to the floor. “Half an hour.”

I glance back toward the door as I slide my hands beneath her. Depending on the dosage, she could come out of it before they’re finished.

I sit back on the floor with Cat in my arms, daring Asante to say a fuckingwordas I cradle her. My eyes scan every part of her face, logging every mark.

Her name becomes an echo on my lips, my cheeks damp.

I stare at the main doors more than once.

I could run with her now.

Put a bullet in Asante’s head and take her where the politics of the Cosa Nostra would never find us.

But there is Alessia. And Cat would never forgive me for leaving the others behind to pay the price for our escape.

The threads of the family we built have become the chains that imprison us.

My breathing begins to shudder. Our time is running out.

I run my thumb across her cheek.

“When this is over,” I murmur the words, willing her to wake up, tolookat me. “I’m taking you to a beach, Caterina. Nothing but blue skies and sand and the sea. We’re going to drink too much alcohol, and sleep in the sunshine, and I’m going to dance with you as the sun sets.”

It feels like an impossibility. A dream.

I stroke her hair back again. “I love you. And I need you to hold on, Cat. Because we’re coming for you, baby. It’s just taking a little longer than we hoped, but we’re not giving up.”

My voice breaks as I press my forehead to hers. “I miss you. Ineedyou, Caterina Corvo. I’m breaking apart without you.”

A door opens.

“Cat.”

I raise my head. Dante stumbles, his face collapsing in devastation. “What have they done?”

Not a question. A statement, and it physically hurts to let her go as he falls to his knees, reaching for her with hands that shake just as badly as mine. His green eyes glitter, closing briefly before they open again. “Tentazione.”

Agony in his face.

I rip my eyes away. The meeting is over. We have seconds left with her, if that.

At the end of the hall, Stefano Asante meets my eyes as he shifts to let Gio and Luc pass him. He nods once before he steps back inside, closing the door behind him.

Seconds.

Gio gets to us first. He drops down beside Dante, his hands hovering over her as his face twists in horror. “Her chest—,”