Page 5 of Bound in Promise

She whimpers and stares at me like I’m lying. “You don’t mean that. We had a moment?—”

“Believe what you want.” I press the gun to the side of her head, shoving the metal mercilessly into her skull, and watch her eyes widen in fear. “Ten seconds.”

“Dante—”

“Nine.”

“You can’t kill me.”

“Eight.”

“Liam is your only nephew.”

“Seven.”

“You’re not going to hurt him.”

“Six.”

“Dante.”

“Five.”

She lifts her chin. “You’re not going to do it.”

“Four…three…”

“I don’t know where he is.”

“Two.”

“He’s going to Rochester,” she blurts out, chest heaving with uneven breaths. “New York. He’s got a friend out there.”

“And?”

“I’m not sure—” I lower the gun and shoot into the floor, wrenching an ear-piercing scream from Marissa’s throat.

Her body begins to drop, but I hold her up by her neck, pinning her to her bedroom wall. She’s not getting off that easily. I can see through her bullshit. There’s no way that she doesn’t know everything about what her weaselly spawn is planning.

“Try again, Marissa,” I taunt, raising the gun to her chin. “One more lie, and the next bullet goes right here.” I’ve never been like this. Crazed, barely hanging onto the control necessary to get the job done. I’ve been through worse shit than this, hell, I’ve been on nastier jobs. But not knowing where my wife is has been nothing less than torture.

“Passports,” she pants. “Fake ones.”

“Where are they going?”

“Canada. I’m supposed to meet them.”

“You know his number?”

Her eyes bulge and a broken sob leaves her red-painted lips. “What? I can’t?—”

“Do. You. Know. His. Number,” I bite out.

“N-n-no.” Her chest heaves with her broken sobs. “I-I don’t?—”

“Good.” I can feel a manic grin of satisfaction split my face. “Give me your phone.”

“I’m supposed to meet them after.”