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Chapter Thirty-Eight

Lux

My hands shake like leaves caught in a relentless wind.

The weight of the gun causes my stomach to plummet. I’ve never held a weapon before, and the smooth cool metal makes my skin break out in goosebumps.

I hate this. I hate the pointless violence. I hate the bloodshed. Who would choose to make this their life? And for what? Money? Power? Glory? The whole thing makes me sick.

Rafael’s gaze moves from me to Vince, and back. He’s confused, angry, and maybe a little scared. I don’t blame him. The butt of Vince’s gun taps my temple lightly, causing me to sway and panic that I’ll accidentally shoot.

“Welcome to the party, Rafael. We’ve been waiting for you,” Vince says, a manic edge to his tone. “Get stuck in the elevator?”

“What the hell is this?” Rafael asks, low and dark. A muscle in his jaw twitches but other than that, he’s frozen in place.

He eyes Vince’s hand, holding a gun to my head. His gaze moves down to me, holding a gun trained on him. It’s a demented triangle of death and the only unarmed person is the one who can save us.

We’re not getting out of here alive.

“I thought I’d let my waitress do the honors here,” Vince grins, flashing a toothy smile. “Like father, like son…what a poetic way to go, if you think about it.”

“She didn’t kill my father,” Rafael growls back. “You fucking did.”

I pray for him to keep his cool. One wrong move and we’re both dead at the hands of this diabolical man.

Silent tears stream down my face but I refuse to move a muscle. My eyes plead for him to calm down, but he’s glaring at Vince, fury sparking behind those chocolate eyes.

“Oh, but she did. She’s been playing you this whole time, and what a great show she put on. Really had you convinced she wasn’t a double agent, didn’t she?”

“Rafael, I…” I start to protest, choking on my words. “I didn’t…”

“Shut up, waitress,” Vince says, shoving me and nodding at the gun in my hands. “You’ve played your part well. Now, you wait for my instructions.”

“I know, Lux,” Rafael growls softly, although I catch a flash of suspicion in his eyes. I maintain eye contact with him, trying to silently communicate that this is a set up.

“She’s quite a good actress,” Vince muses, running his gun along my jaw. “Quite a pretty one, too. What a shame I won’t have much use for her after this.”

“You know, I wanted to have some fun with her before I killed her, but you showed up too quickly,” Vince continues when he gets no reaction. He’s taunting him. Trying to force him to go insane.

I gulp down my fear, forcing my body to stay still. My trembling hands give me away, and Vince spots it, laughing. Rafael’s face turns crimson, anger and fear rising in his eyes.

“Stay calm,” I whisper to him as much as to myself. One wrong move, I remind myself, and it’s over.

“Why are you doing this?” Rafael grinds out, his face set in stone—hard, unyielding. I let go of a shaky breath, seeing that he’s trying to maintain his cool. He’s also stalling for time. I can practically see the cogs turning in his brain, trying to find a safe way out of this mess.

“It was never personal,” Vince brushes him off casually. “Your father never deserved the power he had. Neither do you, for that matter. In fact, neither do all of these useless mafia dons…never getting their own hands bloody, sending their men out there to fight their battles for them.”

“So, you thought you could do a better job?”

I see Rafael edging closer to me and I panic. He must have a plan but I don’t see any way out. I move my pupils wildly back and forth, trying to communicate for him to stay away.

He subtly clenches his hand three times, sending me our I love you signal.

I try to relax at the signal. He’s got it figured out. Just play your part, I tell myself. He wouldn’t put you in danger.

“Please,” Vince scoffs. “I know I can. And with Mancini out of the picture…thank you for tying up my loose ends, by the way…all that’s left is you.”

“You really think my guys, my family, are going to support you when they find out what you’ve done?” Rafael says, using the distraction of his question to slip his hand into his pocket. I wonder if he has a weapon tucked in there.

“Oh, but they won’t,” Vince chuckles. “Don’t you see? All they’ll get is the tragic story of how I tried to rescue you from a deranged waitress. The same waitress that killed your father. Oh, I rushed over here, trying to save your life, but I was too late.”

“It won’t work,” Rafael scoffs. “She won’t shoot me.”

“Is that so?”

Vince smashes his gun across the back of my head, where it’s already tender from last time. Stars twinkle and spin across my field of vision and I almost throw up. Rafael’s eyes light on fire as I sway lightly on my feet, the gun starting to go slack in my hand. He’s seething, his hands automatically reaching for me, but Vince pulls me back.

“She’ll do as I say,” Vince hisses. “Because she’s working for me.”

“I won’t,” I protest, finally finding my voice. “I could never.”

“Shut up,” Vince says, yanking my arm to pull me closer to him. The gun presses into my temple painfully.

His eyes are wide and manic, on the edge of a total loss of control. “You see, the problem in this city is…there’s no one strong enough, or smart enough, to keep order.”

Rafael growls lightly but Vince holds up his hand, shushing him. “The Mancinis and the Romanos have been the top dogs for decades, using this city as their personal battlefield. All the while never paying enough attention to the important things: the money.”

“The money?” Rafael asks, momentarily caught off guard.

“That’s right,” Vince nods, his voice giddy, like he’s about to share his biggest secret. “I’ve been running games between the two families for years, setting up traps, stringing them along, all the while…I’ve been robbing them blind.”

He cackles, elbowing me like I’m supposed to join in on his twisted joke. I clench my teeth, not taking my eyes off Rafael. He’s slowly moving his hand in his pocket, cautiously trying to grasp at something. He shoots me a look, trying to communicate something, but I’m too panicked to understand.

“And now that all you idiots are out of the picture,” Vince continues dramatically, not noticing Rafael’s movements. “I have the resources and the human capital to run this town.”

“Seems like you’ve got it all figured out,” Rafael comments casually. “Let’s get this show on the road then.”

“Rafael, no!” I gasp. What the hell is he doing here?

“I love you, Luxy,” he says sadly, gazing deep into my eyes. I can see that he’s telling me to stay calm, that it’s all going to work out.

“I love you, Wolfie,” I sob out, the trembling in my hands making the gun bounce around dangerously. Vince grabs it to steady it, shooting me a dark look.

“Don’t even think of doing something stupid,” he hisses at me. “Shoot the fucker already.”

“I can’t,” I sob. Tears spill out of my eyes and down my face, clouding my vision. My heart beats wildly, like a war drum pounding in the heat of battle. “I can’t do it.”

“Do it, or I will,” Vince snaps, tightening his grip on me. “Either way, you’re both going to die.”

I take a deep breath, my fingers tightening around the gun. My gaze is focused on Rafael’s hand, where he’s subtly moving his fingers. My eyes snap up to meet his, finally understand what he’s been trying to tell me the whole time.

“Fine,” I seethe, cocking the gun. “I’ll fucking do it.”