Page 28 of Die for You (Kiss or Kill #2)

I needed a legal business to throw my illegal money into. And what better place than a business that actually makes money? This shop is just a front for me. The more property I own, the fewer questions I get asked by the IRS.

There isn’t a whole lot of money in selling crystals.

But who doesn’t love a hoagie?

No cops out front. Maybe my luck is changing.

However, when I enter the deli and see Romeo standing off to the side, turning all shades of green, I know I’ve spoken too soon.

I make the sign of the cross because, what in the ever-living fuck have I walked into?

Hell, that’s what.

The polished white floors are now smeared with bright red. The immaculate silver counter is blotted with puddles of red.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

This only adds to the puddles.

Peering upward, I see Mario hanging from the silver, cured meat rack above the sandwich bar. He’s been strung up by his feet like a slaughtered pig. His throat is cut, and he’s disemboweled.

His innards are neatly stacked in the silver containers behind the glass. Where customers once chose their fillings for their sandwiches, now they have a selection of eyeballs, teeth, organs, and hearts; everything one would expect to find in an all-you-can-eat human buffet.

Hanging beside Mario are seven of my most loyal men. They’ve all suffered the same fate.

“A message from Gianna?” asks Romeo, unable to look at the macabre scene before us.

“Yes, this is war.”

However, I remember the way Valentina sliced open one of my men in that hotel room. This smells of her handiwork. I understand we agreed she was to do what Gianna ordered, but this is the work of a very sick and twisted individual.

I suppose we would do anything for our daughter, but this attack seems personal. Whoever did this wanted to leave a message.

And that message is…we’re coming for you.

Valentina and I were waiting for the right time, but there will never be a right time.

Gianna must die…and she must die now.

She’s stronger than I thought, and Francesco is right—there is a mole among us.

Gianna is taking out my most loyal men, leaving behind the cowards who will sell out their own mother if it means saving their own skin. My empire is crumbling. It won’t be long until she conquers me.

“Burn the place down. Inform their families and make sure they’re taken care of financially,” I blankly say to Romeo, unable to take my eyes off the gruesome scene before me. “Trust no one, Romeo. Everyone is the enemy.”

“Yes, boss.”

The bell above the door dings as I exit. The night is cool, and for the first time in my life, I feel cold. I feel it all the way to my bones. It has nothing to do with the weather. It has to do with the fact that my empire is being destroyed, and I don’t think I’ll survive it this time.

Gianna only grows stronger thanks to whoever betrays me. Soon, she’ll have all the ammo she needs to overthrow me. But I must get to her first.

I get into my car just as the first licks of fire can be seen from the storefront window.

I drive into the darkness, wishing I could slip away and just start over. But that’s an ending for quitters. And when my phone rings over my car Bluetooth, and the caller is Bria, I know that will never be on the cards for us.

Bria’s hatred toward Valentina only grows, and only one of them will survive.

“Hey.”

She immediately senses something is wrong.

“What happened now?”

“Mario and seven of my men were murdered tonight. Strung up like a piece of meat.”

I can hear her intake of air. “Lenny, this has to stop. This all started when she came back. Do what’s right. Do what you promised you would do.”

I did promise Bria, while we stood over the corpse of her father, that she would have her revenge. But so much is different. I made that promise before I was a father.

The safety of my daughter takes precedence over anything and anyone. Which is the reason Bria can never know about Lettie.

I don’t trust Bria when it comes to Lettie because she knows that Lettie is the only thing I would sacrifice anything, even myself, for.

When I don’t say a word, she sighs. “Valentina’s beau is tied to a chair in the basement. I’m assuming he’s to be used as collateral? That’s the reason he’s still breathing, right?”

“Brains and beauty, how did I get so lucky?”

She ignores my attempts to deflect the topic at hand. “We got a hand-delivered invite.”

“From?”

“Gianna Ricci.”

It seems tonight wasn’t enough of an insult.

“She’s holding a charity ball to raise funds for Saint Maria’s Orphanage.”

“You’ve got to be shitting me. That woman doesn’t have a charitable bone in her body.”

“Gives us an excuse to dress up and fuck shit up.”

“Since when do we need an excuse?”

She chuckles lightly.

No matter how angry we are at one another, carnage always lightens the mood.

“Lucky we have Valentina’s lover as collateral because this ball is merely a ruse to lure us in like prey. She has home ground advantage. But we have the manpower, and now, we have something that’s precious to Valentina.”

I flinch at her choice of words; words she chose with intent to remind me that Valentina belongs to another now. Little does Bria know, Valentina doesn’t belong to anyone…and she never has.

So, it appears that D-Day has finally arrived.

The final showdown lingers, and honestly, I don’t know who will win.