Page 62 of Light It Up Red

“Fuck. How did I know that’s what you were going to say?” He shakes his head as his foot slams down on the accelerator. “She doesn’t want to see you, you know.”

“Yes, she does.” I don’t believe for an instant that Lili wants to leave me. If I did, I’d probably let her go.

Actually, no, I fucking wouldn’t.

“It’s your funeral.” Grayson shrugs as he turns out of the parking lot.

***

My knuckles have barely made contact when the door is pulled open and an angry-looking Italian guy in a black suit glares at me. I don’t wait for him to say anything as I step into the house.

“Lili, where are you?” I call out. And before I know it, my body is slammed up against the closest wall. My arm twisted behind my back.

“Who the fuck are you?” the guy asks. When I peer over my shoulder, I notice five more men just like him all pointing guns at my head.

“Told you… your funeral.” Grayson laughs from the doorway.

“Get the fuck off me,” I growl.

“Let him go.” A commanding tone has me turning my head before my eyes connect with Lili’s father.

“Fuck,” I hiss out while clutching my side.

“Bullet wounds hurt like a bitch, huh?” Mr. Valentino says. “What are you doing here?”

“Where’s Lili? I need to talk to her.”

“If she wanted to see you, she would.” Mr. Valentino folds his arms over his chest as he turns his glare on Gray. “Why the fuck did you bring him here?”

“He asked me to.” Grayson shrugs his shoulders.

“Lili!” I call out again. Louder this time.

“Jesus-fucking-Christ, will you give the yelling a break?” Alessandro grunts from the stairs.

She’s up there. I start to head in that direction when a hand lands on my chest. Stopping me. I look down. If the guy wasn’t her brother and I didn’t currently have a shit-ton of stitches in my body, I’d rip that fucking hand from his arm.

“I just want to talk to her,” I tell him.

“She doesn’t want to see you,” Alessandro says.

“That’s bullshit. She’s running scared. It has nothing to do with her wanting to see me or not.”

“You should tell them,” Grayson hums from behind me.

I turn back to glare at him. “Shut the fuck up.”

“Just saying. It’d make this a lot fucking easier if you did.”

“Tell us what?” Mr. Valentino asks, but it’s more like a command than a question.

I look around the room. There are a lot of ears, a lot of open spaces too. “Not here.”

“This way.” He turns down the hall without waiting for a reply.

I follow Alessandro into an office. Grayson strolls in behind me. I could be walking into a trap here. I have no idea who had me shot. Theoretically, Lili’s father makes sense. But I don’t see him doing that to her, no matter how much he might want to.

“What’s going on?” Mr. Valentino asks while leaning against the desk, his hands shoved into the pockets of his trousers.