Page 51 of Renegade (The Santini Assassins #2)
Luciano pulled out his Glock and fired.
BANG!
“AAAAAIIIIIIEEEEEE,” Enzo shrieked as he grabbed his shoulder. “You motherfucker, you shot me.” He pressed a wad of cloth napkins against the wound.
Luciano glared at Willie Boy. “Your father told me to give you something to keep you occupied,” Luciano seethed, hatred spewing from his tongue. “He told me you couldn’t be left to run the business. You were an idiot then, you’re an idiot now.”
Willie Boy’s cheeks flared red while he glared at his father. “Is that true?” he bellowed.
“Of course not.”
“Last chance,” Luciano growled. “Tell him the goddamn truth!”
Greystone had never seen Luciano filled with this rage, his thundering energy exploding off the walls.
Enzo kept his attention glued on Luciano. “Son, you’re a good boy, but you couldn’t run the family business. I put Luciano in charge, but you fucked that up and he left.”
Willie Boy lunged for his dad, but the thugs restrained him in his chair.
“They want you to fight,” said one of the foot soldiers. “We gotta get your dad to the hospital. Relax, WB.”
“Be a man, Willie Boy,” Teddy said. “Tell Luciano the truth.”
Willie Boy eyed the men still holding him captive. “Let me go.”
They released their hold, and Willie Boy pushed his heavy self up, then moseyed out from behind the table.
“You want the truth, Lulu? I don’t think you can handle it, but here you go.
” After a pause, he said, “I did it. I ordered the hit. But that stupid Dante fucked up, then vanished. When he came back, he held that over my head like a goddamn ransom. So, yeah, I wanted you gone.” An evil smile split Willie Boy’s pudgy face. “And you left. So I won.”
A fierce growl shot out of Luciano. “Don’t you feel better confessing your sins?”
“No, jackass, but I know what will make me feel better.” Willie Boy pulled a gun from behind his waist.
BANG! Greystone shot Willie Boy in the leg before he could fire .
“FUCK!” Despite the oozing blood, Willie Boy raised his arm.
Greystone shoved Luciano out of the way.
BANG!
The bullet struck Greystone in the abdomen, the Kevlar stopping it from penetrating his guts. Even so, he reeled back from the force.
BANG!
Teddy shot the gun out of Willie Boy’s hand.
“Were you hit, Greystone?” Luciano asked.
“No,” Greystone bit out before eyeing his cousin. “Sit your ass down.”
Grabbing several napkins from a nearby table, Willie Boy pressed them against his blood-drenched thigh and hand before crumpling into a chair.
Shaking off the discomfort, Greystone stalked over to Enzo, fisted a chunk of his hair, and yanked back his head. “You’re next, old man.” He pulled him up while Enzo’s shriek filled the silence.
“My shoulder!” Enzo cried out. “What did I do?” His trembling lower lip revealed his true emotion.
Fear.
Now, Greystone could finally exact his revenge.
“I know the truth,” Greystone said, his anger-filled voice low and steady. “You know it too. Now, they get to hear it.” Greystone punched him in the gut with his other hand.
Enzo doubled over, gasping for air. Greystone shoved him against the wall, pointed his Glock at his uncle. “It’s go-time.” With eyes on his uncle, he said, “Brothers, do you remember what Uncle Enzo always told us?”
“I do,” Teddy replied.
“He said it all the fucking time,” Luciano bit out.
“The truth shall set you free,” the brothers repeated in unison .
“Say it,” Greystone growled, his attention fixed on Enzo.
“Fuck you,” Enzo bit out. “Your father wanted to shut down the most lucrative part of our business. I had the power, the control, and I was building an empire.”
“You were kidnapping and trafficking young women,” Greystone hissed.
“Dad, is that true?” Willie Boy asked. “And be honest, for once.”
Enzo’s eerie laugh filled the room. “That’s funny, coming from you, son. You wouldn’t know the truth if you bumped into it.”
Then, silence.
Eerie, fucking silence.
Greystone would wait for it. The seconds ticked by, but Enzo stayed quiet.
“If you don’t say it, I’m going to kill Willie Boy.” Greystone aimed his Glock at his cousin.
To his horror, Enzo said nothing.
Luciano pointed his gun at the thugs. “You three, get out.”
The men hurried to their feet.
“If we see you again, we’ll kill you.” Teddy pointed his gun toward the back exit. “Now, get the fuck out.”
The men rushed out, Teddy close on their heels.
“We got this,” Enzo said.
“Righto.” Willie Boy lunged for his weapon, lying on the floor nearby.
Luciano released a torrent of bullets.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Willie Boy dropped to the floor.
Enzo reached behind him, pulled out a gun.
Greystone fired.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Enzo dropped.
Luciano felt Willie Boy’s carotid. “Nothing.” He did the same for Enzo while Greystone pointed his weapon at Enzo’s head. “Gone.”
“He never said it,” Greystone uttered.
Teddy ran back in, his gun at the ready. He eyed the two dead men, blood oozing from their wounds. “We’re definitely closed for a coupla days while I clean this up.” Teddy eyed Greystone. “Did Enzo fess up?”
“No.” Luciano put a comforting hand on Greystone’s shoulder. “You avenged Dad.”
“He’d be proud of you,” Teddy added.
Greystone shifted toward his brothers. “They’re scum.”
“Fratello.” Luciano extended his hand. “You took a bullet for me.”
When Greystone shook it, Luciano pulled him in for a hug. “Mi dispiace. Mi sbagliavo su di te. Meriti il mio rispetto.”
“You were wrong about me,” Greystone said, “but we were kids livin’ in a fucked-up family.”
“I loved our family,” Teddy said.
“Anche noi amiamo la nostra famiglia,” Greystone said. “I love our family too.”
“I need to get these two to the crematorium,” Teddy said.
“I got you,” Luciano said. “Greystone, take off. Check yourself, where you got hit.”
“Would prison have been better?” Greystone asked as he stared into the lifeless eyes of his uncle.
“Your word against his,” Luciano replied.
“I’ve got the cred,” Greystone said.
“Doesn’t matter.” Teddy squeezed Greystone’s shoulder. “We did what needed to be done.”
“Lemme help with clean up and body disposal,” Greystone said.
“Go,” Luciano said. “We got this. Yes, Teddy?”
Teddy nodded. “I’ll grab the body bags.”
Greystone and Teddy left out the back door .
“How’re you doing?” Teddy asked.
Greystone stopped at his SUV. “Me? I have no fucking idea.”
Before driving out, he checked for texts, reading Caroline’s first.
Miss you. I added you to the front desk list if you miss me too
Hell, yeah, I miss my woman.
On my way, baby
He read the second text, from his commanding officer, Jamal.
I look forward to seeing you tomorrow. Regarding your special request: Permission Granted. See you at 0700
Excitement pulsed through him as he drove toward Caroline’s, then the magnitude of what had gone down at the restaurant sunk in. Revenge had coursed through his veins for sixteen long years.
Had justice been served… or would payback be hell?
CAROLINE
After going for a hard run and working through what went down with JL, Caroline spent the evening watching the surveillance cameras at the apartment complex.
Around eleven, she pulled up the video of the FBI restroom and reviewed it, hoping something would catch her eye.
A tile out of place, fingerprints on the drop-ceiling panels. Everything looked undisturbed .
At midnight, she sent Grey a text, then crawled into bed with her laptop.
This time, when she checked the video, she spotted two people walking from the parking lot into the third building.
They were dressed in black, hoodies covering their heads, their faces cast down.
They vanished inside. She rewound the video, watched it again.
No matter how many times she viewed it, she couldn’t get a decent look at them.
One of the men was about five-ten, the other five-seven or eight.
Her phone binged with a text.
On my way, baby
She hearted his text before jumping over to the BLACK OPS website and studying the mug shots, then she reviewed the uploaded pictures Grey’s asset had given him.
On a sigh, she padded out of bed and over to the window.
As she stared into the night, her stomach roiled.
The Day of Destruction was two weeks away.
Ohgod.
Her doorbell rang and her heart leapt. She hurried to the front door, paused to look through the peephole, then swung it wide.
She flew into Grey’s arms and stayed there for a few blissful seconds, appreciating the gentle firmness in his embrace, his large hands pressed against her back, holding her close.
Their kiss was filled with love and desire and everything good.
She tugged him inside, shut the door, and peered into his eyes. Something was definitely off. Clasping his hand, she led him into the kitchen where the lights under the counter allowed her to better see him.
“I’m happy to see you,” she said. “I’m glad you came over.”
“Me too.” He removed the Kevlar, groaning as he lifted his arms .
“You were hit, weren’t you?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Show me.”
He lifted his shirt. “How’s it look?”
After flipping on the kitchen light, she said, “It’s turning black and blue.” She offered him an ice pack, but he waved it away.
“Are you in pain?”
“I’m good.”
He opened her kitchen cabinets, found a glass, filled it with water, and guzzled it down.
“Hungry?” she asked.
“No.”
He set down the glass, raked his hands through his long hair and fixed his gaze on her. “We gotta talk.”
“Okay.”
He clasped her hand, walked into the living room. “I did a bad thing.”
A tremble skirted through her as she eased onto the sofa. He sat beside her, looked straight ahead. “My cousin and my uncle are dead.”
Her gaze floated over his face, the torment in his eyes surprising her. She ran a comforting hand down his back. “What did you want to happen tonight?”