Page 28

CHAPTER 28

SCARLET

CEO of Titan Shipping arrested on charges of racketeering and tax evasion.

The scroll at the bottom of the muted screen is both expected and shocking.

With trembling hands, I pick up my mobile. Tiny black spots dot my vision. I focus on deepening my breaths and slowing them down.

It’s done.

When I stood over Vincent’s lifeless body, calm and tranquility were the dominant emotions. My thoughts ceased, my skin chilled, and I went on autopilot.

Why are my hands shaking? Why am I physically reacting to an event I knew was in progress?

I sit on the floor, back against the bedpost, and press Orlando’s name.

One, two, three, four, five rings.

“Scarlet.” My name comes out in a growl.

“I saw the news,” I say.

“Feeling proud?”

“No.”

Yes, I wanted the clan to crumble, but I feel like I might vomit.

“What do you want?” His voice sounds deeper than it has in the past. Angrier, too.

“How are you doing?”

“The lawyers say Papa should work with the prosecutor. You know he won’t. He’ll die before he testifies against his own. My father will probably die in prison. Titan Shipping is hemorrhaging clients. We may have to fold. We can’t sell while it’s under investigation. Mama won’t leave her bedroom. She asked your mother to leave. If you care, she’s not homeless. She’s staying with Portofino, an elderly widow who shouldn’t be living on her own, so basically she’s become a nurse for her. Is this what you wanted?”

My fingers cover my lips. They kicked Mama out of the Gagliano estate?

“As if that’s not enough, Lupi Grigi members are dying left and right. I’m hearing it’s Nick Ivanov’s doing. But you know about that, right? Since you’re staying with him?” He lets out a deep sigh. “Did you ask him to kill us all? He’s hired men that are…they’re experts. Bombs. Snipers. Do you have any idea what it’s like to be hunted?”

“Actually, yes, I do.” Vincent’s snarl plays through my mind. He got off on my fear.

“Not like this, you don’t. It’s like we’re all swimming in an ocean, sharks are circling beneath us, and we’re treading water, waiting to see which one of us will go down next.”

“I suppose,” my voice quakes, and I swallow to smooth it, “waiting to see if your husband is in the mood to ignore you or beat you is similar. It’s not the exact same, no, but it’s not fun to wonder each evening if it’ll be a game of dodge the heavy object or be a punching bag.”

“One man hurt you, so you go after all of us?”

“The system hurt me. I’m dismantling the system.”

“It’s a good thing Willow isn’t alive to see this. She’d be heartbroken.”

The line clicks. He ended the call. I’m hit with an awareness that I likely won’t hear from Orlando for some time. He’s a minor, and as such, shouldn’t be swept up in the investigation. I can only hope that over time he’ll forgive me, but maybe he won’t. My actions have completely disrupted the life he planned for himself.

A loud explosion rocks me off my feet.

The floors tremble.

I push up off the floor.

Lights flicker.

I rush out into the hall.

“Scarlet!”

Nick’s shout echoes through the hall.

I run as fast as I can toward his office.

“Scarlet!”

He comes into view, a gun in hand, eyes wide.

“Drone attack,” he says, turning, gun pointed skyward.

What in the hell? This is Massimo’s revenge. He’ll kill us all.

“Come on. Let’s get you to the safe room.”

“No.” I halt, and he snaps his fingers.

“Now!”

“You’re not sticking me in a room. They’re here for me.”

“This isn’t the bloody Grigi.”

He grabs my wrist and tugs. I stumble but follow behind, matching his pace.

“You’re wrong.”

“No, I’m not.”

It’s the second time in one day a man has growled at me.

“Who is it then?” I snap.

“My old mates.”

“They have military drones?”

“They have everything.”

Another explosion rocks the house.

The place shakes again.

"What are they bombing?" My voice comes out high and thin.

"Nothing. We're shooting them out of the sky."

Another explosion rocks the house, and I grip Nick's arm. In Italy, violence came with warnings: a look, a word, a chance to make amends. But this? This is chaos. English chaos. Technology. Death from above that gives no chance to negotiate, no opportunity to surrender.

"Won't the police come?" I try to sound calm, but my heart pounds so hard I taste copper on my tongue. The tremors in my hands spread until my whole body shakes. I've faced death before, but never like this—never so impersonal, so mechanical.

"I'm sure they're on their way."

Nick's voice is steady, controlled, but his grip on my wrist tightens. For the first time since Vincent, real fear—not anxiety, not worry, but pure terror—floods my system. Because if Nick is afraid...

Dio mi salvi. God save us; we might not survive this night.