Page 41 of Tormented Diamonds

“Huh?” I glance down to find my shoulder strap still hanging loose under my elbow and barely slip it back on just as Leo slams on the gas, launching the car into a G-force torpedo. Cutting a sharp right, he threads the car between two SUVs and skids onto the exit.

My brain is still sloshing around in my skull when he lets out another heated string of curses, drawing my attention over my shoulder moments before I see the white Camry cross three lanes of traffic, plowing into two cars as he speeds off the exit. I scream as he slams into the back of us, sending my head snapping forward like a slingshot.

“Shit! Youokay, Mrs. Marchesi?”

“I think so.” I palm the back of my neck, my vision hazy. “Why is he doing this?”

“Hard to say,” he says, his razored glare bouncing from the road to the mirror as he takes two more sharp turns. “Just try to stay calm. This happens all the time.”

He’s a terrible liar. The thin line of sweat beading across his forehead tells me this is anything but normal. I’ve lost count of how many side roads we’ve taken trying to lose this guy. Nothing is working. A sick feeling settles in the pit of my stomach.

What if I brought this on myself by going behind Gianni’s back?

“Fuck. Get down!”

Everything moves in slow motion. I turn to find the white car inches beside us as Leo pulls a gun and fires a bullet through the passenger side window. Horns blare as the Camry swerves wide, only immediately to close back in.

“I said, get down!”

My head wobbles in a useless nod as I bend forward, then freeze when, out of the corner of my eye, I see the man in the white car turn toward me and flash a chilling smile.

Instantly, I’m back in that living room.

Red hair.

I smell the coppery scent of my mother’s blood in the air.

Small eyes.

I feel it, warm and wet under my palms and knees.

Big teeth.

I hear his Irish brogue taunting me.

“Bullets and blades, Rebecca. The first shot punishes the sinner, but it’s the second that pays the sin.”

I glance down at my hands. They’re red. I look at my feet. They’re redder.

Dark red.

All red.

Forever red.

As I disassociate behind a thick frame of glass, the Camry slams into the side of us, sending us spinning in an ear-splitting crunch of metal. I scream, white hot pain tearing through my shoulder as another direct hit turns my world upside down.

Literally.

Up. Down.

Over. Under.

Again and again, until suddenly, it all stops, and everything becomes eerily quiet.

I tell my eyes to open, but they don’t. I command my limbs to move, but they refuse. My brain feels so mushy I can’t decide if I’m unconscious or dead. However, a faint wail of sirens and the muted whispers of a gathering crowd let me know I’m very much alive.

“Leo,” I wheeze, the effort sending me into a violent coughing fit that fills my mouth with a familiar, metallic taste. “Leo, can you hear me?”Silence.“Help is coming. I hear ambulances, so hang on, okay?”