I faked a heave. “Fuck,” I moaned.
“Uh, you good?” the guard asked.
“Pava. He—”
I held my head and faked another heave before I forced myself to dry-retch.
“Holy shit!” the man exclaimed.
“Con—concuss—”
I heaved again and managed to spit up a bit on the man’s shoe.
“Oh, fuck me. The damn man hit you too hard in the fucking head.”
I gagged. “The food. I—I— can’t. I’m sorry.”
He bent down. “Damn it. Come here. I gotta check your eyes and shit. Can you sit up?”
I shook my head slowly. “I don’t know. I don’t—I don’t think—”
“Here. Let me help.” The man picked me up.
I groaned in pain. Well, fake pain. And while he was distracted, I pulled the massive piece of glass from my bra. I hid it in my palm as he sat me down in a chair in the corner. And almost immediately, he began doing things like checking my eye function and tilting my head from side to side.
“You got some nasty bruises on your eyes. I don’t see any on your head, though.”
I heaved again. “My neck. It—it hurts.” I held the piece of glass at the ready while another plan formed in my mind.
“Here. Let me take a look. Moretti’s gonna shit himself if I don’t check you out before going back up there.”
As he rounded around to my left, I grinned. I slid my hand down and found the butt of his gun before slipping it silently from its holster. I slid it under my shirt as he moved my head forward. I felt his fingertips dancing around, moving my hair out of the way.
“I don’t see any bruising back here, either,” he said.
And as I smiled to myself, I clutched both of my weapons in my hands.
“I don’t know what it is, but I—I—”
I leaned forward to fake another retch, and the man quickly backed up. I knew I didn’t have long before I had to act, so I made sure the gun was cocked. With the glass in my left hand and the gun in my right, I readied myself for action.
The guard walked back around to my front.
28
Israel
“May I make a suggestion, sir?”
My driver’s voice pulled me from my trance. “I suppose that depends on the suggestion.”
He pulled over before turning around to face me. “You’ve been very good to my family and me for the two decades I’ve worked with your family. And it was very generous of you to take me on full-time when you assumed the role your father previously held.”
I hoped he was getting to a point soon. “I appreciate that. Thank you.”
“But you know Pava Moretti is going to kill that girl one way or the other.”
My gaze hardened.
“I’ve been privy to a lot of stuff over these years, and one thing I’ve noticed is that your family really likes their recording devices. Your father always carried one around, and now it seems your brother’s done the same.”
“And?”
“Why don’t you carry one around, too?”
I blinked. “What is your name again?”
“Gary Conrad, sir.”
I patted his shoulder. “Gary Conrad, you’re a fucking genius.”
He chuckled. “I take it we need an electronics store?”
“Yes. Pronto. Then, we’re heading back to Pava’s.”
After riding across town to snag myself a top-of-the-line camouflaged recording device that could fit in the breast pocket of my suit, we headed back for the Moretti estate. And as we drove around, I nailed down the last seeds of a plan forming in my mind. All I needed to do was save Bonnie and work Pava up enough to get him to admit everything he’d done. From kidnapping to trying to have us killed, to working with my family in order to separate Bonnie and myself because if I could get it all on record, I knew I could use it to bring Pava down.
As well as be used in the murder case I’d had the chief re-open.
My cell phone rang as I leaned back against the seat. Fifteen minutes and counting before we got to Pava’s place. And then the real war began. I checked the gun on my hip before pulling out another gun from beneath my seat. I pulled the two knives I kept in the car out of the storage pocket in the back door and slid them into my pockets. I checked to make sure the recorder was functioning before I pulled out my cell phone.
I grimaced when I saw it was my brother calling. “What the fuck do you want?”
He coughed. “An explanation.”
“I don’t owe you one.”
“Why the hell are you willing to throw everything away for some woman who tried to kill you?”
Why was everyone asking the same question? It was like it came from the same source. “If you really think this is just about Bonnie, then you’re as thick-headed as Dad.”
“I’m serious. I don’t get it. What does she provide for you?”
“Well, brother mine, an empire can’t be run without an empress.”
He snickered. “So, you really do love this bitch.”
I growled. “Call her that one more time, and I’ll add your body to the count.”
“I know you, Iz. You don’t love that woman. I’ve seen you in love. I watched you with Alice. And I saw how much it crushed you when she didn’t accept your proposal.”
“Alice lied about her name, who she was, and where she came from. Just like Bonnie did. But unlike Alice, Bonnie stuck around. She didn’t leave when I found out her secret. When she was backed into a corner, she didn’t cut her losses and run. She stayed and fought beside me. She explained her position, and I did my best to understand because that’s what you have to do in a partnership, Giovanni. Which is something I wouldn’t expect you to understand because you’ve never looked out for anyone but yourself.”
“Are you being serious right now?”
“And as for loving Bonnie? No, I might not love her fully. What
