Chapter 3 - THE BULLET MEANT FOR HER
Glass exploded.
Metal screamed.
Tessa heard Liam yell.
Victor covered her with his body as bullets tore chips from the stone wall above them.
“Inside!” Nico shouted.
Romano guards returned fire.
The black sedan swerved.
One tire blew.
For half a second, Tessa saw a masked man leaning through the rear window.
Then the car shot around the corner and disappeared.
“Liam!”
Tessa shoved away from Victor.
He caught her.
“Wait.”
“My brother is out there!”
Nico opened the gate after checking the road.
Liam lay behind a concrete planter.
Alive.
Tessa ran to him.
“Are you hit?”
“I don’t think so.”
“You don’t think so?”
“My ears are ringing.”
Tessa grabbed his face.
“Look at me.”
“I’m looking.”
“Are you bleeding?”
“Not mine.”
Victor approached.
Liam’s fear returned.
Victor noticed blood on the young man’s sleeve.
“Turn around.”
“I said I’m fine.”
“Turn around.”
Liam obeyed.
A bullet had grazed his upper arm.
Victor looked toward Nico.
“Lock the estate down.”
Then he faced Liam.
“You’re coming inside.”
“No.”
“That wasn’t an invitation.”
Inside the study, Liam sat stiffly while a doctor wrapped his arm.
Tessa stood near him.
Victor remained behind his desk.
“What did you see?”
Liam said nothing.
Victor waited.
Silence was one of his best weapons.
Liam finally cracked.
“I was at a card game.”
Tessa groaned.
“You said you stopped.”
“I know.”
“Liam.”
“I know!”
He ran a hand through his hair.
“It wasn’t supposed to be serious. A friend invited me. Private room above a club.”
“Which club?” Victor asked.
“The Blue Saint.”
Victor and Paulie exchanged a look.
The Blue Saint belonged to Carlo DeLuca, a rival crew.
Victor leaned forward.
“Continue.”
“After the game, I went looking for the bathroom. I opened the wrong door.”
“And?”
“Two guys were inside.”
“Doing what?”
“Talking.”
Victor’s patience thinned.
“About?”
Liam looked directly at him.
“You.”
The room went still.
“One guy said last night’s hit should’ve killed you.”
Tessa’s eyes moved to Victor’s injured shoulder.
Liam continued.
“The other guy said somebody inside your house warned them when you were leaving.”
Paulie stepped forward.
“You’re lying.”
“I wish I was.”
“Did you see their faces?”
“One.”
“Who?”
Liam swallowed.
“I don’t know his name.”
Victor opened a drawer and removed several photographs.
He placed them on the desk.
Liam looked through them.
His finger stopped.
“That guy.”
Paulie’s face changed.
Victor looked down.
Anthony Russo.
One of the Romano organization’s accountants.
A man who knew payment routes, transportation schedules, safe-house expenses—
and staff payroll.
Victor lifted his eyes.
“Russo couldn’t know my movements unless somebody told him.”
Liam nodded.
“That’s what I heard.”
Tessa touched her forehead.
“This is insane.”
Victor turned to her.
“You’re staying inside the estate.”
“No.”
His eyebrows lifted.
“No?”
“I work here. You don’t own me.”
“Your brother brought gunmen to my gate.”
“He didn’t bring them.”
“They followed him.”
“That’s different.”
“Bullets don’t care about the difference.”
Tessa stepped closer to the desk.
“I’m not becoming a prisoner because Liam made another stupid decision.”
“Hey,” Liam muttered.
She pointed at him.
“Not now.”
Victor almost admired her nerve.
Almost.
Then Nico entered holding a flattened bullet recovered from the courtyard.
“We found something.”
He placed it on the desk.
Victor looked at the casing.
There was a tiny white mark painted across its base.
Paulie swore.
Tessa frowned.
“What?”
Victor’s expression became colder.
“That mark belongs to a crew that doesn’t miss.”
Liam swallowed.
“So?”
Victor looked at Tessa.
“They weren’t shooting at your brother.”
Her stomach tightened.
May you like
Victor slid the bullet toward her.
“They were shooting at you.”
