Page 15 of The Beast Who Broke Me
But Finch, for all the issues I now have with him, had a point. So I give a quick tug on that choke chain, just to show Damiano Orsini that things have changed.
“But of course,” I gush, “I’m incredibly grateful to Don Morelli and his husband for the friendship they’ve shown me. We’re going to keep in touch, Finch and I.” I hold up the phone. “Won’t that be fun, Dami?”
Damiano’s eyes go to Finch, who grins at him. “He’s a big fan of Kismet,” he says. “And I’ve seen you there, too. Maybe you can have a date night there sometime.”
“Jesus Christ, are we done here?” Big Gee breaks in. The disgust on his face is clear. For all Dami’s posturing about my grandfather’s homophobia, it’s not as though his own Boss is thrilled about it, either.
But Big Gee has seen the look on D’Amato’s face, and is backtracking. “Uh, no offense intended, only I got shit to do this morning, and I?—”
“Don’t forget to text me, Cal!” Finch trills. “I wantallthe gossip.”
If there’s one thing I hate, it’s being forced to take help I didn’t ask for. And taking it from the man who claims he murdered my grandfather is its own special hell.
But I want to stay alive.
“I won’t forget, Finch. Thank you so much—foreverything.” I give him a smile as fake as his own.
“See ya,” Damiano says gruffly, his hand sliding up my spine to wrap around the back of my neck. I can’t suppress a shiver. His fingers tighten, but only a little; I turn as his hand guides me, let him walk me out of the warehouse and into the gray dawn.
As we leave, I hear Big Gee saying, “While I got you here, D’Amato, I should tell you about a snafu we had with the Russians…all under control, but just a heads-up, you know…”
So Dami came clean to his Boss about Grisha. Interesting.
The daylight outside is thin and flat, the sky low enough to touch, and the cold wind is bracing. I shiver again, from cold this time, and Damiano pulls me closer as though to keep me warm. To anyone watching, it might look like tenderness. It isn’t. He’s just worried I’m going to bolt. I couldn’t even if I wanted to; there are at least four more Morellis waiting out here: Nick Fontana and the three who kidnapped me.
So I don’t pull away from the man who is determined to kill me. In fact, I snuggle in closer, just to annoy him, as he walks me over to where Fontana is waiting by a silver Mercedes.
“One of you will ride in back,” he says. “Who’s it gonna be?”
After a long few seconds, Damiano pushes me forward. “Him.”
Fontana nods at me. “I’ll get Vicente to keep you company.” He raises a hand toward the three Morellis who kidnapped me, and the sole woman breaks away from them. “In the back,” he tells her.
She opens the back door and looks at me expectantly. I slide in, then move over to sit behind the driver. She gets in next to me, and I see the gun holstered at her side as she does. It’s on the opposite side to me, so I couldn’t grab it easily even if I wanted to.
“How about you drive, Orsini?” Fontana says from outside. “Since you know the way.”
Fontana is not going to let Dami have the advantage of free hands. I can’t blame him for his caution.
Damiano doesn’t reply, just gets into the driver’s side and starts the car. He settles back, adjusting the seat, and his eyes meet mine in the mirror.
I smile sweetly. “I just can’twaitto get home, Dami.”
“Yeah,” he growls. “Neither can I.”
CHAPTER 7
DAMIANO
I’mlucky Fontana’s ride is so smooth, because I’m distracted by the view of the Clemenza in the back seat. I have to fight to keep my eyes on the road, and force my hands, white-knuckled on the steering wheel, to turn with the road.
Soon these hands will be around a golden-skinned throat, and I’ll be able to put everything behind me. Because I’m ready to finish this. Finish the journey I started at thirteen years old.
Once I kill Caligula Clemenza, my own death will follow fast.
I’m okay with that. I’m tired of living. Tired of having every thought tangled up with that snake in the seat behind me. I wouldn’t put it past him to push a stiletto into my spine if he could, but the woman next to him is keeping a close eye on him under cover of chattering.
And the Clemenza is chattering back, ignoring me completely, even though he knows I keep looking at him.
