Revenge (51 page)

And straight toward the barrel of Dario’s
gun.

Dario twisted toward the sound of Massimo’s
gunfire, taking his eyes off Kate and Carlo. Massimo groaned and
slumped forward, then Enrico Lucchesi rushed up the stairs toward
him. Dario retreated through the doorway, straight into Kate, who
hurtled into him.

She nearly knocked him off his feet, but he
grabbed onto the doorway with one hand and shoved her hard with his
gun hand, sending her back into the room. He saw murder in Enrico’s
eyes. His only hope was to put Kate between them.

He spun and wrapped an arm around her chest,
pulling her back against him, her arms pinned to her sides. Perhaps
he could talk his way through this. Perhaps he’d survive, as long
as he had the woman. And as long as Enrico didn’t see him as a
threat.

Enrico stalked toward Dario and Kate, holding
his gun straight out in front of him, the muzzle leveled at Dario’s
head. “Let go of her. Now.”

Dario shook his head and retreated farther
inside the room. Enrico followed. His eyes flicked to Carlo, who
was standing by the bed, close to the nightstand.

“Come away from there,” Enrico said to him.
“Into the center of the room.”

“Shall I put my hands on my head?” Carlo
said, his voice a lazy taunt.

Enrico risked a long glance at him. “Do
it.”

Carlo moved to comply. When Enrico returned
his attention to Dario, he heard a noise coming from his left and
turned back to see Carlo yank the nightstand drawer open. Reaching
inside, Carlo tore out a gun taped underneath the top. Raising the
gun, he pointed it at Enrico, who shifted his position so he was
midway between Dario and Carlo. Ruggero came up on Enrico’s right
through the open door and trained his Beretta on Dario.

Enrico quickly shifted his full focus to
Carlo. He barely met Kate’s eyes—he couldn’t chance being
distracted by her. All he could risk was a glance that told him she
was bleeding, but seemed largely unhurt. He had to trust that
Ruggero could keep her safe.

Carlo smiled when Enrico met his eyes. “So
here we are at last.”

Enrico held his gaze. “It didn’t have to be
this way.”

“This was... inevitable. Despite what my
darling Toni wanted. You have never stopped wanting to kill me.
Just as I have never stopped wanting to kill you.”

“You murdered my family.”

“And you and yours threatened everything I
hold dear.”

Enrico snorted. “A few percentage points was
not going to make you weak.”

“Obeying your family’s pressure to go back to
the old ways was going to do just that. I couldn’t give in on the
money
and
the drugs.” He gestured with his gun up and down
the length of Enrico’s body. “Look where your precious principles
have left you. Your
cosca
is too weak to challenge mine. It
is only a matter of time before I own the entire lake and all of
Milan. Soon, all of the north.”

A hot coal of anger burned in Enrico’s chest,
but he tamped it down. He couldn’t afford to lose control. “How
petty you are. You want vengeance over
money
. I want mine
for the wrongs done to my blood.”

Carlo’s composure wavered; his face darkened.
“What about Toni! You spat all over her grave.” He took a deep
breath. “I should never have agreed to the marriage. You and
Rinaldo
lied
to me and hid your bastard from me.”

“I’m not proud of that.”

“You lie. It’s what you do best.”

“What else could I do? You would have hunted
all of us down like animals.”

Carlo laughed. “Rinaldo finally paid his
price.”

The coal in Enrico’s chest flamed hotter. He
wanted to roar out his rage at Carlo, wanted to rip him limb from
limb. But Kate was there; he couldn’t act the savage in front of
her, however much he wanted to.

Carlo cocked his head to the side. “Nothing
to say? You were so full of yourself the last time we met. Did you
use up your entire store of wit?” He waited for a reply; when none
came, he continued. “I was quite disappointed I couldn’t eliminate
your bastard son as well. My men have been unable to locate him.
Apparently he is somewhere remote and out of communication. An
assignment, we were told. So, so lucky,” Carlo said, shaking his
head slowly. “So imagine my pleasure when I discovered that
eliminating this troublesome...
puttana
here”—he gestured to
Kate—“also eliminates your heir. Imagine how I felt.” Enrico’s
stomach roiled, but still he said nothing, not trusting himself to
speak. He concentrated on breathing, in and out.

Carlo smiled. “I felt happy. Finally at
peace. Toni’s honor would be avenged. And you would suffer to the
end of your days, however short they would be.”

Enrico found his voice at last. “You are
talking about killing two innocents. Do you think Toni would feel
honored by that?”

Carlo’s brows shot up. “Innocent, our dear
Kate? She murdered her own husband.”

“He earned it,” Kate spat. When she struggled
against Dario’s hold, he pressed his gun to her temple.

“Be quiet,” he warned her.

Enrico’s voice, cold and low, cut through the
room. “If anyone here has a right to vendetta, it is me. You killed
my mother and my brothers. You tortured and murdered my father.”
Enrico’s voice shook when he continued. “You took pleasure in it.”
Enrico heard Kate’s gasp at his words, but he couldn’t look at her,
couldn’t risk her sympathy making him break down.

A slight smile curved Carlo’s lips. “How
could I not? Rinaldo earned his death long ago. He tried to make me
look like a fool.”

“And so this is
my
punishment, for
making you the fool in front of La Provincia?”

Carlo’s eyes went dead, his face still. “That
is not what happened.”

“Is that so? I heard laughter. Laughter at
you
.”

So fast he almost didn’t see it, Carlo’s arm
came up, the gun aimed directly at Enrico’s chest. Kate screamed
and Enrico fired. Carlo fell to the floor, blood pouring from his
right shoulder, the gun falling from his hand.

Enrico stepped toward Carlo, coming to stand
over him. “You killed everyone I loved. You pushed me into a life I
never wanted for myself or my children.” Enrico’s throat tightened,
his voice thickening. “You have taken everything from me, Carlo,
but that stops today.”

He smiled up at Enrico. “But it does not end
here. You will owe my son a father.”

“I think it a fair exchange for his
hand.”

Carlo’s eyes widened. Enrico smiled. “He
never told you that, did he? Yes, my father wanted to take the
whole hand, to make you pay for what you did to my mother, to my
brothers. But I stopped him.” He glanced at Dario, then looked back
at Carlo. “Dario is not the weak man you think he is. He never was.
He knows when to fight, and he knows when to stop. It is a pity you
never learned the difference.”

Carlo looked at Dario; something Enrico
didn’t understand passed between them in that look. Then Carlo’s
eyes turned back to Enrico, and he smiled up at him and laughed,
wincing with pain when his shoulder moved. “You are so blind, in so
many ways, Lucchesi. You do not even know where you are weak. The
day will soon arrive when you are overrun. A fine day it will
be.”

Enrico raised his gun. “I have owed you this
bullet for twenty-eight years. It is well past time you received
it.” He squeezed the trigger, saw Carlo jerk once, then watched
dark blood well out of a hole in his forehead.

It was finished, over at last. Something
coiled tight inside Enrico let go. His eyes welled with tears, his
throat closed up. Papà should have lived to see this day. If only
he’d acted sooner….

Wiping his eyes on his sleeve, Enrico turned
to Dario, who was still holding the gun to Kate’s temple. He took a
steadying breath. “Am I right about you, Dario? Will you return the
mercy I showed you?”

Dario looked down at his father, his face
contorted with a mix of emotions. Then he nodded and released Kate,
putting up his gun. “It ends here,” he said, his voice choked. He
took a breath, then looked hard at Enrico. “But a price must be
paid.”

“Name it.”

“Two million euros, plus your holdings in
Rome.”

Enrico blinked, staggered at what Dario was
asking for. He countered. “Two million euros, plus the meatpacking
business in Milan.”

“I was not aware this would be a negotiation.
I have named my blood price.”

Enrico held his gaze. “And I have just made
you the head of the Andretti
cosca
.” He paused before his
next words, treading gently. “Something we both know Carlo never
intended.”

Dario’s mouth twisted. “Two million euros,
half of what you hold in Milan, and half of the lake.”

Enrico almost laughed. Dario was a cocky
bastard. “You are outgunned, and it would be very much to my
advantage to eliminate you. Must I?”

Dario shrugged, a glint coming into his eyes.
“I had to try. I am my father’s son after all.” He chuckled,
staring into the middle distance. “I never thought I would say
that.” Then he looked back at Enrico. “Two million euros, the
meatpacking business, and the Turro district.”

“Done.” This would cost him dearly, and it
would weaken the
cosca
. But if it brought peace, the price
was worth it. He held out his hand. “Are we friends now?”

Dario took his hand, holding his gaze. “We
are not friends. But neither are we enemies.”

Enrico felt the missing finger in Dario’s
grip. “I shall have to settle for that.”

With a nod, Dario let go of Enrico’s hand.
“My debt to you has been repaid.”

Enrico watched him leave the room. Then he
turned his eyes to Kate, free to look at her at last. She was only
half dressed, blood clotted on her cheek, her hair wild about her
face. A wicked cut spilled blood down her forearm. She started to
tremble when he looked at her, then she ran into his arms. He
pulled her close, squeezing her tight. Tears streamed down her
face. “I love you, I love you, Rico,” she said, choking out the
words.

He looked at Ruggero over her shoulder,
signaling him to leave. Once Ruggero was gone, Enrico let his own
tears fall, for Kate, for his father, for Paolo. He pulled back
from her, taking her face in his hands. She’d forgiven him. He
hadn’t dared hope for it. “I was so afraid I’d never see you
again.”

She stretched up on her toes to kiss him. “I
knew you’d come for me.”

“You did?”

Kate squinted up at him. She swayed in his
arms, and he tightened them around her. “I’m not going to last much
longer,” she said, then she was dead weight in his arms. She’d
collapsed.

Fear spiked through Enrico’s chest. Kate was
breathing, but he couldn’t seem to keep her awake for long, no
matter what he did to rouse her.

Leaving Ruggero in charge of cleaning up the
scene, Enrico grabbed Tommaso, who drove him and Kate to Dottor
Beltrami’s clinic. Enrico called Beltrami en route and explained
Kate’s condition.

The cut on her face was deep, but tiny. The
one on her arm was more worrisome. Enrico applied considerable
pressure to slow the bleeding, but it wouldn’t quite stop.

Kate didn’t seem to care. She was still dazed
when they got to the clinic. He carried her inside, a pillowcase
wrapped around her arm. Beltrami met him at the door.

“Something’s wrong with her. She’s been in
and out.”

“Was there a head injury?” Beltrami asked as
Enrico laid her on the bed.

“Not that I know of.”

The doctor motioned Enrico away. He took
Kate’s pulse, then pushed one of her eyelids up with his thumb and
shined a penlight in it. He checked the other eye.

“I think she’s been drugged,” Beltrami said.
“Her pupils are dilated.” He examined her head, and found the bump
at her temple. “Someone struck her, hard.” He frowned. “I’ll take
an x-ray of this. If the
signora
has no skull fracture, we
may be able to avoid the hospital.”

Enrico bent over Kate and winced. Beltrami
put a hand on his upper arm. “Are you hurt?”

“Cracked rib.” He let out a little huff of
amusement. “Same one I got shot in.”

“I’ll look at it later.”

Enrico shook Kate gently. “
Mia cara
.
Wake up,
per favore
.”

Finally she opened her eyes and looked at
him. “What?”

“We’re at the clinic.” Her eyes immediately
started to close, and Enrico shook her again. “Kate, did they give
you something?”

She looked at him, her brow creased.
“What?”

“Did they drug you?”

Her face relaxed and she nodded.
“Roofies.”

“Roofies?” It was Enrico’s turn to be
confused.

Beltrami leaned in, shaking her again before
her eyes closed completely. “Rohypnol?” he asked.