Fiore left the office too.
And there I was, alone, with two men with two guns pointed at me. The guy on my left was wiggling his foot, shaking my vomit loose.
I started to piece it together and it made me even sicker.
I turned my head to the right this time, throwing up again.
My only hope… my only wish… my only prayer…
Please make sure Finn runs away from me, and all this mess.
41.
(Finn)
I stood in front of a crackling fire. The story told to me was enough to make me sick. Fiore had set up Antonio to be killed by Zander. After bringing Antonio into the family to marry Mara, Antonio wanted more power. He wanted to fight harder against Zander, which Fiore was against. Why? Because Fiore and Zander had a hidden relationship. They pushed gently when needed to make the feud seem alive and well.
Baby Luca really was sick and he was not supposed to be in the car that night.
The plan was supposed to go like this…
A little after two in the morning, Fiore was going to call Antonio and tell him he’d been shot. Zander was on the loose and Antonio needed to get to Fiore fast. Then he’d lure Antonio to the intersection where he’d meet his fate. A car would stop and a woman, appearing to be drunk, would get out and cause a stir. Antonio would get out of the car and threaten to kill her. There would be about a minute to have someone else come and plant the bomb under the car.
Fiore fought Antonio on the phone about baby Luca being sick. Antonio - being a good father - insisted on getting the infant to the hospital right away. After all, an extremely high fever was dangerous for a baby.
Because of the channels of communication created by Fiore to distance himself from the pending assassination of his son-in-law, there wasn’t enough time to call the hit off. Which meant not only did Antonio perish in the attack, but so did baby Luca.
“My innocent child,” Mara said as she wiped away a tear.
She was shaking and I put my hand out to touch her arm. She wiggled away from me.
“No,” she said. “I can take care of myself.”
“I don’t get this,” I said. “Why wait until now…”
“The family,” Mara said. She sniffled. “The goddamn family has been deciding on the fate of my father. It’s not like the movies, Finn. It’s not a quick thing. There’s so much that happens and it goes so far, you wouldn’t believe it. I had to grieve my loss and hold it together. I refused to speak to him for years because of it. That’s what kept him on edge. Then he decided to get you involved. Thinking you could make it right by giving a baby to him. To me. He’s insane, Finn.”
“I see that,” I said. “He killed my best friend.”
“He killed my only child.”
You win.
“I’m so sorry,” I said. I put my hand to her arm and she didn’t shake me away. “I can’t believe it.”
“I did like you,” Mara said. “I used to think about you a lot. You were the ultimate fantasy for me, Finn. You were bad. You were a fighter. You were tough. You weren’t Italian. You were so bad…” Mara smiled.
I hurried to let her go.
“It would never happen,” I said. “I would never do that to Fiore. Or your family. You deserved better. You still deserve better.”
Mara turned to face me. She touched my face and her bottom lip quivered. “You’re going to help me.”
“Why? Fiore thinks I’m dead. I’m free now.”
“What about Shayna? Don’t you love her?”
“Yeah. I do.”
“Then you need to save her. Get her out of the life.”
“How?”
“Me,” Mara said. “I’m going to make it happen. And you’re going to do me a favor in return.”
“Name it. Anything.”
“I know who helped to kill Antonio and Luca. The woman. I know who she is. I don’t know where she is. But when I find out, you have to kill her. It can’t be family.”
“Mara… I’m a fighter, not a murderer.”
“If you want to save Shayna and have a chance at living a life…”
“Fine,” I said. “Just tell me what we need to do. Fiore has a fight for me, but he thinks I’m dead.”
Mara put her other hand to my face. She moved to her toes and our eyes met. “That’s why you’re going to show up and fight. You’re going to win. You’re going to make me a lot of money because I bet on you.” Mara inched closer. Her lips brushed mine for a second. “Then it’s all going to come crashing down, Finn. You’ll get her, I promise. Just tell me you’ll end my suffering.”
“Okay,” I said. “Okay, Mara. I’ll do whatever you need.”
“All I have right now is a name. But I’ll find her. And you’ll kill her.”
Then Mara gave me the name.
Sasha.
That was Shayna’s sister.
Was I going to have to kill Shayna’s sister?
~
Things with Mara stayed cool. Which was good. She was a beautiful woman with a broken heart. I did not intend on messing with her or her heart. My love was contained for only Shayna. And I had to get her back. Make sure she was alive. Safe. With me.
Mara kept in contact with her mother.
The entire family was preparing for tonight.