“That’s even longer,” she told him, finally letting go. She needed to divert his attention and make him mind his business. “Did anyone get hurt?”
“Yeah … um … About that … You may not want to go out ther—”
Maria picked up her dress to run out of the kitchen and into the ballroom. She had Leo, so Maria would live with whomever had been hurt or possibly killed. Her eerily always-right feeling had returned, making her hope to God that the groom or, even worse, the bride hadn’t been killed. Kat’s death would have been devastating for her, as she really liked the girl already, which was more than she could say about Drago. And just like if Leo had been hurt, it would kill Dominic if his sister ….
Her mouth ran dry as she pushed through the crowd that surrounded a lifeless body. Maria was colder out here than she had been in that freezer.
Pushing aside the last person, she saw the puddle of blood and the head that followed, carrying a black hole right between the eyes.
Ah, shit.
Was it bad that she was relieved?
Poor Todd.
Ten
Breaking Daddy’s Heart
“Wow.” Maria walked into her father’s office, seeing him sitting behind his huge desk, his consigliere, Vinny, sitting on the other side, and Lucca standing in the far back corner. Never in her life had she been called in and graced with their presences all at once. Telling her that she was here on business, she asked, “And what do I owe the pleasure of being invited into one of your precious meetings?”
She swore that, in the dark corner that Lucca liked to creepily watch the city below, she saw a slight smile behind the glow of his cigarette.
“I told you, Dante, this is pointless.” Vinny suddenly slammed a hand on the wooden desk. “We know who One-Shot is. There is only one man capable of possessing his skill. You’ve seen it. I’ve seen it. We. All. Have. Seen. It.” Vinny got frustrated with each passing word. He also became more compelling.
Dante himself was convinced, not disagreeing with a word he said.
It was a trying time for the family. Men seemed to be dropping like flies, and with One-Shot’s skill. Needing only one bullet, one time, right between the eyes, to them it all pointed to only one man.
Dominic.
She had heard the whispers, the rumors surrounding him and his infamous Glock, not knowing what parts were true or exaggerated. Based on what she had heard, she had thought for sure the latter. However, judging by the serious looks on their faces, she wondered if it was an exaggeration at all.
Seeing just how convinced her father and his consigliere were, she knew the only reason they hadn’t killed him yet was because they had no proof. Maria just wondered where Lucca stood on this ….
“Tell them where you were when the gun was fired, Maria.”
Her eyes flew to the corner, now knowing exactly why she had been called in and where her brother stood in this mess.
He knows. And now her brother was ratting her out.
To tell her father where she had been and what she had been doing, even if it was mostly harmless, would change everything.
What he thought of her.
How he looked at her.
If he would talk to her again.
Frankly, Maria didn’t know what would be worse for him to believe—that Dominic was One-Shot or that he had gotten his daughter alone for a dance right in front of his eyes. And worse … she had wanted it.
Only one of them was true, and right now, she was the only one who could prove his innocence.
“I was in the kitchen attached to the ballroom.”
“And ….” Lucca threw his ashes out of the slanting open window, letting the wind take them through the city before they’d ever hit the ground below. He wanted her to continue breaking Daddy’s heart.
She supposed it was a good thing—her opinion of her father as of late was shit anyway. At least they could be disappointed in each other together.
“I hate to tell you, Father, but when the gun went off”—a smiling Maria stepped closer, wanting him to get a good look—“Dominic was with me.”
Dante’s shock and horror had him taking a long time to digest what he had just heard. It was clear he was playing out the worst scenarios of what they could have been doing.
“Are you sure?” The consigliere cleared his throat, doing his best to navigate the conversation while also trying to be respectful to who was in the room. “You had eyes on him the entire time?”
Her eyes never wavered from her father’s cold, piercing, ice blue eyes. “Oh yes, I’m sur—”
“That’s enough!” It was Dante’s fist that hit the desk next. “You are to never speak to that Luciano again!”
Maria practically laughed. “That’s rich, considering you forced one of your best men to marry one.”