Lila clutched the back of his shirt tightly. He could feel her breaths coming out short against his neck.
It was dark in this area of the park, and the man looked like he was high on something. The fucker would most likely miss or get lucky.
“Die, you mother fucker!” the bastard screeched.
Marco’s heartbeat was steady, confident. The world fell silent as he went to the quiet place where he killed and felt nothing. He took the shot and a second later, the bastard did the same. His favorite revolver practically had no kick to it, and he had a silencer on it.
The bastard went down like a stone, screaming. Marco felt a sting on his arm. He looked down to see the bullet had sliced right through the fabric of his shirt, drawing blood. Lila let out a gasp behind him.
“Marco, you’re hurt,” she whispered, touching the wound lightly, her fingers coming away with blood.
“Just a graze. I need to make a call, but I need you to do something for me.” Marco offered her the gun. She looked so pale, her eyes so wide and frightened that he almost thought she’d run, but she didn’t. With shaky hands, she accepted the gun. She seemed to know how to handle it. Good. Stefano must’ve taught her how to shoot.
“What do you need me to do?” Her voice was steady.
“I got him in the leg. He’s not going anywhere. Just point the gun at him. That’s all you need to do.” The cops had a fifteen-minute response time in this area, Marco remembered. Someone must’ve heard the shot this fucker fired.
Marco needed this mess swept under the rug fast, so he called Ryker. Ryker immediately picked up. He could hear Sky, Ryker’s wife, asking him what happened in the background.
“Get in touch with Chief Miller,” he told Ryker. “This doesn’t get to the press.”
“You got it, Marco,” Ryker answered. “I’ll be right there with two of our men in ten minutes or so.”
Marco ended the call. He gently pried the gun from Lila’s fingers and walked up to the bastard who tried to take his life on a very important day. The drug addict was still trying to reach for the gun which had slipped from his fingers when Marco shot at him.
He kicked the gun away. The man stared daggers at him and was about to open his mouth but Marco bent down and shoved the gun right against the bastard’s shaved skull. He noticed the tattoos there. Russian stars. The Bratva. He silently swore. This guy wasn’t anyone he recognized, probably just a disposable fall-guy from the Bratva.
“Marco? I think I hear police sirens,” Lila whispered. “Are you going to kill him?”
She stuttered on those last words. The druggie’s crazed eyes moved from him to her and Marco didn’t like that. This fucker had seen her, the two of them. If the bastard somehow managed to get out of this mess, he’d only blab whatever he saw to his superiors. Not good. If the police arrived, they’d arrest this lowlife, but the Bratva could still bail him out.
He had to make a split-second decision now. It was no longer just his life he was concerned about but also Lila’s, and the Bratva were a force to be reckoned with.
“It’s necessary,” he told her.
The druggie’s mouth fell open, probably about to plead his case. Marco had no mercy left in his body. This bastard could’ve shot Lila. If he’d somehow managed to shoot Marco, he’d turn on his woman next. She would be nothing more than collateral damage. That was unforgivable.
At this close a range, he’d create an unavoidable mess. Marco pulled the trigger, grimacing as blood and chunks of brain matter splattered his shirt. He stood back up and realized he must look like a horror show to Lila.
Fuck. Marco wanted to slowly ease her into his life, not terrify her on their first date. Lila was a Rossi, so she didn’t run. She wasn’t a coward, but would this event change everything between them? Marco couldn’t let her go now. She’d witnessed him kill someone, but he couldn’t afford the druggie to rat anything back to the Bratva.
“We’ll wait here until Ryker and more of my men arrive. Don’t worry about the police,” he said.
She was still staring at the dead man. Lila was sheet white and looked like a corpse herself. Marco grasped her arm and she let out a shrill little cry.
“Lila, are you with me?” he asked.
Chapter Five
Marco repeated his question again. Lila wondered if this was all a bad dream she could wake up from. She’d just witnessed Marco kill a man in front of her eyes. How did he expect her to react?
It wasn’t like she had zero guilt either. She held his gun, pointed it at the man while Marco made a phone call. Marco gave her arm a squeeze and she blinked a few times.
“I’m good,” she said hoarsely.
“No, you’re not,” he said. “But we’re both alive and that’s all that matters.”
The police sirens grew louder now. Marco had somehow managed to convince her to move away from the corpse and sit at a nearby park bench. She shivered and pulled his coat tighter around her shoulders. Lila didn’t know how long she got lost in her own head but the sound of more cars arriving made her look up.