I really should have trusted my gut.
It never failed me.
If something in me was saying there was a problem, there was probably a problem.
But it was late.
The two big guys were there.
And Lorenzo was counting on us.
“There we go,” Cesare said as the last two lower-level guys did some elaborate handshake with the leaders before taking off. “We moving?” he asked, deferring to me since I’d been made way back before he was even old enough to do scouting work for the Family.
“Yeah, let’s do it,” I said, passing him his gun.
Adrenaline thrummed through my veins, old and familiar at this point, so it didn’t cloud my mind as we quietly exited the car and made our way up the block.
“Shit,” Cesare said as one of the guys turned and spotted us approaching.
“Execution style,” I reminded him even as the guys reached into their waistbands to find their own weapons.
“Fuck,” Cesare growled, tucking his gun away and breaking into a run.
Clearly, having no one to rely on but himself had made the fucker quick and ruthless on his feet.
The man sprang forward like he was bulletproof, taking down one of the guys.
And distracting the other for long enough for me to be able to get a jump on him, wrapping an arm around his neck and applying pressure until I felt him go limp.
I couldn’t strangle him to death, but it was easier to duct tape and position a bastard for an execution if he wasn’t awake and fighting you.
I’d just gotten my guy against the wall and pulled the trigger when we heard them.
Shots fired.
From somewhere behind us.
Damnit.
I knew it.
I’d felt it.
I should have waited.
“The fuck…” Cesare said, slamming his guy’s head down onto the ground to make him quit his writhing for a second.
“It’s the enforcer. Get it fucking done. I’ll cover you,” I said, turning and blocking Cesare as he turned his back to the shooting, and wrestled his man up beside his dead friend against the wall.
My eyes scanned in the direction I’d heard the bullets coming from, looking for the hidden enforcer.
I saw nothing for a long time.
Until his arm raised from behind a car.
Taking aim, I went for the windows, trying to keep him low until Cesare was done, then we could close in on him from two different sides and take him out too.
It was as Cesare was getting to his feet to take over for a minute while I reloaded that I saw her.