Tears sparkled in her beautiful eyes. “You lied!” she cried. “You said you would protect me!
“You said you loved me!”
I did. I do.
That was what she didn’t understand, and I didn’t expect her to, but I loved her to the point of it physically hurting. Adrian wasn’t going to stop, and he was demanding for me to make a point with Leda, to save the Mafia.
Without that, Adrian would destroy me. And it wouldn’t matter then if Leda was with me or not. Her death would be nearly guaranteed.
“I’m so sorry, Leda,” I told her. “I truly am.”
I nodded at Rocco. I couldn’t bring myself to touch her again.
Rocco gently grabbed her by the shoulder, and she physically tried to fight him.
“Let’s go, girl,” he stated, grabbing her wrists and placing the zip tie there.
She called my name, called for me to save her, to take her away from here. Instead, I turned away. I had to turn away. Her voice was breaking my own heart. Her despair was ripping out my very soul.
By the time I got to the door, I had composed myself, sliding behind the mask of indifference. This shit better work, or I was going to tear Adrian’s limbs from his body.
“Good evening, Don Valentino,” the auctioneer stated when I reached the double doors leading to the auction room. “I’m surprised to see you bringing your purchase back yourself.”
“I have a special interest in this one,” I replied evenly. “To see where she goes, of course.”
The auctioneer didn’t even bat an eye. “Of course. You know the rules, Don Valentino.”
I held up my arms and allowed the wand to be dragged over my body, ignoring the way that the bouncer at the door patted me down. No weapons were allowed in the auction room. Otherwise, it would be the perfect place to carry out a hit or to get rid of an enemy.
As much as I hated to go in blind, what they didn’t realize was that I was just as dangerous with my bare hands as I was with any weapon. Cosimo had molded me into an enforcer that needed neither steel nor bullets to kill someone. Those very skills would be used tonight.
“He’s clean.” the bouncer grunted and stepped back.
“Well then,” the auctioneer replied, tapping her red nail against her tablet. “All I need is your thumb, Don Valentino.”
I pressed my thumb to the screen, and watched for the green light.
When it happened, the auctioneer stepped back with a satisfied nod. “Go right on in. Enjoy your night.”
I pushed the door open and stepped into the velvet opulence that was the auction house. Every don was given admittance as long as he followed the rules. Cosimo had left me his card to show on my first visit. The last time I was here was when Leda had gone up for auction.
And now I was back, about to watch her go up on that block again. I didn’t know how I was going to handle it.
There were curved black sofas in the greeting room, but I bypassed them, ignoring the looks as I walked through.
“Something to drink, Don Valentino?” the bartender asked by way of greeting.
“Lagavulin, neat. Make it a double,” I said. I wanted to forget everything that had happened from the time I climbed out of the car to now, but there wasn’t enough alcohol in the entire fucking world for that to happen.
For the rest of my life, I would be haunted by Leda’s devastated face and her desperate screams for me to save her. And the knowledge that I just watched as she was let go.
The bartender pushed the scotch in front of me and I took it in my hand, throwing it back in one swift gulp, not bothering to savor the taste. The liquor burned a fiery path down my throat, and I relished in it. Even if it wouldn’t do anything to dull the pain, it sure was going to help me forget it for a while.
“Don Valentino.”
I turned to find Don Salasito behind me, curiosity in his gaze. He wasn’t much older than I was. But unlike me, he had gotten the title like many of the others here: through the death of his father. I really didn’t like the fucker. His smile was too oily and his eyes roamed where they shouldn’t. But he hadn’t done anything to wrong me. Not yet. So I tolerated him.
“Don Salasito,” I said.