I never had a plan for my life. Never had a goal. I do now. Kill Nico Casella. It’s the reason I’ll get up in the morning and it’s the reason I go to bed at night. I will shoot him in the face. If I get chance, I’ll tell him why. He shot my dogs. He killed my family. He burned down my home. He impeded the investigation. He escaped justice.
He won’t for much longer.
All I need to do is get a gun. I’ve saved up every penny I’ve managed to earn from the jobs I’ve had over the last six months. I’ve worked in one of those enormous superstores, filling shelves day after day, not wanting to take any time off.
It’s during my free time that I think about them the most.
So I’ve gotten stronger. All that lifting and shifting has built up my muscles. I’ve gotten leaner. Not much eating does that. I’ve gotten more single minded. I have a goal in mind, something to aim for.
I will kill the man who shot my dogs. The man who told me I was going to marry him and give him children.
He did it. I know he did. There’s no doubt in my mind at all. Those dead shark eyes told me everything I needed to know.
I’ve been staying in a homeless shelter. No rent to pay. My money has been piling up and I’ve spent virtually none of it. I need it all to pay for a gun.
I can’t just walk into a store and buy one. I’d have to show my ID. I do remember the man who my father used to visit. The man who made all our guns for us, each one a custom built model.
Reggie Cunningham. Not two blocks from the post office where I’m standing. A man with no morals and an insatiable need for cash to feed his habit. Best gunsmith in the state, according to my father.
I want a gun and he’ll make me one. Then I’ll put my plan into action.
I fold up the letter from the cops, tearing it in half, dropping it into the trash bin next to the PO boxes. Case closed. Will not investigate.
I will get justice. I’ll get Nico Casella for what he did to my dogs. The police have had their chance to nail him. They’re too scared to even interview him. I’m not scared of him. I just need to get close without him recognizing me.
I can’t tell him who I am. If I do, he might still have that bullshit plan to marry me in his mind, might kidnap me again, force me into it.
So I keep my disguise. I keep my hair long and hiding my face. I keep my makeup overblown. I keep the weight off. I wear the dowdiest clothes I can find. I blend in with the staff at the club. I work until he appears. When he does, I walk up to him, no messing about. Gun to his head, pull the trigger.
After that?
You want to know the truth?
I don’t really give a shit what happens after that.
First things first, I think as I walk out onto the street. Time to go get myself a gun.
Eighteen
Nico
* * *
Six months I’ve spent trying to track her down. Half a year of trying to find someone. Every minute wondering if Giovanni will find her first and whack her.
I can find anyone. Why can’t I find her? It’s like she’s vanished off the face of the earth.
I was so confident I’d have her back in my arms by now but still nothing. I can’t believe she’s this good at hiding. No one is.
I have to find her. Ever since that one night we had together, I’ve not been able to get her out of my mind. I can’t look at any other woman. None of them can hope to match up to her. I’m obsessed. Not a day has gone by when I haven’t thought of her.
I know it’s the forbidden fruit. That’s the problem. She’s the last surviving member of the Moretti famiglia. Kill her and the name dies. We’ve already taken over their businesses. We’ve taken the few assets they had that weren’t already RICOed. We have their turf. Their name is almost gone. Apart from her.
I need to track her down. Not just so I can taste her again. It’ll be the only way I can keep her safe. If I don’t find her, Giovanni will, and he has a different plan in mind.
If I find her, I marry her and get her pregnant. That way I become Don and she’s safe. If Giovanni finds her, he’ll kill her, make sure the Moretti name is gone for good.
I won’t allow that to happen. I will not allow something as pure as her to be removed from this world.