“Oh, good. They got my new pet,” Arnold smirked as he walked over to the window. “Well, I guess she’s notnew. I was the one to originally break her in.”
“You motherfucker!” I yelled as I jumped at Arnold, grabbing him by the throat. I heard the sound of a gun cocking next to my head.
“Let go or I’ll splatter your brains all over this desk,” Dante gritted.
It’d be fucking worth it if I got to kill Arnold. I could snap his neck right here, but then Dante would shoot me dead. Fuck.
I released Arnold the rapist,herrapist, and he fell to the floor with a dramaticthump.
“No one fucking move,” Dante announced, training his gun on Dad. “You are so stupid, Gio. I tried so hard to be supportive, do whatever you asked of me. But you’re too pure, my friend. And that clouds your judgment. That’s why you’re treading water right now, floundering instead of thriving. I’m done going by your rules and living in your shadow. The Moretti reign of Castle Grove is over.”
“We can talk about this–” Dad said before he was interrupted.
“Shut up! I’ve done enough talking, now I’m the one making moves. I knew your idiot son wouldn’t hold up his end of the deal with Arnold, so I told him once he fucked up, I would trade him. My slut of a daughter for a business agreement between us. Seems like a fair deal, all things considered.”
“You can’t fucking have her,” I growled.
“There’s not much you can do about it now,” Arnold laughed. “You had your chance and you blew it. She’s mine now. And if my memory serves me correctly, she’s got a tight pussy waiting for me and I can’t wait to have another taste.”
This time Bash lunged for Arnold, but Dante hit him upside the head with the butt of his gun, making him fall to the side.
“Let’s go,” Dante ordered, still waving his gun around like a madman. “This has been a long time coming, Gio.”
“It doesn’t have to be this way,” Dad said, staring down his best friend and the barrel of a gun.
I reached for my gun in the back of my waistband, but Arnold pulled his at the same time, aiming it at me. Gio pulled the trigger on Dad, knocking him back with the blast, before turning the gun on me. His eyes were wild as he aimed in my direction and pulled the trigger, just as Bash jumped in front of me.
“No!” Bash yelled, shoving me down onto the floor. He yelled in pain as Dante and Arnold ran for the door.
Where the fuck was our security? This was supposed to be a safe place to do this.
“C’mon you idiot. You can’t kill them,” Arnold snapped, pulling Dante away and into the night.
“Fuck!” I yelled as blood pooled beneath Dad. “Are you both okay?” I asked as I searched for my phone to call 911.
“I’m fine,” Bash smiled slightly, ripping open his shirt and showing me the bulletproof vest he was wearing.
Thank fuck. I didn’t expect to be saved by Bash fucking Sanchez, but I guess the guy was okay after all.
“Dad! Dad! Do you want me to call an ambulance?”
“Don’t call the cops! I’m fine, son. It’s just a shoulder wound. And not my first,” Dad gritted through the pain.
I let out a sigh of relief as I realized he was right–I had scared Dante as I went for my gun, making him miss his target–Dad’s head.
“Fuck, we have to go! We have to follow them and get Dani!”
“Kane,” Bash said, grabbing my attention. “Call Eli and fill him in. He’s got guys ready to go. Tell him to track the lotus.”
“The lotus? What the fuck is the lotus?”
“I put a tracker on your girl. I kinda had a feeling things wouldn’t go as we planned tonight. And then I saw how erratic Arnold was acting. I shouldn’t have left her alone.”
Thank fuck someone was thinking ahead because I certainly wasn’t.
“No we shouldn’t have. Fuck,” I muttered as I called Eli and gave him the shortened version of what happened. Just as Bash said, he had guys ready to go.
They were going to wait a few minutes before leaving to not make it obvious. The last thing we wanted was for Arnold to keep driving.