And she’s fucking smiling.
He’s in a black suit with several of his men surrounding him. Roman’s beside her, and I feel like I might die as we pull the car to a stop and get out.
“Search them.” Her uncle says. “Or I kill her.”
She seems only too happy to be standing there, waiting for him to either shoot her or shoot me.
I motion for everyone to stop behind me.
Car doors slam, but nobody moves.
“I knew she was a smart girl.” Her uncle nods his head. “She came running to me the minute she saw weakness in the Families, weakness in you.” He’s speaking to me, but all I can see is her face.
She doesn’t flinch.
“Weakness?” I repeat after getting searched. “I’m confused. What are you talking about?”
“The Capo is going to die.”
“And tonight, I become the Capo.” I shrug. “So, I really don’t see your point. Right now, I have more men than you do.”
He smiles. “And I’ve paid off the fire departments. You know, traffic can be bad in these parts…”
Screams erupt from the different dorms.
I want to vomit. “You would kill everyone? For what?”
His eyes are full of rage, his black hair slicked back, and he wears his fancy leather gloves and a black peacoat. “It was never supposed to be eight Families or even seven. In all of history, it was supposed to be the Five Families.”
Where the hell is he going with this?
“The Five Families of Chicago!” he shouts. “The greatest Families of all time!”
Is he really giving me a speech on my own family history while people die behind him?
“Great, you’ve made your point, so what?”
He sneers. “You add in the fucking Petrovs? The Sinacores? And what about us? We’ve been around just as long! We’re Sicilian! We’re not Russian! And then you have the fucking audacity to take the De Lange Family back in?”
“So, you’re not a fan of even numbers?” I say. “Or what?”
“It isn’t how it’s supposed to be. When the Commission happens, we will be by your side. The fifth Family, the Buratti Family, and you’ll tell them that it was the De Langes that did this, all of it. They burned down the campus; they destroyed what they used to own but couldn’t keep. You’ll escort the Petrov boss out of the room, and we’ll return to what once was, with us at your side.”
“And you think we’ll just forgive this?” I sneer. “The murder of hundreds of innocent people?”
Someone nods at him, and he grins back at me. “They’re here now.”
“Who the hell is here?”
“Fire Department.” He grins. “We’ve also turned off the sprinkler system, so unless you say yes… I guess all those deaths at the University you own… are on your head.” He puts the gun at Del’s head. “She’s a stupid girl for being so smart. Her, I’ll kill just to encourage you to do the right thing.”
Del smiles at me.
I open my mouth.
More fire spreads, and I have everyone who has either raised me or stood by my side waiting for me to make the call.
I open my mouth, shut it, and then open it again and whisper. “So kill her. Make her an example. Just remember that no matter what you do here, I will purge your Family from existence. With joy. Urgency. With a vengeance. Take their lives. All I care about is ending yours, and whatever existence is attached to it to make sure the world is safe for the future.” I swallow the lump in my throat as Del nods at me. “For our future.”
He laughs. “You think she loves you? You think she cares? She doesn’t love anyone but herself.”
“She should,” I say. “She’s pretty great.”
A tear slides down her cheek.
“Do your worst.” I spread my hands. “I stand by my Queen. And she stands by me. Until it ends,” I say, my voice shaking. “Until it ends.”
She opens her mouth, her lips shaking. “Until it ends.”
She was being brave for me.
I see that now.
She knew I needed her to be strong.
The minute my eyes blink, a gunshot rings out.
I see her fall.
And I suddenly understand the sacrifice I wouldn’t be ready for her—not my father’s, but hers.
Chapter Forty-Five
“I found Him in the shining of the stars, I marked Him in the flowering of His fields, But in His ways with men I find Him not. I waged His wars, and now I pass and die.” —Idylls of the King, 1856–1885
King
Time moves in slow motion when you’re grieving. I barely have time to scream when I see Del scramble back against Roman. He shields her with his body as more gunshots ring out.
Her uncle falls to the ground, blood spilling from his chest as he collapses from his knees to the grass.
More gunshots ring out, but they aren’t coming from me.
I look around and mobilize my guys as they start moving toward the buildings and getting people out.
Sirens sound.
Chaos erupts, but she’s alive, bleeding but alive. That’s all I need to know.
Roman yells over his shoulder. “The gunshot needed to go through her side. She’s okay.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I reach for Del, tears stream down her face as Roman holds part of his torn shirt against her side.
“Clean through,” he says. “He promised it would be clean through. You were brave,” Roman chokes out, then bursts into tears. “You were so fucking brave.”
“A queen…” She looks up at me, her eyes fluttering. “…always stands by her King, sometimes that means standing for him, rather than beside him.”
She passes out in his arms. I reach for her, pulling part of her body across mine as Ash and Junior start barking out orders, ones I’m incapable of giving because I’m so wrecked.
She’s okay.
She’s going to be okay.
She stood by my side.
Until it ends… it hasn’t ended.
God, how much more can I take?
“Do your job.” Roman pulls her back. “Let me do mine. I’ll protect her.”
I take a deep breath and get up.
The next hour goes by in another blur as we go from dorm to dorm to make sure students are okay. We get everyone out but one.
And that one will be on my conscience until the day I die.
Nothing burned to the ground, but the damage is bad. What’s important is the madman is dead, and mostly everyone is safe.
I’m leaning against my SUV, standing next to Chase. He puts a hand on my shoulder. “You did good.”
“I feel like I almost had a nervous breakdown, but thanks.”
“Part of the job,” He grunts out. Nixon joins him, then Dante, Valerian, Maksim, Sergio, Andrei, Junior, Tank, Ash, Dom, Phoenix.
The main men.
The men of the mafia.
Of the Five Families.
All but my dad.
My stomach hurts; my heart feels like my ribs are piercing it over and over again like a knife.
Nixon’s the first to speak. “Do we have any idea who the hell fired that shot?”
“Eh, it could have been better,” a familiar voice sounds.