Page 71 of Doll's Eye
Even if this weren’t a sorry sack of shit, if I’m told my mark, I execute it, not at all diffident or hesitant, and once you’re in, you’re in until they decide to release you. And the sentence for refusing a job, is death.
It’s not like we’re paid to shoot up schools or hospitals. They’re people that got themselves involved in dirty money one way or another.
And we all die eventually, right?
I know. I’m a heartless bitch. Blah blah blah.
No one knows what I do these days. When the Bonetti women were sent away, I went my separate way off to live alone in the desert. I check in with them every couple of weeks, but I haven’t spoken to any of my brothers since we left.
Despite missing the men, Gemma, Mamma, and even Lesina settled into their new, suburban lives reasonably well. Armando is the only one to visit, unable to be entirely out of his daughter’s life. But when he comes to town, I make a point of being elsewhere.
Scoping out Mr. Edwards’ security detail one more time, I see nothing has changed. All just as oblivious as the loser himself. Some security he has. I could probably wave a red flag and they wouldn’t even spot me.
Chomping down on my gum, I sight my target. Going for his chest since he seems to move around a lot as he’s talking. I rather not miss and risk one of his security guys catching me before I take a second one.
Releasing the air from my lungs through my mouth, I pull the trigger.Boom!Hits home. Square in his chest, sending him down like a sack of potatoes. “Ooooooooohhhhhh!!!!” I gleefully squeal in excitement as I duck down out of sight completely and kick my feet in the air like a kid.That was fucking amazing!Iwish I were assigned to more sniper jobs like this one so I can play with the big guns.
“Mwuah!” I give my rifle’s stock a big smooch and pack it up as chaos unfolds from down low. Screaming and shouting. I hit the tiny inconspicuous earpiece in my ear to tap into the local cop’s frequency to see how far they’re out. The closest one seems to be a few miles away, so I have time. No time to waste, though.
Slinging the case over my back, I stay crouched down as I run for the back of the rooftop and I glance over. No one is back here scouring the area yet. Wow, his security team really fucking sucks. Good for me.
There are two more buildings at the same height as the one I’m on, with a large gap between them. It might not be Olympic distance, but it damn sure seems like it when you’re carrying a large bag on your back. My crazy ass has already done a test run for it, and I can clear it with no problem. Tall people might be able to jump, but this short bitch can fly.
Standing back several feet from the edge, I run my ass off and soar through the air and onto the next rooftop. I land on my feet but drop to my knees from the momentum. Springing back up, I don’t skip a beat as I take off into a sprint towards the next one. I pump my legs even harder, knowing I used a lot of energy on the first one. Biting back a scream, I clear the second gap, but not so gracefully this time. I still manage to get up and walk away, though it’ll most likely hurt like a bitch tomorrow.
A coiled black rope is tethered to a pole at the edge of the building. The fire escape stairs are too close to the threshold of the alley to stay obscured, so I have to repel myself down. With all the chaos going down on the next block, no one will ever suspect the little redhead with glasses and what looks like a cello case slung to her back coming out of the shadows.
Everything goes according to plan.
Just another average yet exciting day in the life of Freida Marina Lopez. Time for a drink and maybe some sex.
Chapter thirty-eight
Massimo
The thin rose gold chain with the tiny swan hanging from it stares up at me as I open the top drawer of my desk and slam it back shut.
Mia cigna.My Swan. Proud and effulgent-looking but dangerous when provoked. They happen to be very protective, as well as monogamists, mating for life.
It’s been three years, and it still feels like a knife twisting in my gut. It only took three hours to change my mind and call Tullio to ask if we really did the right thing.
“It doesn’t matter. It’s too late now. She wouldn’t come back no matter how much we begged her to.”
I was notified that Alessia had departed the grounds before I arrived. I walked into the maids and several of my men scrambling to erase the remnants of the wreckage she left in her wake throughout the house. However, my quarters were off-limits so that mess remained untouched.
The bed was the first thing I noticed. Nothing was left from the nights we spent together but my own memories.She torethe mattress and everything on it to bits—pillows, blankets, everything. After glimpsing her slight insecurities about my past, I had our bed replaced as well as anything that might have come near another woman.
Then I walked into our closet and saw a pile of torn-up gold and cream intricate fabric in the middle of the floor. Her wedding dress. I didn’t even know she already had it. I dropped to my knees and fisted the fabric, wishing I could see her in it once. To have a vivid picture of her in a wedding gown inside my head. I’d envisioned her plenty of times, but to see her with my own eyes only once would’ve lasted me a lifetime.
Willing myself off the floor, I ventured back out into the room and found her phone with a broken screen. The screen lit up as soon as it was in my hand, and my heart skipped a beat. It was a picture of the two of us. I remember exactly when she took it. We were sitting out on the patio and she’d told me about the plans she had for a garden back there. She was so zealous and passionate when she talked about it, and I was willing to give her the most outlandish garden there ever was. Then she came over to sit on my lap as we enjoyed a bottle of wine together, and she held out her phone to take a picture of us because the point where the sun was in the sky created this magnificent glow. She stared at me in awe as I reflected the same expression.
After punching in the passcode, I sat down to scroll through her phone to see what else she had on there. There were not a whole lot of pictures of us because neither of us is the type to take selfies and pose for the camera, but there were quite a few. More than I have taken in several years combined.
I explored everything she had on her phone, and when I found letters she had written to her loved ones in case anything ever happened to her, I slumped to the ground, strength deserting me.
To the love of my life,
The Don of the De Luca’s and the king of my heart. Who knew love was ever really in the cards for me? I never thought that in my wildest and dirtiest of dreams, I would ever end up with a man like you. One who could somehow harness my temper but not tame it. One who could take control but make me feel all-powerful. One who could make my knees shake with one single touch. You’ve grounded me in so many ways yet made me feel like I was empress of everlasting paradise on Mt. Olympus.
