“Don’t shoot again.” The voice came from the top of the stairs. “Drop your weapon, Salvatore, and my men won’t shoot you again. Fire one more shot, and we’ll kill you and Mara.”
The man walked down to the bottom of the steps. I would have shot him, but I was afraid they would make good on the promise to kill her too.
“Mara, come out, princess,” he said, and I knew it was Mara’s father.
She slowly emerged from under the stairs. Mara’s t-shirt was untucked, and I hoped that she had the gun tucked into her waistband. But even more than that, I prayed that she had the will to use it. The possibility that she’d have to save herself because I was dead was very real.
“Daddy. Oh god, Daddy. Thank god you’re here,” she said and rushed to him with big, fat tears streaming down her face. “How did you find me?”
When she got within arm’s reach of her father, Anthony slapped her so hard that Mara fell on her butt. I watched as she rubbed the bright red mark on her cheek. I wanted to make killing the bastard my last act, but fear for Mara held me back. I had to stay calm.
Anthony bent down and snatched the sapphire necklace from around Mara’s neck. He held it up in front of her face and shook it. “This, you deceiving little bitch. This is how I found you. I never trusted your mother, and I never should have trusted you either. The new necklace I gave you would have helped me find you faster. It has newer technology and a stronger signal, but this one still worked.”
Mara had been wearing a tracking device all along. Her father had known what she was up to from the beginning.
Chapter Fourteen
Mara
I could have kicked myself. Of course my father would have been tracking my mother, and I couldn’t believe I was stupid enough to overlook the attention he’d paid to my necklace and his obsession with replacing it.
My father didn’t have family. He had possessions. My mother had been one of them until he no longer found her useful or amusing, and I was another.
My father walked up to Salvatore and punched him in the jaw. My heart raced as I watched the man who’d made me a woman. He didn’t flinch. In fact, Salvatore looked up and smiled at my father.
“I’ve got a whole list of fun activities planned for the two of you,” Father said. “I’ll ask this once, and I expect an honest response. Lie to me, and I’ll torture my darling daughter to death while you watch.” The hate in his eyes as he spoke to Salvatore could have set a person aflame. “Is my daughter pure?”
“Daddy, please,” I begged, but he put up a hand to shush me.
“I’ll deal with you once I know whether or not you’re worth my time,” he said. “Now, Salvatore, which is it? Is she still my precious baby girl, or is my darling Mara just another filthy whore?” Salvatore just glared at him, and my father punched him again. “Is she pure?” he spat.
“No,” Salvatore responded. “She’s mine. Call her a filthy whore again, and I’ll make sure that you die a slow, painful death.”
My father laughed so hard that he choked for a moment. “Oh dear. You’ve fallen for the girl. I must issue you my deepest condolences. You have no idea who you’ve gotten yourself into bed with. She is nothing more than a liability. I’d hoped to sell her off to whichever of my rivals thought they could tame her. I figured it would be an excellent way to forge a new alliance and get some revenge at the same time. She’s such an ungrateful little bitch. You know, if you’d have survived this thing, you’d have found out. I’m actually doing you a favor. I’m saving you from a terrible fate.”
I’d had enough. “You know what, Daddy, I’m not the problem. You are. You’re a monster. You could have saved my mother. You had the money.” I fought back tears at the memory of my mother suffering. “I would have been a loving and dutiful daughter if you’d just helped her.”
My father laughed again. “I think we both know you’d never be anything close to loving or dutiful. Perhaps you wouldn’t have attempted to steal from me, but loving and dutiful are impossible for you. As far as your mother went, it would have been a waste of money. Nothing could save her. She was doomed as soon as she was diagnosed. Better treatment would have only delayed the inevitable. You think I’m a monster, but I’m just pragmatic.”
“Even if you couldn’t save her, you could have helped me pay for a better hospice. She didn’t have to die in as much agony. I begged you to help me so that Mom could at least die comfortable and with dignity. You weren’t there to see what the end was like for her,” I said.
“As far as your mother’s suffering, all I can say is that she got what she deserved,” he snarled. “We all get what we deserve in the end.”
“You know she didn’t do anything to bring that pain on herself. Whatever. Let’s just get on with this,” I said.
It was then that I noticed another man that stood quietly behind my father. He’d been observing everything in silence. I barely recognized his face, but I knew who he was. Well, I didn’t know his real name. He was Luigi Farelli. The man was a legend, and he was the only person higher in organized crime than my father that I’d ever seen. Father was the head of our family, but Luigi Farelli was a high-ranking official in an organization that tied the Italian families together.
“Anthony, take your souvenir and then get your whore daughter so we can leave,” Luigi said. “Salvatore and I have things to discuss.”
Luigi handed my father a knife, and two men grabbed Salvatore.
“I’ll only take an ear as a souvenir,” my father said. “But don’t worry. I’m sure whatever Mr. Farelli has planned for you will be much worse.” He looked at me. “As for you. I’m taking you home, but there’s nothing left to do with you but make an example for other daughters.”
Salvatore and I exchanged a look. We were out of options. It was either die fighting or get dragged off and face a torturous death. I’d made my decision. I’d rather be shot trying to escape than live through what my father had planned.
I nodded to Sal and pulled the gun from my waistband. Father didn’t know that I could use a weapon. My first shot ricocheted off the door frame at the top of the stairs, but my second hit its mark. Luigi wasn’t wearing a vest, and I hit him dead in the heart. He rolled down the stairs and crumpled to the floor. [MS22]
Salvatore stood up, knocking one of the men holding him back. In a flash of motion, he reached out and broke the other’s neck with one fluid movement. In under a second, Salvatore had that man’s gun in his hand and he used it to shoot two more. I took aim and picked off anyone that Salvatore hadn’t gotten to yet.
When everyone but my father was dead, I aimed my gun at him. “Make the transfer,” I said. “I know you have it. Transfer the money.”
“Mara, you know it will raise suspicions if I reinitiate the transfer after I pulled it back,” he said. “That will shine a whole lot of light on you that you don’t want.”
“The accounts are offshore, aren’t they?” I asked Salvatore.
“They are,” he responded. “I don’t think your father means the government or the police. He means the bank will want extra confirmation.”
“Fine. Let’s all go upstairs, and you can wire the money to the accounts I tell you,” I said. “Salvatore isn’t the only one with foreign bank accounts.”
“Mara, that’s not a good idea,” Salvatore said.
“Do you have a better idea? I don’t think you do. Don’t worry so much. I’ll send the money from my accounts to yours as soon as we’re done with Daddy here. It’s one hiccup. We’ll get everything back on track,” I assured him.
My father sat at the laptop and wired the money to the account numbers I fed him. Fortunately, I’d had them all memorized just in case something like this happened. I learned a long time ago not to count on men.
Once the deposits were made, I confirmed with the bank that the money had gone through. It didn’t take as long for the transfers to finalize because I didn’t have the same protections in place that Salvatore had. It
was a concern, but nothing that couldn’t be dealt with once my father was out of the picture.
“I don’t want to shoot you, so you’re going to leave and forget that you ever had a daughter,” I said.
He laughed. “You’re more like me than you want to believe, but you’re not very bright. You think if you walk out of here with the money it’s over? You killed Luigi Farelli. You’ve forced my hand. I’ll have no choice but to hunt you down, and I won’t be the only one.”
“You’re going to make sure that no one actually finds me,” I said. “I’ve put together a little information packet for your friends at the Department of Justice. If you come after me, I’ll have no choice but to make sure it gets to the right hands.”
“Princess, you’ve made a serious mistake. I have plenty of friends at the Department of Justice. There is nothing you can do to me. You can delay the inevitable, but you can’t stop what I’m going to do to you,” he said.
“You’ve got your gun on him, right?’ I asked Salvatore.
“Yep.”
I put the gun Salvatore had given me back in my waistband and walked over to one of my father’s men. I leaned down and plucked his gun from his hand.
“No one will ever know that Salvatore and I were here. It will just look like you clashed with Luigi Farelli and nobody made it out alive,” I said and aimed my gun at my father.
“Mara, please,” my father said, but it wasn’t a plea. He was mocking me. “You should let me go. I’m sure we could work something out.”
“If I let you go now, it will just be delaying the inevitable,” I said and pulled the trigger.
Chapter Fifteen
Salvatore
We left immediately. Fortunately, the car was still where we’d left it, and we didn’t have to steal one to get to the airport. Mara called in a favor and said that there would be a jet waiting for us on a private runway[MS23].
Just to be safe, we ditched the car a couple of miles from the airport and walked the rest of the way. Inside the private area of the airport, I could see that there were actually two jets being fueled on the runway.
“Someone else is leaving too,” I said as we walked past the window.
“No. Those are both for us. One for you and one for me,” she said and stopped at the edge of the window.
“We’re not going together?” I tried not to sound disappointed. I’d obviously read the situation with Mara completely wrong. She’d played me too. “Where are you going?”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to leave together, and I believe it’s best if I don’t tell you where I’m going.”
“So that’s it then?” I asked. “We are over?”
“It was fun and games, Sal. You and I both know that. You wanted to escape and now you can. I can too. We can both have a new life, but it can’t start with us together. This is goodbye.”
She put her hand on the back of my neck and tilted my head down. Mara’s lips met mine, and I wrapped my arms around her waist. I pulled her close, as if I could trap her in my gravity.
“Mara,” I said when our mouths parted.
“Yes, Salvatore.”
“You haven’t transferred my half of the money.” I mean, kissing her was fun and all, but business was business.[MS24]
“I was hoping you’d forget,” she said with a wicked smile.
“Everything about you is amazing, Mara. But even your lips aren’t enough to make me forget five million dollars.”
“Give me a second,” she said and reached for her pocket. “Oh right, I don’t have a phone. Do you have a phone?”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to give you my phone.”
“Oh, come on Salvatore. After everything we’ve been through? I just need to use the internet to transfer you the money. You can stand there and watch me. I’m not going to run off with your phone.” She threw her head back and laughed. It made me smile and let my guard down a bit.
I handed her the phone and watched her furiously type something.
“I need an account number,” she said.
I gave her an account number that would hold the money until I could transfer it into one of my safer accounts. It took her a couple of minutes, but she finally handed the device back to me.
“You can check. My bank said the deposit went through.”
I punched in the codes and could see that the deposit had completed. It shocked me a little to see that she’d made good on our arrangement.
“My plane leaves in a couple of minutes. Yours will be ready in ten,” she said and kissed me on the cheek.
“You gave yourself a ten-minute head start... For what?” I asked, but Mara was already walking away.
I stood at the window and watched her plane take off. As soon as it was in the air, I went to the gate.
“I’m sorry sir, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” the woman behind the counter said. “The private jet departing at this gate is not in that name.”
The private jet wasn’t for me. That was okay. I had enough money to buy a ticket anywhere in the world.
Just as I stepped up to the ticket counter, a call came in on my phone. It was my bank contact.
“I just thought you’d like to know that deposit that came through a while ago was a dummy deposit. It’s been pulled back,” John, my banker, said.
I flushed with anger and frustration. I could feel myself shaking. She’d fucked me over, but at least I still had the gold.
“Are you sure?” I asked John.
“Well, another deposit just came through. It’s substantially lower.”
“How much lower?”
He told me the amount, and at first, I didn’t realize what it was. Two minute later, I got a text message from a number I didn’t recognize.
I did promise to pay you back for dinner. I’m sorry, but I’m sure you’ll manage.
Oh, she’d pay me back alright.
Chapter Sixteen
Mara
The sound of the waves had almost lulled me to sleep. I reached out and grabbed the cold margarita the waiter had just brought me moments before.
I closed my eyes and took a sip. A smile spread across my face as something darkened the sun. I knew before I looked who was eclipsing the light.
“It took you long enough,” I said.
“Six months. That’s how long I’ve been on the run looking for you. Six months of searching while constantly looking over my shoulder for men who want to kill me,” Salvatore said. “I’m tired.” He sounded spent.
“Sit down. We’ll get you a margarita. The bartender here is amazing,” I said. “You want to try it?” I offered him my drink, but Salvatore just glared at me.
“No, I don’t want your drink. I came for my half of the money.”
“That’s not why you’re here,” I said casually. “But you’re in my light.”
“Mara, you left me with nothing. I could have died,” he said.
“Oh, don’t be so dramatic. I didn’t leave you with nothing. You had the gold, and I sent you another transfer a few hours later.”
“What the fuck, Mara? Is this a game?” He finally sat down on the beach chair next to me. “You did send me a little more money that night, but it and the gold have barely been enough to get me here.”
“But it did get you here,” I said and smiled.
“That’s what you wanted,” he said flatly. “This has been a game for you the whole time.” I watched as the realization hit him. He was there because he’d played right into my hand. “You wanted me to come after you.”
Salvatore stood back up. He reached down, wrapped his hand around my arm, and dragged me to my feet. I had to stifle a moan. I’d been longing to feel his touch for months. It was rough, and I still liked it.
“You fucked me, Mara,” he growled as I was lifted to the point where I had to stand on my toes to keep my feet on the ground.
“You liked it,” I said and pressed my body against his. “If you want wh
at’s yours, take it,” I taunted.
“This isn’t a game,” Salvatore said, but he didn’t push me away.
“Not anymore. You’re at the end.”
“I want my money, Mara. I need for this to all be over. Give me my half of the ransom so I can go,” he said.
“You still want to leave?” If I believed him, I’d have been disappointed. “I have a better idea, Sal.”
“What’s that?”
By that time, he had both hands wrapped around my arms. Salvatore held me tight there. His eyes burned with fury.
“Stay with me. We’re safe here, and it’s beautiful. But if you don’t like this country, we’ll pick another.”
“You have to be joking, Mara. You’re a monster.”
“You are too, but I love that about you.” I watched his face soften a bit at my words. I struck a chord in him.
“I can’t argue with that, but it’s you that brings out the worst in me. If I stay with you, we’ll just end up ruining each other,” he said as his hand slid down my body and his arms encircled my waist.
“Of course we will. That’s what people like us do, but it sure will be fun getting there.”
He kissed me hard, but it was brief. It felt like a test. I knew what he was doing. Salvatore wanted to see if after everything he’d been through, he still felt the same way. I felt his cock stir against my stomach. He still felt the same way.
“Alright, crazy bitch, let’s do this. Till death do us part,” he said with an impish smile.
“You’re an asshole,” I said as he laced his fingers between mine and we turned to walk down the beach.
“I love you too, Mara, and even though it will probably kill me, I have a feeling I always will.”
***
* * *
[MS1]Her eyes are purple?
[MS2]Great line??
[MS3]LMAO.
[MS4]When a character speaks through more than one paragraph in a row, opening quotation marks are needed at the beginning of each new paragraph, with a closing quotation mark placed at the end of only the final paragraph.
Hitman's Obsession Page 7
