I spotted Anton slipping between an alley.


    “I see him.” I told them the street corners, but we each had our location dots on, anyway. Anton’s problem was he was a big guy who depended on brawn to intimidate but couldn’t run long distances for shit.<fnb526> ?? ??? ???? ?? ???? ???? ???????s, ????s? ??s?? fινdnοvel</fnb526>


    He was at the end of the alley in front of a fifteen-foot-high chain-link fence, bent over his knees.


    He nced at me, then straight ahead. “About time you fucking caught me.” Those were the words I made out, given they were muffled by hisbored breathing.


    “You need to lose weight,” I called. I slowed my strides, giving him the chance to recover, but held a gun loosely by my side. His hands were free of weapons, but I saw the bulge of a gun at his back beneath his dark shirt.


    “Fuck you, De Li.”


    “I could just shoot you.” I came closer.


    “Why don’t you?” he jeered, straightening up and facing me.


    “What’s the fun in that?”


    He raised a brow. “You want to fight me? No weapons?”


    “Like it’s hard?”


    He gave a chokedugh. “You’re as arrogant and crazy as they say you are.”


    “That’s Kirill, not me.”


    At the mention of his pakhan, his face darkened. “He’s another son of a bitch. Traitor,” he spat.


    “From what I hear, you’re the traitor.”


    He sneered. “Are you gonna yap or take a swing at me?”


    “Throw your gun away first.” I pointed mine at him.


    He scoffed and threw his nine millimeter away.


    The second I tossed mine, the fucker charged.


    His linebacker shoulder drove into my gut and emptied my lungs. He tackled me to the ground.


    I blocked the blow to my head and tipped him over, using my legs. Fuck. That motherfucker was the weight of a tanker.


    We surged at each other in a flurry of fists and fury. Finally, I gained enough leverage to throw him over my hip. Not giving him an opportunity to stand, I jumped on him and straddled his body. I grabbed his head and cracked it on the ground. Then my fingers wrapped around his neck and squeezed.


    “How does it feel to crave oxygen, huh, motherfucker?”


    His face turned purple, and he struggled to dislodge my hands from around his neck, but rage fueled the desire to choke him. I wanted to see the light fade from his eyes the way Boris’s did. shes of the marks on Sloane’s neck fanned my fury. The sight of Anton leaving the building with her while she was miscarrying.


    “I almost lost Sloane because of you.” I tightened my fingers. His eyes and the veins on his temples bulged. I was blind to everything else except the thirst for vengeance. Avenge Sloane. Avenge the life we made that never had the chance to live.


    I was spiraling in bloodlust when I felt a hand on my shoulder.


    “Dom,” Trevor said.


    “What?!” No one was going to stop me from strangling the life out of this piece of shit.


    “Your dad is in the hospital.”


    “What?” My fingers ckened.


    Anton wheezed as my gaze shifted to Trevor. Panic seized my chest. “Why? How? He was fine when I left them.”


    “He got hit by Anton’s SUV and there were internal injuries. You gotta go. We’ll take care of him.”


    But Anton coughed with mockingughter. “I hope”—cough—“your father dies.”


    My head whipped back in his direction. Ice reced the white-hot rage. I grabbed Anton’s head and snapped it to the right. The crunch of shattering cartge was loud and satisfying.


    “You’ll hurt no one of mine again.” I rose to my feet. Trevor handed me the earpiece, which must have fallen off when I was fighting Anton. “Clean this up.”


    Trevor gave a tight nod.


    Anton’s body had to disappear.


    I reached the emergency room in ten minutes. I spotted Ma and Aunt Ava in one corner. Lucy and Sera in another. It didn’t take a genius to know my sister med our mother because this wouldn’t have happened if she had not evaded Pop and confronted Sloane.


    But I didn’t me Ma. I med Anton. He was the one who struck Pop with the SUV.


    Matteo and Hector met me at the sliding doors.


    “Update?” I asked. On my way here, Matteo was my contact. They were the first to meet the ambnce when it arrived.


    “He’s still in surgery,” Matteo said.


    “His heart?”


    My cousin gave a helpless shrug. “They didn’t mention any damage.”


    “Where’s Sloane?”


    Before Matteo could answer, Ma saw me and rushed to me. My arms came around her.


    “It’s my fault, it’s my fault,” she cried.


    “Shh…Ma. Pop wouldn’t want you to me yourself.” My eyes went over her head and spotted Lucy who was ring at her with tear-filled eyes. My headache, which had been a distant throb, intensified.


    “What happened to your face?” she whispered, sping my jaw.


    “It’s nothing.”


    Her mouth tightened. “That’s what your pop said and look what happened!”


    “Ma.” I sped her shoulders. “I have to find Sloane.”


    Her eyes brimmed with tears. “She saved him.”


    “What?” I croaked.


    She leaned closer as if to tell me a secret. “She performed a procedure that nurses shouldn’t do, but your pop immediately improved by the time the ambnce arrived. The chief of emergency services is with her now, along with the paramedic.” She swiped at her eyes. “Help her, Dom. Make sure they don’t hang her for anything.”


    “You bet I will.” I strode to the triage nurse. “I want to speak to the chief.”


    “Sir—”


    “Dom!”


    I spun around to see Sloane walking in with an older ck guy in dark blue scrubs and a younger man who appeared to be the paramedic.


    “What happened to you?” she asked.


    “Forget me. Are you okay?” I red at the two men with her.


    Sloane dragged me to an open room, and herpanions followed.


    The ck man introduced himself as the chief of emergency services. “What Miss Scott did was illegal.”


    “But might be covered by the Good Samaritanw,” Sloane retorted.


    “That will be tough to defend and you know it. You’re not even licensed. I don’t know what they teach you in nursing school, but certainly not a field-executed pericardiocentesis without an ultrasound assist. Listen, I don’t even wanna know how you learned to do that and I also know it’s going to be messy going against the De Li family.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “Your family is a donor to this hospital and your mother promises a hefty donation if we make this all go away.”


    “Make it all go away? Sloane saved my father.”


    “Illegally,” the paramedic said. When I scowled at him, he hastily added, “But she’s the shit and it would be a shame to put this on her record and be a hindrance to her earning her license.”


    “So, what are you suggesting?”


    The chief looked at Sloane. “You wanna tell him?”


    Sloaneughed briefly. “We’re going with the story that the procedure was done in the ambnce after a quick assessment. Luckily, the ambnce is equipped with a portable ultrasound machine. And barring anyplications with your dad’s surgery, the hospital would rather not invest time and money in an investigation the patient doesn’t want.”


    “And you’re okay with it?”


    “Of course,” she said with fervor. “All I wanted was to give your dad the best chance of survival.”


    As if sensing we needed a moment alone, the chief and the paramedic excused themselves and left us.


    “I love you, woman,” I growled against her lips. “And don’t tell me you don’t love me too because if risking your whole future to save my father isn’t you feeling an ounce of the love I feel for you, you’re lying.”


    Her mouth curved in a smile. “Are you forcing me to admit I love you?”


    “Damn right I am.”


    “I love you, Dominic De Li.”


    “About fucking time,” I snapped.


    I was about to kiss her when she yanked my hair back. “Now tell me why you have bruises on your face.”


    So, I whispered in her ear how I just killed another man to avenge her.


    She said, “Good. He deserved it.”


    And I said, “You’re going to make a kickass mob wife.”


    She raised a brow. “Correction. Queen.”


    Fuck yeah.<hr>


    Sloane


    “Paolo De Li?”


    Dom, Carlotta, and Lucy all rushed toward the surgeon who’d been in charge of Paulie’s surgery.


    De Li soldiers and Arrows were scattered around the hospital and guarding the perimeter. Cesar arrived a few hours ago. I was standing with Bianca, Sera, and Ivy and hovered while the surgeon delivered the news.


    “He’s going to be fine. The heart sustained bruising, but no bleeding is detected. We installed a window in case of recurrent pericardium effusion. We’d like to keep him for a few days for observation.”


    “When can we see him?” Carlotta asked.


    “He’s in recovery. The nurse will let you know when he’s been transferred to a private suite.”


    “That’s good news.” Ivy breathed a sigh of relief that everyone was feeling. She gave my arm a squeeze and headed toward Nico, who was huddled with his dad. Matteo was with them.


    My focus was on Dom. He had one arm around his mother and another around Lucy.


    “You think Carlotta and Lucy will be okay?” I asked Sera.


    “Lucy is going to have Zio Paulie’s best interest at heart—no pun intended—so she won’t want to upset her dad while he’s recovering,” Sera said. “We’ll have peace indefinitely.”


    Carlotta pushed away from Dom and met my eyes with her teary ones.


    “Shit,” I muttered.


    She said something to Dom and headed my way.


    “Sera, will you give Sloane and me a minute?”


    “Sure, Zia.” She gave Carlotta a brief arm squeeze and a kiss on the cheek.


    I escorted Dom’s mom to a less crowded hallway where we could speak in private.


    “I’m d Paulie is okay,” I ventured.


    She sniffled. “I can’t thank you enough.”


    “No need to thank me.”


    Carlotta held my eyes. “But you risked everything.”


    “And I would do it again, knowing that I’d increased Paulie’s chances for survival.”


    Her face crumpled. “I am consumed with shame,” she sobbed. “Forgive me. I almost lost Paulie because of my prejudice. It’s like a wake-up call after over fifty-six years of never really getting it. At this point, I don’t care about anything. The money, the prestige. I could lose them all, but not my husband. As long as I have Paulie and my children.” She swiped the tears from her eyes. “Paulie calls me a hypocrite. I thought it was said with fondness. Now I think it’s a rebuke or an insult.”


    “Paulie would never insult you. He adores you.”


    “I don’t deserve him,” she hupped. “I’ve caused him so much pain.”


    “Listen. Don’t tell me this. Tell it to Paulie.” I paused. “When he gets better, of course.”


    Despite her misery, Carlotta detected my wary tone. “He’ll really be okay, right?”


    I wasn’t acquainted with the intricacies of cardiac contusions and I’d reached my daily quota for dispensing medical advice or care.


    “I’ll defer to the surgeon and your cardiologist for advice.” He’d have to be monitored for a while with an EKG to make sure the heart rhythm was normal and be on meds. Barring anyplications, it would take a couple of weeks to months before Paulie would be back to normal. I was optimistic.


    “You guys okay here?” Dom asked.


    “We’re fine,” Carlotta said. “I was just apologizing to Sloane about my horrid treatment of her.”


    “Good. Otherwise, you’ll have more than Lucy to contend with,” Dom said, his meaning clear. “Sera is going to make sure you two behave in front of Pop. I’ve already warned Lucy. United front. Pop needs this, okay?”


    “You don’t have to tell me that,” Carlotta snapped.


    Dom dragged me to his side. “Come on, let’s get back to the family.”


    Hourster, we were in the hospital suite where the living room had a door to the patient’s room. Carlotta and Lucy were with Paulie while I was studying his chart. Dom strode in. Grim satisfaction was written all over his face and I wondered who else was dead. I was a bit worried that the police would pin Anton’s death on Dom but he assured me that Trevor had taken care of it. Whatever it epassed.


    “What?” I hugged the clipboard to my chest.


    “The SUV that Anton drove is registered to Vivienne Tomlin. The police are paying her a visit now.”


    When Dom’s expression didn’t change, it dawned on me. “You knew?”


    “We’ve been watching her ever since Margo gave up the Tomlins. I doubt the congressman will make it alive to the trial. Despite the Zahkarovs’ cooperation in his arrest, Kirill isn’t the type to like loose ends. Neither do I and that’s why I kept tabs on Mrs. Tomlin and never relented in my search for Anton. Based on the financial records Trevor had unearthed, Vivienne had been using Anton to get rid of the congressman’s mistresses. When one of her vehicles was within two miles of the penthouse, it alerted me.”


    “Is that how you arrived so fast?”


    “Yeah.”


    “You have me that locked down, huh?”


    “Not enough,” Dom muttered. “Trevor’s scheduled final interviews for your security.”


    I sighed. “I know.”


    He brushed my cheek with the back of his fingers. “Thank you.”


    “You’ve thanked me enough?—”


    “Not about Pop,” he said gruffly. “I’m thanking you for not giving me a hard time about keeping you safe.”


    “I’m not promising it won’t grate on me once I work at a hospital, but we’ll figure it out.”


    Heughed briefly. “I wouldn’t expect anything less, Firecat.”