Devil's Advocate: A Dark Mafia Romance (Devil's Playground Book 1) by Vivi Paige (different ereaders .TXT) 📗

up. Spicolli stood a hair under seven feet, with hands like bunches of bananas. A jagged scar down his left cheek was a testament to his time spent in prison.

He was there to kill Sophie, and the war between the Loggias and the Maloiks was on. Thing was, it wasn’t officially on yet. I was banking on that fact to keep Sophie and I alive for a little bit longer.

“Indro…” Louie’s jaw worked silently, his twisted face made uglier by a confused grimace. “What are you doing here?”

“I just got out of court. You know they’re trying to railroad me with some bullshit charges, right?”

I came up to his side and he took a step back. I frowned as if in disappointment.

“Louie, come on. We had a summit yesterday, it’s all good. I’m not going to fuck with you.”

Spicolli’s eyes narrowed to slits. “Yeah, sure. We’re all good.”

My smile faded. I let out a chuckle but neither of us was in a laughing mood.

“Guess only one of us is leaving this garage alive.”

“One of us, yes.”

Louie made his move. His hand dove into his coat, fingers closing around the handle of his pistol. I charged in and grabbed his arm, preventing him from drawing it out of the shoulder holster.

I slammed my forehead into his nose. Louie’s eyes squeezed shut, his nose dripping blood, but he didn’t relinquish his grip on the pistol. He managed to draw it out, but I grasped his wrist with both my hands and pointed the barrel straight up.

The pistol popped, the silencer dampening the gun’s retort but not the bullets as they ricocheted off the concrete roof above.

Louie slammed his knee into my breadbasket. I doubled over, losing my grip on his arm. He pointed the gun at me, but the trigger clicked. Out of ammo. Guess somebody up there still liked me.

I kicked out at his knee, but Louie skipped out of reach. He stowed his gun and raised his hands in a boxer’s stance. I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach. Louie was a Golden Gloves champion in his youth. He coulda went pro but for throwing a fight and getting blacklisted from the ring.

I knew I couldn’t take him in a fair fight. I glanced over under the Caddy and felt a swell of relief. Sophie was nowhere to be seen. She was safe.

Being as she was safe, I figured what the hell, I’d yield to the better part of valor. I turned to run.

Louie was after me in a heartbeat. Thing was, he had on good running shoes, while I was in socks. I hit the corner and slipped on the concrete, going down in a heap.

I lifted my head just in time to take Louie’s foot to my jaw. I rolled with the impact, using the momentum to get back to my feet—only to take a right cross to the temple.

I swung back, but Louie bobbed and weaved with a grace which belied his bulk. He caught me in my already aching gut, then smacked me across the jaw. The concrete reared up and slammed into me.

“You’ve got one hell of a rep, Indro,” Louie said as he walked a circle around me. “Hard to kill. But you know what else is hard to kill? A cockroach. You’re a friggin’ cockroach, and it’s way past time you got squished.”

I lifted myself up on my arms. Louie stomped on my fingers and in spite of my tough guy self-image, I howled like a mother fucker. It hurt!

Something flashed up from the side. Sophie. She slammed her purse into the side of Louie’s big head, and he staggered to the side. Sophie smacked him again and again.

What’s she got in that purse, a friggin’ horseshoe?

I leaped up to my feet, barreling into Louie’s midsection. We flew back into the retaining wall and flipped end over end. I grabbed wildly for the railing and managed to cling to the side.

With Sophie’s help, I dragged myself back into the parking garage as Louie hit the pavement below. I wasn’t sure if he was alive or dead, and I didn’t care. I gathered Sophie up in a big bear hug.

She was safe, and an aching jaw and a couple busted fingers were a small price to pay to have her back in my arms again.

Chapter Forty-One

Sophie

I pulled away from Indro, cringing at the sight of his bloody lip.

“You’re hurt.” I reached into my purse and dug under the heavy red brick to find a handkerchief. I dabbed at his face, but he waved off my attentions.

“I’m fine, doll. C’mon, let’s blow this pop stand before the good constables arrive. I’d rather not explain this shit.”

He peered into my purse and grinned. “Nice brick.”

“Yeah, well, it doesn’t show up on the metal detector in court.”

I glanced down at his feet. “Are you in socks? You’re going to catch pneumonia.”

“Yeah, I tried to sneak up on tall, dark, and ugly down there, but I ran out of time.”

“Wait, you came after a mob hitman with no weapons and in socked feet?” I couldn’t help but feel a happy tingle flow through my chest.

“I wasn’t about to let him harm a hair on your head, babe.” Indro tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear. “You belong to me.”

I frowned. What did that even mean anymore? Was Indro referring to the fact I was his lawyer, or that he was blackmailing me, or, or what?

Indro patted my cheek gently and moved over to the edge of the parking garage. He peered over the ledge and grimaced.

“Great. Scarface is gone. We better make tracks, babe. God damn it.”

“What’s wrong now?” he grabbed my hand and dragged me along behind him.

“There’s no time to pick up my Brunos. This whole murder case has put a serious dent in my footwear collection.

We dashed to my car and piled in. I fumbled with the keys, dropping them on the floorboard.

“Settle down, babe. Louie’s not coming back. He’s not