An Offer You Can't Refuse by Sal Bianchi (ebook reader wifi txt) 📗

strained my ears to listen as the man’s footsteps faded away.

“Come on,” I whispered as I took her hand and led her through the sprawling hotel layout and back toward the parking lot where we’d left the car.

“That was scary,” Roxanne giggled as we approached the car.

“Sorry,” I apologized sheepishly. “It was a dumb idea.”

“No.” Roxanne shook her head vehemently. “Don’t apologize. That was the most fun I’ve had in years. Scary, but still fun.”

“I’m glad.” I smiled in relief. For a second, I was worried getting chased by the security guard might have ruined the evening. “Do you want to come back to my place?”

“I have to be up early tomorrow,” she replied. “And to be honest, I think I’ve had enough excitement for one night.”

“Okay,” I agreed. I would have been lying if I’d said I wasn’t disappointed, but the night had been fun, regardless.

“Next time, we should have drinks at yours, though.” She smiled.

“All right.” I smiled back. “Do you want me to give you a ride home?”

“I’ll take a cab,” she replied. “I don’t live that far from here, and it’s already pretty late. I don’t want to keep you out any longer.”

“Okay,” I replied before leaning down to kiss her. “I’ll call you later, then.”

“Later.” She smiled after we’d kissed, her cheeks visibly glowing red even in the low light.

I watched as she headed into the hotel to wait for her cab before getting back into my car. The clock on my dash notified me that it was already a little past ten in the evening. Time had flown by so quickly while I was with her, and after the disastrous day I’d had, it had been just what I needed to lift my spirits.

28

Nick

I knew as soon as I turned the door handle and stepped inside that something was wrong. It was locked, just as I’d left it, but there was just something in the air that just felt different. Like the prickly feeling you got on the back of your neck when someone was staring at you. I was immediately gripped with an uncomfortable sensation that I was being watched.

I moved on instinct and rushed forward to throw myself onto the ground and behind my couch. I drew my gun from the holster at my hip and held it aloft as I peeked out from around my couch toward the front door. Just as I’d suspected, I could see the faint outline of a person standing in the shadows by the entrance, near the kitchenette and just far away enough that I couldn’t make out their features.

My finger twitched against the trigger as I quickly weighed the pros and cons of just shooting him right now. He obviously didn’t have good intentions. That much was evident from the fact that he’d not only snuck in here but locked the door behind him to mask his tracks. Then there was the fact that he was lurking around the entrance waiting for me. Whoever he was, he wasn’t my ally, and it might be simpler to just kill him now before he could make a move. Still, I wasn’t a part of the mafia anymore, so I couldn’t just kill my way out of every situation without having to face the consequences of my actions.

“Whoa, don’t shoot,” the figure chuckled as he threw his hands up in mock surrender. His voice was familiar, and once I placed where I knew it from, I allowed myself to relax and lower my gun. “I wasn’t expecting you to suddenly start rolling around on the ground. How did you even know I was here?”

“I heard you breathing,” I replied as I realized what it was I had noticed earlier. I hadn’t been consciously aware of it at the time, but my brain had known the moment it registered something unfamiliar and alerted me to the danger. I got to my feet and re-holstered my gun.

The man grinned as he stepped out of the shadows so I could see him better. It was Franco Salvador, a member of the Family and one of my father’s former right-hand men. He and I were on friendly terms, so there was very little chance he was going to try to kill me. As sneaky as he was, getting in here, he probably couldn’t take me in a fight, anyway. He had an old shoulder injury that made it difficult for him to shoot, and his knees made it hard for him to move quickly.

“I’m impressed,” he commended me as he came to stand in front of me. “I thought you’d be rusty after so much time away from the Family. It’s been about three years now, right?”

“What do you want, Franco?” I asked pointedly. I wasn’t in the mood to start reminiscing or justifying my actions right now.

“Ah, straight to the point as usual, eh Nicky?” He smirked. “You’re the same as you always were, no tact for anything that didn’t have to do with the ladies. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though. I often told Marco that you were better at making decisions than Alessandro.”

“Franco,” I barked. “If you’re just here to talk about the old days, then leave. I trust you know where the door is since you did such a good job breaking in.”

“Okay, I’m sorry,” he replied. “I shouldn’t have brought up your brother. But listen, Nicky, I really am worried. About you. About the Family. About what’s going to happen if you keep this up.”

There was an edge of warning in his voice, and I realized at last why he’d come here.

“Thank you so much for your concern,” I sneered sarcastically. “I’ll keep it in mind going forward.”

“Nicolo!” Franco snapped. “I’m being serious here. Do you know what kind of risk I’m taking just by coming to talk to you? You need to stop sniffing around, pretending to be a detective. For heaven’s sake, there are videos of you going around that show you