“Mrs. Campisi, is it?” The man offered a predatory grin that sent chills along my spine. I hated it when people smiled like that. Why smile when you want the world to know how pissed off it makes you?
“Sir,” Vinnie said smoothly. “Please step aside. We don’t want any trouble. The girls are having a relaxing day shopping.”
“Relaxing,” the man repeated as the two men accompanying him, the ones who looked like Italian sumo wrestlers snickered. “I haven’t relaxed since the day I was born.”
“Maybe you should get a pedicure,” I said through clenched teeth. “Those work wonders for me when it’s that time of the month…”
“Or…” Mil shrugged. “I could always shoot you, relieve some of that tension between your eyes. In fact, it would be my pleasure, much quicker than botox.”
“De Lange.” The guy snorted. “You disgust me.”
Mil grinned. “Good, I’d hate to attract you. God, you look older than sin. How’s the leg? Skiing accident?”
The girl had a mouth on her; no wonder Chase was enamored.
“You…” He nodded to me. “You are Campisi’s wife, are you not?”
“I’m carrying his child.” I shrugged. “What does that tell you?”
“I have a message for him.”
“So say it,” I snapped. “And tell your lap dogs to stop staring at my chest before I stab them in the throat.”
The two men shared a laugh while I let my knife slide down my leather jacket and held it up between my fingers.
“I wasn’t kidding.”
They stopped laughing.
The man held up his hand, it was covered with rings, manicured, hardly the type of hands of a grunt worker. “I want to meet with him. I’ll tell him anything he wants to know about the family. No guns. No men. Just the two of us, having a nice little chat. Uncle to nephew.”
Trace sucked in a breath next to me, while I narrowed my eyes harder. “You must not value your life.”
“Why do you say that?”
“He could rip you to shreds with his bare hands.”
“Not—” The man sneered. “—if I cut them off first.”
“What? With your teeth?” Mil snorted. “Is that all? We’re kind of busy.”
“That’s all.” He nodded to us and took a step back.
In a flash something sharp hit me in the thigh; I staggered back against Trace as blood started seeping through my jeans. The sharp pain turned into a burn that radiated through my leg. I could feel the wetness of blood start pouring down from whatever damage he’d caused.
He looked at the wound and grinned. “Sorry, it slipped, consider yourself warned.”
“Thanks.” I answered, my breath coming in gasps. I threw my knife directly at his friend’s right thigh. It impaled itself beautifully.
Muttering a string of vulgar curses, the guy stumbled backwards.
But Tex’s uncle didn’t flinch, simply stared me down and then finally threw his head back and laughed. “Well done… once I kill your husband, I may just take you for myself. I could use a little… spunk.”
“Run along, old man,” Mil spat. “She may not shoot you, but I have a loaded gun and I get really trigger happy when I’m not able to use it.”
He nodded, still smiling and sauntered off.
“You okay?” Trace gripped my arms while Vinnie tried to lift me into his.
“I’m fine.” My teeth began to chatter. “Nothing like getting shot after going shopping for lingerie. Think God’s trying to tell me something?”
“Yeah.” Mil reached for her cell. “Have more sex because you never know when you’re going to get shot, where the hell did the gunshot come from anyway? Must have had a silencer, I heard nothing, saw nothing.” Mil swore as she dialed a number.
“You calling Nixon?” Trace asked, trying to steady me.
“No, I’m calling Chase.” Mil placed the phone in her ear. “I’ll let him tell Nixon.”
Trace sighed. “Good call.”
They were talking like one of us getting shot was a normal occurrence, maybe for the guys, but for us? Not so much. In fact I’d only ever been shot once and the pain hadn’t been this extreme, not at all. The burning continued, radiating up my leg and into my hip. I clenched my teeth as their voices started getting more and more quiet. My ears felt fuzzy along with my body, the pain was still there but it felt like it was spreading everywhere and all I needed to do was close my eyes and everything would be alright. Unable to hold out any longer, a hoarse whimper escaped through my lips.
“She’s losing a lot of blood.” Vinnie clenched his teeth and tried to elevate my leg while keeping me in his arms, I clung to him tightly. “We need to get back to the house now.”
“Why so much… blood?” A numbness took over, replacing the pain, making me thankful.
“I’m not a doctor.” Vinnie’s voice shook.
“Vin?” Trace asked. “What aren’t you telling us?”
“It’s close to her femoral artery.”
Why did they sound like they were talking under water?
“How close?” Trace asked, her voice sounded hollow, dark spots started invading my vision.
“Oh God!” Trace gasped, and then everything went black.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Too much damn information, not enough action.
Tex
I PINCHED THE BRIDGE of my nose while Nixon continued talking. Sergio and Chase were on the couch looking through a series of surveillance tapes around our local businesses while I tried to fight the urge to punch Nixon in the face. Granted, he was just trying to fill us in, but did Sergio have to be present? His every heartbeat insulted the shit out of me and I was itching—itching to end it.
“So—” Nixon popped his knuckles. “—Tex.”
My head snapped up. “What?”
“Ten million, and by the looks of it, you have your old family wanting to know who’s side you’re going to pick whereas your new family—”
“Us.” Chase winked.
I rolled my eyes.
Nixon chuckled. “Right, your new family offers protection, so at this point, the ball’s kind of in your court. Do you want to make a statement? Or do you want to lay low for a while?”
“When has laying low ever helped anyone?” Sergio pointed out. “As far as I’m concerned, laying low means he’s hiding. Why the hell would a man hide?”