Free KNOX: Volume 4 by Cassia Leo Page A

regret. Think of Rebecca.”
    “She’s suckin’ on seawater!” Tony cackles. “Bye-bye, Rebecca.”
    Verduta can sense my patience waning as my adrenaline peaks. The lion in me is ready to pounce. Just when I’m certain she’s going to pull the trigger and blow my head off, she spins away from me and pistol-whips Tony.
    He’s out.
    She spins around and points her weapon at me again. “Don’t even fucking think about it. He can’t answer any more of your burning questions, so I suggest you get the fuck out of here.”
    I shake my head, unable to believe that this could have gone so fucking wrong.
    “You said I could talk to him. That was the whole fucking deal!”
    “It’s too late. Deal with it.”
    Armstrong steps between Verduta and me, ready to tackle me if I make another move.
    John is dead. Billy is dead. Bruno is probably dead. I’m not any closer to knowing where Rebecca is. And even if I do find her, I don’t know if she’s alive. And even if she’s alive, I’ll have to tell her that her father is dead.
    Turning away from Verduta, I look at John, where he lies about eight feet away from Tony. I close my eyes as I take a step toward him and wait for someone to shoot.

2

    Knox

    Neither Verduta or Armstrong discharge their weapons. I fall to my knees next to John, turning him onto his back so I can see his face.
    His skin is pale from the loss of blood. Tony must have ambushed him from behind when he entered the basement. The gunshot entered at the base of John’s skull and there’s no exit wound. The bottom half of his jaw and his neck are covered in blood. His eyes are wide with shock.
    I push his eyelids shut and close my eyes. Rebecca’s face materializes through the red cast on the backs of my eyelids. I clench my jaw as I take deep breaths.
    “Sorry, John. I fucked up. But I won’t let you down again.”
    My mind draws back to a hot summer day in Bensonhurst when I was seventeen. I’d been hustling for John for two months. He didn’t want me involved in any of his business. He promised my mom he’d never let me do anything illegal. But I was a persistent little shit.
    Jerry Mainella and I enter the shop through the rear entrance, as usual. We head straight through the kitchen and into the dining area. The first booth on the left is John’s booth. And, as usual, he’s sitting there with Frank and Tony. They’re eating antipasti and sipping Peroni while John sips limonata.
    “Come. Sit,” John orders us as he scoots over and nods toward the empty spot on his right.
    I take a seat next to him as Jerry pulls up a chair from a neighboring table.
    “We were just discussing how you boys are gonna stop hustling when school starts.”
    I look at John, ready to protest this decision, but the stern look on his face tells me I’ll get nowhere with him on this subject. His mind is made up.
    “I can still work weekends. You don’t gotta pay me,” I insist, grabbing a bocconcini off the tray and popping it in my mouth.
    He laughs at this suggestion, but I’m dead serious. It’s not the extra pocket money that made me want to work for John. It’s the power.
    When people know you work for John Veneto, they treat you differently. Walk into a room and people fall all over themselves trying to accommodate you. At school, even the teachers treat me differently. I cut class two days in a row last week and never got detention. Being known as one of John’s soldiers is a rush you can’t put a price on.
    “Look at this kid,” John says, putting his arm around my shoulders and giving me a good shake. “He don’t wanna get paid. He does it for the love.”
    Just as he says this, Rebecca walks in the front door of the restaurant and heads straight for our booth. John continues to brag to Tony and Frank about what a good kid I am and I try not to look too pleased with myself. Jerry sometimes gets jealous and makes fun of me. Calls me “Johnny’s pet.”
    But I don’t know what Jerry’s