Free For Fallon by Soraya Naomi Page B

Jack’s voice is growing weaker. Blood is leaving his body, fast. “That’s all I know. He gave me ten thousand to make sure you wouldn’t receive your last payment for Crystal Lake.”
    This is interesting.
    I release Jack’s head, letting it slouch forward, and go to Adriano. “Did you find money on him?”
    “I found ten in the trunk of his car. This could be true. We still don’t know why Leggia wanted Crystal Lake.”
    I reach for my gun. Shit. I left the silencer in my glove compartment. “Have a silencer on you?” I ask Adriano.
    “You forgot?” he answers in disbelief.
    I was distracted by Fallon. I never come unprepared to the warehouse, except for today. I raise my brow impatiently. “Yes or no.”
    “No, not for that one.” He signals to my Smith & Wesson.
    “Give me yours.”
    Adriano hands me his gun and reaches for the silencer from his back pocket.
    I attach it to the barrel of the weapon and stand beside Jack, aiming the gun at his temple. The infinitely small part of my conscience that’s left feels sorry for ending this man’s life. Who am I to be judge and executioner? I have no answer for that question. All I know is that in this Syndicate, it always comes down to you or him . And I’m selfish enough to choose myself repeatedly. Every time I kill, the face of that first associate I finished off pops up in my head. As I pull the trigger, the thwack resounds through the warehouse, ending Jack’s agony with one bullet.
    Adriano removes his gloves and takes two shirts from a garbage bag he brought with him. My collared shirt has blood spatters, but my pants and shoes are still clean. We change our shirts and ditch the bloodied ones in the bag, along with the gloves.
    I instruct Damian when he comes up to us. “Burn the garbage bag. Dispose of the body on Crystal Lake ground.”
    “Yes, Padrino .” Damian begins cleaning the evidence.
    Adriano and I leave the warehouse.
    At our cars, Adriano expresses his concern. “How do we know it was Leggia for sure? We don’t have anything to back Jack’s story and you’ve already killed him.”
    We lean against his car, and Adriano reaches for his pack of cigarettes in his pocket.
    “I went to Francitalia for dinner with Fallon. Guess who was there, out in the open, following me? One of Leggia’s men. I’ve only seen him once before, at Leggia’s house months ago. I never forget faces. He’s up to something.”
    “But disposing of the body on his turf will start an all-out war.”
    I pinch the bridge of my nose and tiredly say, “I think he already started the war.”
    “So he saw you with Fallon?”
    My lips thin and I say with bite, “Yes. He clearly saw her too and is most likely doing a background check on her as we speak.”
    “Luca, this is bringing her deeper into our messy world. What does she think you do for a living?”
    “I told her about our company, of course. You almost blew my cover, by the way. I took both phones with me to her apartment and forgot to silence the disposable one.”
    “You seem agitated, yet not. Tell me you didn’t…”
    “I was interrupted.”
    Adriano grins. “What is it with her?” He inhales another deep puff of his cigarette. “Tell me this. Was it good or not as good as you thought it would be?”
    I slowly nod my head. Never have I waited this long before becoming intimate with a woman. But this night has already made the wait worth it. “It was fucking better. I didn’t want to leave. Your timing sucked.”
    Adriano doesn’t know how to respond.
    I’m breaking my rule to not get attached, but at this moment, I don’t care. “I need to be careful - Fallon’s smart. She was visibly unhappy when I left.”
    “That’s women for you.” Adriano lets out a half-hearted laugh, followed by a puckered brow. “Is she suspicious?”
    “I don’t think she’s consciously suspicious yet. She did clearly see me silence my smartphone in the car, and then the disposable one rang when we were