Chapter 2 - THE MAN WHO OPENED HIS EYES
The assassin reached for the pistol.
Vincent Costa opened his eyes.
For three nights, he had listened to people discuss his death as if he were a piece of furniture. Now the world narrowed to a weapon on the floor and a woman lying motionless against the wall.
He rolled off the bed. His legs nearly failed beneath him. He caught the frame with one hand, seized the fallen pistol with the other, and aimed it at the stranger.
“Don't move.”
The man stopped crawling. His eyes widened. “You're awake.”
“Unfortunately for you.”
The door flew open. Matteo entered with two security men, one carrying a medical kit. For a moment all three froze at the sight of Vincent standing in hospital pajamas, holding a gun.
“Secure him,” Vincent ordered. “Alive.”
The guards dragged the assassin away. Vincent dropped the pistol onto the bed and staggered toward Tessa.
She was conscious, barely. Blood ran from her lip. Her breathing was shallow, and her hands shook as she tried to push herself upright.
“Don't move,” Matteo said, kneeling beside her.
Tessa stared at Vincent. “You can walk.”
“Yes.”
“You can talk.”
“Yes.”
Her expression changed from shock to anger. “You let me think you were dying?”
Vincent had no answer worth offering.
Matteo checked her pupils and ribs, then called for an ambulance. Tessa flinched when he touched her abdomen.
“Possible internal injury,” Matteo said. “We need imaging.”
“I can't afford an ambulance,” she whispered.
Vincent felt something twist inside him. A woman had just put herself between him and a bullet, and her first concern was the cost of surviving.
“I'll cover it,” he said.
Tessa looked at him. “I didn't ask you to.”
“I know.”
“And don't think paying a bill makes you a good man.”
Matteo looked down to hide his reaction.
Vincent swallowed. “I don't.”
The ambulance crew arrived. As they lifted Tessa onto a stretcher, she caught Vincent's sleeve.
“Your underboss,” she whispered. “I heard him talking to someone outside the laundry room yesterday. He said the room cameras had been disconnected. He said tonight was the last chance.”
Vincent leaned closer. “Did he name anyone?”
She nodded faintly. “A man called Romano.”
Her eyes closed.
Vincent followed the stretcher to the corridor. He could have ordered half the city searched before dawn. That was how he had always responded to betrayal: find the enemy, remove the enemy, rebuild the wall.
Instead he looked at the frightened young woman being wheeled away and remembered her words while she believed he could not hear.
You're a terrible man, you know.
She had been right.
He turned to Matteo. “Tell the hospital everything about the attack. Preserve the footage. No one alters a record.”
Matteo studied him. “And Lorenzo?”
Vincent looked toward the dark windows.
“Lorenzo doesn't know I'm awake. Let's keep that advantage until we know who else is involved.”
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For the first time in his career, Vincent wasn't planning an execution.
He was planning to expose the truth.
