Luciano knelt beside him and glared into his eyes. “I want my face to be the last you see before you spend eternity with the devil.”
“This isn’t over,” Dante rasped out.
Simone stared down at Dante. “Any last words?”
Gasping for breath, Dante said, “May thirty-first will be memorialized forever. My name will be remembered as the king of mass destruction. I’ve set into motion something that not even the great Santini can stop.” An evil smile contorted his face.
She held the gun steady. “This is for killing Luciano’s family.”
BANG!
The bullet pierced Dante’s heart, his eyes went flat, and his breathing stopped.
It was over… for now.
Luciano knew the real nightmare was to come. Dante had deployed a ruthless team of terrorists throughout the country, with plans for a major attack against the US.
He rose, pulled Simone into his arms, held her tightly, and breathed. “Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yes. You?”
“You’re in my arms, so it’s all good.”
“Thank you for the save,” she murmured.
“Thank you for having my back, and for avenging my family.”
She nodded.
“Partners always, yes?” he asked.
“Always,” she replied.
One more hug before she checked on Nikki while Luciano called for an ambulance.
After seeing that Nikki was coming around, Simone grabbed a towel, hurried over to Hirzog, and pressed gently against his wound.
“You’re going to be okay, Peter,” she said. “You were very brave.”
“I’m sorry,” Hirzog murmured.
Luciano called Carrera, added Sin to their call. “The Bomb Maker is dead. Hirzog is wounded. Simone was a rock star. The Bomb Maker gave me the Day of Destruction.”
“When?” Sin asked.
“May thirty-first.”
“In six months?”
“Yes.”
“We’re not gonna get much sleep, are we?” Carrera asked. “Does Teddy know?”
“I’m calling him next.”
“We’ll talk,” Sin said.
Luciano hung up, called his brother.