Chapter 6 - No Bodies Outside My Flower Shop
Vincent drew his gun.
Maggie grabbed his sleeve.
“Please tell me you have a charming mafia trick for locked storage units.”
“I was hoping you did.”
A hiss came from the ceiling.
Vincent smelled it first.
“Gas.”
He shot the lock.
Nothing.
Steel.
Maggie searched the walls.
Ventilation duct.
Too small.
Vincent wrapped his jacket around her face.
“No.”
“Maggie.”
“We share.”
The gas thickened.
Then metal screamed.
Someone outside rammed the door.
Once.
Twice.
Third impact.
The door bent.
Vincent’s men dragged them out.
Maggie woke in Vincent’s house.
He sat beside her bed.
“You scared me.”
His voice was almost angry.
“So romantic.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
He lowered his forehead to her hand.
Maggie had never seen him look exhausted.
“Anthony is alive,” he whispered.
“Maybe.”
Vincent looked up.
“The video.”
“Could be old.”
He knew she was right.
“What did he mean by your father’s real killer?” she asked.
Vincent didn't answer.
That afternoon, Luca DeSantis called.
Vincent put him on speaker.
“You've been difficult to reach,” Luca said.
“You murdered my brother.”
“No.”
“Then prove it.”
“I tried twenty years ago.”
Silence.
Luca continued.
“Your father ordered Anthony killed. I helped Anthony escape instead.”
Vincent’s face emptied.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No. I expect you to ask why your father died six months later.”
Vincent said nothing.
Maggie watched him.
His father’s death had officially been a heart attack.
Luca said, “Anthony came back.”
The call ended.
Vincent stared at the phone.
Maggie understood.
“If Anthony killed your father—”
“I would have helped him.”
That answer frightened her more than denial.
Three nights later came Thursday.
Wedding orders kept Maggie at the shop late.
Vincent wanted her home by ten.
She stayed.
At 11:47, Maggie stepped outside.
A black SUV stopped.
Two men approached.
“Ms. Sullivan?”
She backed toward the door.
“We only need a conversation.”
“No.”
One grabbed her arm.
Maggie twisted.
Headlights flooded the sidewalk.
A sedan mounted the curb.
Vincent emerged before it stopped.
His face was empty.
Cold.
His men moved.
One attacker hit the pavement.
The second was dragged against the SUV.
Vincent went straight to Maggie.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Did they touch you?”
“My arm.”
His gaze dropped.
Something lethal appeared in his expression.
Maggie caught his wrist.
“Vincent.”
He looked at her.
“No bodies outside my flower shop.”
Silence.
Then a grim nod.
“As requested.”
His men took the attackers away alive.
Later, beneath the shop’s dim work lights, Vincent admitted they belonged to Luca.
“Security starts tonight.”
“No.”
His eyes flashed.
“You nearly disappeared.”
“And I still get choices.”
“Maggie—”
“Not orders.”
Silence.
Then Vincent surprised her.
“You're right.”
He looked toward the window.
“There may be another way.”
“What way?”
His hand disappeared inside his coat.
He removed a small velvet box.
Placed it between them.
Maggie stared.
“Vincent…”
He didn't open it.
“Before you say no, you need to understand what this would make people believe.”
He opened the box.
Inside was a diamond ring.
But beneath it was something Maggie noticed first.
A tiny folded piece of paper.
Vincent hadn't put it there.
He saw it too.
Maggie unfolded it.
May you like
Four words were written inside.
ANTHONY WANTS HIS BROTHER.
