Three Hot Wishes (Fantasy Come to Life - Magic in the Real World Novel) (33 page)

Sloane

The man on the ground in front of me, Bruceman I guess his name was, looked up at me with sad eyes set deep within his wrinkled face.

"They're right," he said. "Partially."

Leo didn't like that. I could tell he was the sort of guy who only knew what to do with himself when he was in charge, and Bruceman having a say in his own fate, even re-writing the script a touch wasn't going to please him. "What are you talking about, old man? She's not an idiot. She knows if she kills me and Vick that it's just a matter of time until she gets done by someone else."

Bruceman nodded knowingly. Even though he was still on his hands and knees, blood trickling to the floor from a handful of cuts, he seemed to be laughing to himself. "Yes, I'm sure she knows that. She knows that your brother Ritchie and your Uncle Gino would make mincemeat out of her and her boyfriend."

"Exactly," said Vick. "So why are we still talking?"

But Bruceman kept right on speaking. "Does she know that, if the two of you were gone and Ritchie and Gino were gone as well, she'd be safe?"

Leo shrugged, clearly getting flustered. "How do I know what this bitch does and doesn't know?"

Vick shifted his weight on his feet nervously. "Get out, Angel. Take the girl with you. Leave us with Bruceman. All this old man is doing is showing us that my Uncle Gino should never have spared him, way back when. He's been nothing but a thorn in our side, and that stops tonight."

Bruceman nodded. "Yes, yes it does. One more thing though, Brothers Carello. I wonder, does Sloane know that your loving Uncle Gino, he who showed me such mercy 'way back when' as he gunned down my son, as he murdered my friends, does she know that he and your brother Ritchie were playing cards in a little apartment on Eighth Avenue tonight? Does she know that they were sitting by the phone, waiting for you to call and tell them that she and Angel were as dead as my boy?"

Leo's face went white, and I knew Bruceman was speaking the truth.

"How the Hell do you know that, old man?" Vick demanded.

Bruceman chuckled. "Does she know that about half an hour ago, a gas line broke inside that apartment? Your Uncle's a heavy smoker, isn't he Leo. What do you think happened when he lit up his next cigarette?" Bruceman made an exploding noise, sitting up to reveal that he grabbed the gun Vick had kicked over to me without me or anyone else knowing. "A shame. At least there were only the two victims. Leaky pipes can be so dangerous, don't you think?"

Angel grabbed my hand. "Let's go," he said urgently. "Now!"

I nodded, stuffing my gun back into my purse. "Mr. Bruceman..." I said, not knowing what to say next.

"Go now, child," he told me. "I'll make sure these two don't ruin the life you and your man have ahead of you."

I hurried to the door. Angel pushed it open, but I paused, unwilling to leave the old man like this.

"We can all go," I told Bruceman, even though I knew it wasn't true.

He shook his head. "I don't think so, sweetheart. Maybe..."

"Yes?"

"Maybe if you have a boy, you could name him William, after my son?"

I nodded. Billy. I liked that. I didn't know of course that Angel and I would have a son. Hell, I didn't even know if he and I would be a thing forever.

Though that was a lie. I knew I had his heart, and he certainly had mine.

I rushed after Angel. We ran down the hallway, and through the crowd, he and I both thinking the same thing, that if Bruceman did what we thought he was going to do, the more people that saw us and the farther away from the scene of the crime we were, the better...

Someone had pulled his Jag around front, and we climbed in, too uncertain to smile, but clinging to each other like the lovers we were.

Like the lovers we'd always be.

Billy. Billy Angelino.

I liked it. He sounded like the sort of boy who'd grow up to be a man worth knowing.

And I couldn't wait to meet him.

THE END

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