The Sacrificial Lamb by Elle Fiore Page A

leaving the office the way he did and then told his boss what he had walked in on. He tried to downplay his attack on Marco, but Sal had most likely given Carlo all the gory details by now. Domenic wasn’t sure where Marco had gone, but he did get assurances from Carlo that he would be dealt with. He didn’t believe that for one second, but it wasn’t like Domenic was going to be around to care, regardless.
    He managed to appease Carlo, who no longer sounded suspicious. If Domenic had played his cards right, he had bought them some time, and he needed all the extra time he could get.

    When dusk finally fell, Domenic went over his plan to go back to the condo and pick up some supplies, food, and clothing. Whatever he lacked, he would have to stop for on the way back to the warehouse. If timed right, the whole errand shouldn’t last more than an hour. Upon his return, he would take care of Vince and take Alex away. He hoped what little trust she had in him was enough to convince her to cooperate.
    The thought of leaving Vince alone with Alexis made him nervous, but he couldn’t see any way around it. The other option would be to take her with him now, but he didn’t think she would be up to going grocery shopping with a mobster who had just kidnapped her from her kidnappers. If she decided to try to escape, or called attention to them—which was almost a certainty—they would be as good as dead. Domenic considered trying to explain it all to her, but he wasn’t sure if she would believe him. No, he would have to take the risk.
    He told Vince he was going to go out and get them all something to eat for dinner. Domenic banked on Vince’s fear of being caught red-handed to prevent him from doing anything in his absence. Before leaving he went in to talk to Alex under the guise of asking her what she wanted to eat.
    The last few hours, he had been replaying their last moments together in his head. It had been infinitely exciting to be able to touch her. It disturbed him that he could still feel the silkiness of her skin. The cadence of her heart, beating out a staccato tattoo under his fingertips stayed with him. Her face haunted him. Domenic had wanted to go back to her, but knew he shouldn’t.
    When he walked into the room, she sat and watched him in silence. Domenic went to her and took the same position as before, crouching down so they were at eye level. She looked alarmed at the expression on his face, and he tried to control his features so as not to scare her unduly.
    “Listen to me closely,” he whispered to her. “I have to go and take care of something, but I’ll be back in an hour.”
    “You’re leaving?” she whispered. Her voice trembled, and she sounded ready to panic.
    “Yes, but I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He took one of her cold hands in his. “I’ll explain everything to you when I return. Take this, just in case.” Domenic pressed a switchblade into her palm. It was the same one he had purchased all those years ago. The same one he had planned to use on Carlo.
    “Aren’t you worried I’ll try to use it on you?” Alex asked with a strange look on her face.
    “You can try,” he said, smirking. “I’m fully trained in hand to hand combat, including disarming people with weapons. I’m not worried.” He winked at her, and she smiled prettily. “I want you to be able to protect yourself if necessary. I know you have a knife. He doesn’t.”
    Alex made the knife disappear, and Domenic stood up to leave. As he went to the door she got up from the cot and came after him.
    “Wait!” she whispered urgently and reached for his jacket to tug him back. “What if you don’t come back?”
    “I’ll come back,” he answered, “but just in case…” and before Domenic could stop himself, he bent his head and pressed his lips to hers. The intense jolt he felt at that moment shocked him.
    Domenic pulled back and left the room with the image of Alex burned into his mind, her fingers