One Last Bullet: An Action Thriller (Adrian Hell Series Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

way they did. Pellaggio had been weak, and lacked vision. It would’ve only been due to Adrian Hell’s intervention that made him decide to sever his ties with Manhattan. His mental illness was his downfall, often clouding his better judgment; he’d known that Adrian would’ve been able to exploit that in order to stop him.
    That was no way to do business.
    He thought about Adrian Hell, too. That man was capable of immense things, and now the opportunity had presented itself to wipe the slate clean and start afresh, he was smart enough to know that, despite his instinct to seek revenge, it’d be far more beneficial not to have someone like him as an enemy. Some things were simply best forgotten about, even if they were never forgiven.
    Outside, the sun was high and warm, and the sky was clear. The light was beaming in through the slits in the blinds. He sat in bed reading the morning’s newspaper. There were still articles detailing the attempted attack on the S.S. Jeremiah O’Brien.
    He realized he was also a little disappointed. He’d expected great things from his partnership with Roberto’s son, but sadly it wasn’t meant to be. Still, he had plenty of money saved and invested, as well as his own reputation to work with. He’d be back on his feet in no time.
    There was a knock on his door, disturbing him from his thoughts. It opened, and a nurse walked in. She was a large, dark-skinned woman in her forties, with long, braided dark hair tied in a large ponytail.
    “Hey sugar,” she said. “How you feelin’ today?”
    “Very well, thank you,” he replied.
    She moved to the end of his bed and flipped through his chart, intermittently nodding at the information.
    “You doin’ alright,” she reported. “You in any pain, sugar?”
    He shook his head. “There’s a dull ache in my shoulder, but nothing of any concern. I feel fine, honestly.”
    “Good. In that case, I think we can get you out of here. How does right now suit you?”
    She gave him a big, friendly smile, which he reciprocated as much as he could.
    “That’s excellent news, thank you.”
    The nurse replaced his chart and left to make the preparations.
    In no particular hurry, he returned to his newspaper, to finish reading a particularly interesting article in the business section. But he found his mind wandering to thoughts of what would happen once he left the hospital…
     
    11:35
    Manhattan stood in front of the mirror in his room, fastening his tie. His bloodstained suit and shirt had holes in them where he’d been shot. He looked at the poor condition of his clothes with frustration as he straightened his tie and stepped into his shoes.
    He regarded his reflection for a moment. He was fifty-four, and the years had been less than kind to him. He conceded that it was mainly self-inflicted due to the life he’d chosen to lead from a young age, and he had no issue with his looks. He was old enough to not care about such trivialities. He used his hands to smooth down his thinning, gray hair. His dark, deep-set eyes looked back at him impassively.
    He had a second chance now. Any ties he once had to the Pellaggio name were dead and buried, simply because every member of that family was now dead. What was left of the organization was in limbo, and the opportunity to seize control was his for the taking. He had people who were loyal to him, and it wouldn’t take him long to establish himself as the next man in charge. He could run the business single-handedly, having had previous exposure to most areas of it while working for Roberto.
    He turned and walked out of the room, heading to the front desk, where he was given all the obligatory paperwork to complete, prior to discharge. It was the same nurse from before, and she seemed genuinely happy to see him up and about.
    “That’s everythin’, sugar,” she said, taking the last of the completed forms off him and shuffling them on the desk to make a neat pile. “You need anything else