Vonnie’s only response was a head nod.
“Who’s Anessa?” I asked as soon as I figured Vonnie had made it out of earshot.
Frankie’s attention had already left the empty doorway and returned to me. “She is the owner of the town’s bakery and the girlfriend of a man I like to piss off as often as possible.”
“So you always tell his girlfriend hello?”
“Yes.” Frankie picked up the pen from his desk and returned to his computer. “Things work differently in a small town. You don’t always have to brandish a gun to make a point.”
I let his words sit for a second or two before a terrifying scream shook the home. It had to be the woman who left, and I froze in my seat staring at Frankie. I was terrified she was getting her punishment for offending him, but when my gaze met the gangster’s, his shocked expression locked in place.
He pushed back his chair and stormed for the doorway right as a second scream rattled the windowpanes.
CHAPTER 10
Immediately after the scream cut off, a series of pings surrounded the outside of Frankie’s home.
“Get down,” Frankie yelled as he ran past me, headed in the direction of the gunfire. At first, I ducked down like I’d listened to him, but then my senses caught up with me and I was on Frankie’s heels by the time he made it out of his office.
Frankie’s steps came to a halt in his living room and I followed suit. If he wasn’t running into the gunfire, no way would I risk my life to do so either. Frankie’s living room, which a few moments earlier had been serene, was encased in chaos. Swarms of men wearing dark-colored suits flipped cushions off his couches and blindly grabbed underneath the end tables.
I stopped, letting my gaze take in all the action as they transformed the quiet, cozy space into a war zone. One oversized man used a single hand to lift the white couch high in the air while another reached underneath and returned holding an enormous gun. It looked military.
“Is that a fucking rocket launcher?” I asked, watching two men get a handle on the weapon.
The bigger one settled it on his shoulders. All over in the space, men retrieved weapons of abnormally large proportions. They came from deep within the cushions or under pieces of furniture. The coffee table in the middle of the room had two rifles and a box of ammo under it.
Frankie turned to me, noticing I had followed him from the office for the first time as he watched his men gather their resources.
“I thought I told you to get down and stay in the office,” he said while physically pushing me back a few feet.
At first I tried to struggle, but then he pointed to the window I had precariously placed my body in front of like a woman who didn’t grow up knowing the dangers of gunfire.
My new position kept me safer from stray bullets but still gave me a view into the yard. The opposition’s men, who littered the outside, were slowing. Even Frankie’s men, who had been returning fire, paced their shots. I leaned forward to give myself a slightly better view and had to cover my mouth at the site.
“Frankie,” I said, reaching back for him. “Vonnie is out there.” Just a few moments earlier, I’d been completely jealous of the woman and her relationship with Frankie, but that didn’t mean I wanted her to be shot.
Vonnie, her blonde hair flying out in every direction, crouched behind a white car with one of Frankie’s bodyguards hunched over her. It wasn’t like my cousin to indiscriminately fire at someone’s house. He was much more about making business moves than attacks.
I had to believe someone else was causing this mayhem rather than my family. We liked each other. I didn’t see Westley putting my life in jeopardy by having a shoot-out at the house of my kidnapper. Would he?
“I thought you said this town was friendly?” My question came out too loudly in the now quiet room.
His response came so close to my ear I realized I was practically in his arms. Frankie had one wrapped around my shoulders as I pressed my face into his chest. I cleared my throat and tried to step back, but he held on tighter.
“It is,” he said, staring down at me as if he didn’t understand why he had me in a sweet embrace. “These are your admirers. They must have followed us from Chicago.”
How did they get here so fast? They would have to drive nonstop to make it.
We sidestepped to our right until we lined up at a weird angle to one of the large windows at the front of the house, giving us a clear view of the street.
“What do they want with me?”
Frankie shook his head, his thoughts contemplative. “I suspect the same thing I wanted—leverage to use against your cousin. But that doesn’t explain why they haven’t given up. Something about you seems to make men highly determined.”
I started to argue with him when a big black van, similar to the main one that tried to kidnap me, drove down the street. It reminded me of the white vans parents warned their children to stay away from. But more sinister.
The black van slammed to a stop in front of the house and Frankie tensed beside me, taking a step back. “This place is a formidable fortress. There’s no way they get past my defenses.”
