Cat rubs at her neck. “Marco is coming.”
They’re all coming. Everyone we could call on, from every family. But if Matteo gets here first, we’ll be on our own with the few men we have until the others reach us.
I brush her cheek. “We’ll be ready, Cat. If he comes tomorrow night, then it will work perfectly. And if he comes tonight, we can hold on.”
“I hope so,” she murmurs.
34 – Domenico
Vincent jogs up to me. “Everyone who needed to be gone has left from our side. Tony wasn’t happy, but Frankie talked him around.”
We stand for a moment, watching the junior soldiers load up their guns. “They all look fucking petrified.”
“As they should.” Vincent keeps his voice low. “Cockiness gets you killed, Dom. Fear will keep them alive and fast.”
I glance at him, incredulous. “Is that the bullshit you taught them?”
He huffs a laugh. “Yeah. Think it’ll work?”
I hope so. I watch as one fumbles, dropping his gun. Paul Maranzano puts down his own weapon, stalking over and grabbing it from the floor. He checks to see if it’s loaded before rapidly slipping a load in, stacking it and handing it back to the soldier.
Vincent hums thoughtfully. “We need to recruit, when this is over.”
A new face in Danny’s seat.
“If there’s anyone left to recruit.”
And if we’re left to recruit them.
35 – Dante
“You should sleep,tentazione.”
I settle down next to Cat. She keeps her arms wrapped around her legs, the night air cool enough that goosepimples rise up on her skin. “I’m waiting for Stefan and Luc.”
I scan the space on front of us. The campus is dark and silent, all activity focused on the hall behind us. “Dom has a camera on the gates. We can wake you.”
“I don’t think I can sleep anyway,” she says quietly. “There are too many thoughts in my head.”
I nudge her. “Share them. Make some space.”
A tired smile tugs at her lips. “What if we’ve misjudged this? He might not come at all.”
“Then we get to take an army to him,” I point out. “Seems like an excellent option to me.”
She sighs. “I just want him dead. I want to be free of him. I want alife, Dante.”
Cat leans into me as I wrap my arm around her shoulders. “He’s not walking out of this,tentazione. Another day or two, and we’re free.”
36 – Luciano
They appear in the distance behind us; a long line of bright white lights that flicker in the mirror next to my window as I lean forward before twisting in my seat to look behind.
It’s the middle of the fucking night. There’s only one reason a row of lights would be heading our way.
“Stefan.” My voice is tight. “How long until we get back?”
He glances in the rearview mirror, his voice tight. “Fifteen minutes.”
