“Oh, excuse me!” the mother said, stopping in the hall. “I didn’t see you. Are you sure you’re alright, ma’am?”
I cleared my throat.
My heart wouldn’t budge. The telltale sign of a panic attack ebbed at the fringe of my mind. I gasped a shaky breath. I couldn’t do that here—not now!
The last thing I wanted was for Vincenzo to see me fall apart.
“Fine,” I croaked.
I took advantage of Vincenzo’s loosened grip to scoot away. Darting past the mother and her toddler—who’d painted himself with sauce—I fled. I didn’t stop moving until the sunlight smacked me in the face. Even as I hailed a cab, pausing only to count my cash, I didn’t stop moving.
I had to go somewhere and calm the hell down. It had been a while since I’d had an attack, but with everything going on, I was overdue for a fit of panic.
“Mandy!” The monster banged through the door.
Don’t look at me—don’t see me falling apart.
I slipped into the backseat, pulled the door tight, and ordered the driver to step on it. He shot me a look as though I was crazy.
And no doubt I was.
“I have cash. Go, now. Please!” I watched Vincenzo stride down the sidewalk. “Hurry!”
Once the driver pulled away, with a squeal of the tires, I sagged against the filthy seat. The car cut into traffic, and my pulse roared in my ears.
Vincenzo was never going to let me go.
Which meant I was a step closer to plan B.
I can still contact the F.B.I.
I pulled out my phone, hands shaking. My contact couldn’t meet until next week. I had time.
Deep breath in—hold.
There was still a chance.
Exhale.
I’m going to be okay.
But just in case….
Me: We need to talk, bro. Privately. I’ll call you in ten minutes. Make sure Nicole isn’t around.
Cristiano needed to know what was happening. He needed to be ready to protect my sister and her unborn child if I failed—not that I was going to. But recent events were not playing out in my favor. While I played the cards I had, it made me feel better knowing that Nicole had the added layer of protection from the mob.
That same luxury wasn’t something I could say we shared.
Chapter 34 – Vincenzo
It was funnyto think that not too long ago my brother had picked this very same lock. When he’d gone inside the Lorings’ multi-million-dollar home, it was to blackmail the father—which would have been a colossal mistake, and it was a good thing the Morelli Famiglia never tried to repeat that incident. Good for business, because Archibald would have destroyed the organization. And good for me, because that meant I would now be the one to bring the slimy fucker down.
That night, instead of finding Loring, Cristiano found the younger sister, his old crush, who’d been abandoned by her family over the Christmas season. Nicole had been receptive to his intrusion, inviting him back—the details of which I didn’t know and didn’t want to know! Cristiano had even been wearing a mask, the fucker. He said once that it turned Nicole on.
It seemed the sisters shared a mask kink. Probably not something they wanted to admit.
Unlike the younger Loring girl, Amanda wasn’t secretly hoping I would come for her. She’d told Cristiano as much earlier this evening. He’d come straight to my loft, punched me in the face, and then yelled at me for being a blind asshole.
