At his side, Caterina wept.
And then, comfort came from the unlikeliest of places:
Niccolo.
“None of this matters,” he said.
We all looked at him in surprise.
I wanted to say,Of COURSE it matters –
But he said, “You’re all alive. Thefamily’s alive.And that’s all I give a damn about.
“We’ll mourn what we’ve lost later, but the rest of our family is in danger. We have to go to them –now.We’ll leave half the foot soldiers to search the mansion for survivors, but the rest are coming with us.”
I nodded, then turned to Valentino. “Let’s go to the garage and see if there’s anything left that can get us to Florence.”
128
Lars
Six Miles From The Hospital
As Renzo swerved in and out of traffic, I looked out the rear window of the Mercedes.
No one was following us.
No black SUVs in hot pursuit.
This isn’t good.
Dario was frantic – or as frantic as he got, anyway. He was angry, but he still maintained control.
“Where are they?” he barked.
“I don’t know,” I said. “Renzo, let them catch us.”
Renzo complied and cut his speed by a third, matching the traffic around us.
“Why aren’t they following us?!” Dario demanded.
Iwas wondering that, too.
“I don’t know. I put seven rounds in the lead car’s windshield – theyknowit was us.”
“We have to go back!”
Shit.
I was afraid he’d say that.
I knew he was terrified for Alessandra – I was, too –
But taking him back to the hospital would be diving headfirst into the lion’s den.
“Renzo, turn around,” Dario ordered.
Renzo pulled up to a light to make a left-hand U-turn.
