Page 94 of Above ’N’ Beyond

Paola stepped to within inches of Bella, so close she could smell her aunt’s pricey perfume. “Bella, I’ll only ask you once more. Did you hear Jimmy say he was a cop?”

Again, she swallowed, sending one last desperate look around the room for any vestiges of sympathy. There were none. Cold, uncaring eyes stared back at her. She was alone in this, but she’d never give her aunt the satisfaction of knowing how scared she was.

She met Paola’s glare with an unflinching one of her own. If her life ended right here, in this room tonight…so be it. She’d hold up her head until the bitter end.

Paola reared back her arm and slapped Bella’s face so hard she nearly lost her balance. Her cheek stung, and her head felt like she’d been punched.

“Bella, no.” Tony shook his head, his expression filled with sadness. “Why? We’re your family. How could you do this to us?”

Bella stared at her cousin, disbelief coursing through her veins like hot lava. “How could I do this to you? Me?” She pointed to her chest, then to Tony. “You’re the ones who’ve been using me this whole time, stealing from my restaurant and using it for—for…this.” She swept her arm around the room to encompass everyone, including Salvatore Palumbo and his entourage. “You’re not my family. Not really. I’m only sorry I couldn’t pick my own family, because I never would have picked you. Any of you.”

“You little bitch.” Paola drew back her arm, intending to slap Bella again.

Bella shot out her hand and grabbed her aunt’s wrist. “I think we’re done here.”

Paola’s lips trembled, then pressed together so tightly every line in her aged skin made itself known. She jerked from Bella’s grasp, her expression so brutal, so full of malice, Bella had no doubt as to how this night would end.

Palumbo cleared his throat. “I think we are done here. It appears that you have some incredibly dirty laundry that needs to be handled, and if you can’t handle it…” He let the sentence dangle, unfinished, but all present understood the meaning, including Bella.

If Paola didn’t get rid of Bella and Jamie quickly and quietly, her aunt’s rising star in the Palumbo Crime Family would burn out and fall into the river, never to be seen or heard from again.

“No, wait!” Paola spun to face Palumbo. “I can take care of this right now. There’s no reason to leave.” She nodded to Tony, then Marco. “Get rid of her and Jimmy Santoro. Now!”

Bella’s mouth went dry. Marco grabbed her by one arm, Tony by the other. They started dragging her to the door.

This was it. If she was lucky, some boaters would find her body floating in the river tomorrow morning. If not, she’d be lying on the riverbed, her body being picked at by crabs until there was nothing left but skinless, fleshless bones.

…

With Jax at his side, Jamie raced from the dining room and ducked into the kitchen. Lou and Sierra were cutting slices of layer cake. Rebecca and Lori stacked dessert plates on the counter, while the rest of the staff pitched in piling cannoli on serving platters and washing wineglasses.

“Listen to me carefully,” Jamie said in a low voice. “This place is about to become a war zone. Don’t ask questions. Just get out of here. Now!”

Eight sets of eyes looked at him as if he was out of his mind, but he didn’t have time to wait and see if they’d heed his warning. He and Jax ran down the hall. The enforcer who’d been standing guard wasn’t there. The banquet room door was open. Shouting came from inside.

On a tactical scale of one to ten, what Jamie was about to do probably didn’t even rate a one. But Bella’s life was at stake, and he was responsible for that. She was his responsibility. And the love of his life. His colpo di fulmine.

He burst into the banquet room.

Marco and Tony gripped Bella’s upper arms. Her eyes were lit with fear, then shock, as she caught sight of him. The three men he’d pegged as enforcers whipped out their guns, aiming them at Jamie.

Jax lowered his head and growled.

Slowly, Jamie raised his arms in the air. “Easy boy, stay.” He didn’t want Jax leaping to his defense. Not yet, anyway.

“There’s the traitor now.” Marco spat at Jamie’s feet. He released Bella’s arm and tugged a gun from his waistband. A Glock 9 mm. One of the FBI agents’ guns.

The back door slammed shut. A moment later, Nicky and Sammy rushed in, their chests heaving.

“Not here, idiot,” Tony growled at Marco, then lasered his eyes on Jamie. “Is it true, Fist? I gotta hear it from you.”

In a heartbeat, Jamie took in the room, tactically analyzing what he was up against.

Over two dozen men and at least four guns. By Mafia code, the only ones who were supposed to be armed were the enforcers. That didn’t mean there weren’t any rule breakers hiding in the crowd. The only other firearm was strapped to Jamie’s ankle. It might as well have been outside in his Tahoe. If he went for it, there was no way he’d come out of this alive.

The text he’d sent to his friends contained only two things. The Bistro’s address and the words I need you. By his count, that had been five minutes ago. Dayne and Katrina’s castle where all the guys were staying was ten minutes away, less if they were hauling ass, running Code 3 with lights and sirens. The only way he and Bella might survive this was if he stalled for time.

“It’s true, Tony. But let Bella go.” He looked at her, and his heart squeezed with so much regret, so many unsaid words, he thought his chest would cave in. Her beautiful, fear-filled blue eyes glistened with unshed tears. “She has nothing to do with this. I lied to her and forced her to keep quiet. She had no choice.” Not entirely true, but Tony and Paola didn’t need to know that. “Let her go. Take me instead, and I’ll tell you everything the FBI is planning.” For tonight, that meant absolutely nothing.