Chapter 0008
I let my eyes stray sideways, pretending like the sudden heat of his body hadn’t rewired my heart, turned my breath shallow and stuttered.
“Do you see the man under that streetlight?”
“I see him.” A man in a jean jacket, reading a newspaper. A stranger.
“He’s a Mafia foot soldier.”
Panic turned my gut cold. “What?”
“Down the street, the man by the red car? Another.”
My skin went cold, too. “What are you saying?”
“They’re watching you.” Aldo straightened, and the warm press of his body left icy cold in its absence. I pretended not to notice. “You’re not safe.”
I swallowed against a sudden dry patch in my throat. Where was the strong badass woman I’d crafted from nothing? “Why are they here?”
Because I’d saved Aldo’s man? Because I’d treated him at the hospital, against my better judgment?
Because they knew who Eli was?
Nausea crawled up the back of my throat. “Why are they here, Aldo? What do they want with me?”
“You need to come with me.” Aldo, it seemed, was done offering me truths. “Bring your family. I can keep everyone safe.”
Bring your family. Like I wanted my son closer to the man who’d ruined everything, who’d put us in danger! But what choice did I have?
Those men on the street–the men who’d been lingering much too long–they were very real.
“You can promise their safety?”
“I swear it.”
I nodded. “All right then. Where are we going?”
“I don’t want them to know you know you’re being watched.” His gaze slanted past me, towards the men on the street. “We’ll go to a restaurant.”
“Fine.” So much for my dinner plans. At least, I supposed, we’d all be together. Even if I had to share the evening with “I’ll get them.”
Heft him on the front stoop, closed the door in his face. Eli waited in the living room beside the couch, his eyes so round with curiosity, I knew he’d been standing at the door eavesdropping.
“Who’s that man?” he asked, little fingers clawing at the leather. “Why do you look like that-”
“Nonna!” I called into the house, cutting off his question. “We’re going out to dinner tonight. I don’t feel like cooking.”
Nonna appeared in the kitchen doorway. The way her brow furrowed deep over her blue eyes, I knew she was reading past the facade of my sudden disinterest in cooking
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Chapter 0008
But she didn’t ask questions. “I’ll get my purse.”
+25 BONUS
Thustled Eli into his shoes, then led us back through the front door. Nonna must have recognized the man who waited for us beside the car. Must have. She alone had met the man I’d called husband.
But she didn’t speak.
Another man appeared beside the car, face hidden behind dark glasses.
“Carlo will drive us,” Aldo explained, opening the passenger door of the Bentley. It wasn’t the same one, not the one he’d had when we were married. This looked brand new.
I made to climb in on the passenger side, but Aldo shook his head and instead motioned for Nonna and Eli to share the seat. Carlo slid in behind the wheel.
Which left Aldo and I together in the back. But I was beyond protesting, beyond fighting. Whatever happened … happened.
The engine rumbled to life. The car pulled out onto the street. From behind the driver’s seat, I watched Nonna’s jaw flicker with tension, maybe fear. She’d pieced together enough to understand we were in danger.
“Where are we going?” Eli turned halfway in her lap to catch my eye. “Mommy?”
“To dinner,” I reassured him, hoping the tremor in my hands didn’t show in my voice. I blew out a quiet breath- stuck halfway out of my throat as Aldo leaned in.
Warmth pressed against my side.
“There’s a car following us,” he warned in the faintest murmur. Soft breath tickled my ear. Not that I noticed. Though he couldn’t possibly have heard Aldo’s words, the driver sped up. The car flew down the street, bumping, swaying, careening around turns. Far faster than we should’ve been moving on these narrow residential side- roads.
My heart lodged in my throat.
A particularly vicious bump sent me hurtling forward–and a warm hand caught me. Pulled me back before my head could strike anything that might leave a mark.
I turned towards Aldo, and for a moment, with that warm hand on my skin, the soft brown eyes staring back, he was my Vasco again. The beautiful, loving man.
My soulmate.
How I’d missed him.
I shoved him away. The bastard! How dare he-
“Get down!” Without warning, Aldo’s hand slammed my shoulder blade, folding me down so my chest crashed to my knees.
A bullet cracked.
+25 BONUS
Chapter 0009
