Page 31 of The Mafia’s Fiancee

Chapter 12

Emma

Over the course oftwo weeks, Luke and I had the privacy and freedom to really get to know each other. He didn’t have to go to work at the Tropican. I didn’t have to hide from my father. His obligations were simply to lie low with me and stay off anyone’s radar until we knew what to do next.

It felt like a waiting game, but those fourteen days were undisputedly some of the best ones of my life. While it might have made more sequential manner to get to know each other before we had sex, shared I-love-yous, or fast-forwarded to a proposal, this was us. I knew enough about him to lose my virginity to him. And I knew enough about him to say yes when he presented me with that ring.

This slower pace leisurely time was simply a blessing. We talked and made love. Rinse and repeat. He asked me countless questions about my childhood and I asked him about his. He explained how he got into street fighting and I told him how Krista and I became friends. He talked about Randy. I talked about some of the decent guards, like Simon. When he inquired about my dreams, he listened intently to my dashed hopes to go to college to be a nurse. Then when I followed up, asking about his career goals, he said they were all up in the air now, and I had to agree with him there.

In the downtime when we weren’t talking, we proved that we had great chemistry without any awkward pauses by having sex. It seemed that giving him my V card had turned me into a rabid, horny woman, and he was all for it, not even worried when we didn’t use a condom. We didn’t have any, and I was mostly sure that my birth control shot would last at least a little longer past its due for renewal.

Cozy with each other’s company, we lacked for nothing but answers, and those would come when they came.

We checked in where it mattered. Luke spoke with Jimmy, asking if he knew anything. I reached out to Krista with my burner phone, greeting her with an old inside joke that she’d get. She, too, was out of the loop about what was happening with my father, so it seemed that we had to count on Jimmy for the slow trickle of intel.

Luke had also obtained money from a man Randy knew. Or maybe it was a relative? A friend of a relative? I lost track of the order. Much like how Krista was staying somewhere safe where the family couldn’t find her, Jimmy arranged for a chain-effect handoff so we could be equipped with funds. The hefty supply of cash and an untraceable, brand-new credit card for just for him to use.

It felt like the calm before the storm, and soon enough, that theory came true.

Early in the morning, when he decided to go out and get more milk and eggs, he doubled back within a minute of leaving.

“Hide.”

I had the gun in hand—I always did when he left me alone for any length of time—and I checked that the safety was off. He didn’t need to explain that danger was coming. I saw it in the tension on his face. He’d healed so well from his fights. My wounds were much better with all the rest, too. Seeing his stern face lined with anxiety and being on high alert, I worried that he’d be harmed again.

He gestured for me to get back to the bedroom, the room furthest to the center of the house. Before we could find a spot to bunker down, the window shattered.

Luke crouched, shielding me from the spray of shards. As he turned to run, another man rushed in. He had to have burst in through the front door.

We were trapped, sandwiched between one man coming from the front and another climbing in through the shot-out window.

“Get him!”

Gunfire filled the room, but I focused, determined to be able to fight back. Luke had separated from me, pulled away by the one Giordino guard. They struggled in a fight, but I kept my eyes on the other guard. He was armed, lifting his gun at Luke.

They wanted him dead, but to bring me in alive.

No. That’s not gonna happen.

I tensed, locking into concentration as I brought the gun up at fired at the second Giordino man. My father bragged that this creep was one of his best spies. All I saw him as was the enemy.

I fired, getting him in the shoulder. More than anything, I snagged his attention. He must not have anticipated me being armed. Scowling at me as he hunched to the side in pain, he growled and cursed at me.

That was the window of opportunity Luke needed. He bashed the first guard’s head to the wall, denting the drywall in with a concave hole. Before that man dropped, he lunged at the first guard and tackled him.

I had faith in him. I knew he could handle two men. We’d rehearsed what to do if someone broke in, and I hustled to follow the protocol. The gun was useless, but I brought it along so it wouldn’t be evidence with GSR on the surface. Then I ran back toward the door, grabbing the backpack of necessities. We kept it ready, just in case of a moment like this, and I bolted toward the front door. He had another knife hidden on the doorframe, and I took that to bring along.

Another gunshot fired, and I froze, midstep. Luke didn’t know how to use a gun. Sure, it was likely self-explanatory, but I worried. I waited until he ran out of the bedroom. The gun was in his hand, and I raised my brows.

“They’re down.”

“You shot him?” I asked as he joined me, handing me the gun.

“No. I guided him to shoot his friend before I knocked him out.” He nodded at the gun, gesturing for me to accept it while he took the backpack. “I figured you’d be able to use it.”

I needed no further explanation. We were geared up to go, and we did.

Like our protocol of what to do in case of an enemy coming too close for comfort, we knew exactly where to go. Randy’s wife’s cousin worked at a hotel, and she had understood that if we showed up, we’d need a room to be under a false name.