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I continued on to say that I followed the noise and lights up to the third floor of the Varasso estate and could hear the threats coming from inside. I was terrified at the idea of shooting someone, so I devised a plan to cause as little violence as possible. This earned me a snort from Alessandro, given the night’s outcome, but I pressed on and tried to ignore it.
I told them how I opened a door one down and fired a gunshot to hopefully get the bad guys’ attention. I knew who I was looking for, based on the stories Gabriel had told me and a quick internet search before I left, and Molly had to quiet the beginning of a lecture from Luca. Gabriel wasn’t supposed to share that information with outsiders.
“But it saved our lives,” Molly quipped, and Luca stopped his blanch.
Once Dario came to investigate, I shot him in the leg and kicked the gun from his hand when he fell. I stood against the wall and waited for Dante to come. When he did, I then pressed my gun against his head to force him to lie to coax his father out. When Donovan came out, I rushed him away from the door, which I mentioned felt like slamming my bruise-ridden body against a brick wall, but it was enough to get Donovan aside, and I raced in and locked the door.
Kelly started clapping when I finished my story, and the rest joined.
“And all with a broken arm and shattered eye socket,” Gabriel tacked on proudly.
“We’ve gotta fucking step it up,” Willow grumbled.
“No kidding,” Kelly replied.
I wondered how serious they were. Gabriel had mentioned that neither of them wanted anything to do with the life, but they open-fired on the Binachis the same way I did. Maybe we’d all reached the same conclusion.
“How did you ever muster enough bravery to storm into a house of mobsters and take them on like that?” Luca asked.
I shook my head, searching Gabriel’s face for an answer. Looking into his eyes was answer enough. “I didn’t really think about it. All I cared about was saving Gabriel.” I kept my lips parted to say more, but that felt like enough, so I sewed them shut again.
> Gabriel kissed my forehead, and I noticed the wives around the room all regard their husbands lovingly, as well. It was unspoken in the air between us—for these men, we’d do anything. As we all looked at each other, all of our bruises and scrapes, our resolve got deeper and darker. One Binachi had escaped, which meant one man responsible for all of our collective pain still lived. It was as if an invisible contract appeared, and we all signed our names, one by one.
Finally, Luca stood and cleared his throat to break the tense silence. “Well, Stacy. You are one of us, whether you like it or not. You’ve wracked up a lot of debt here today, so for as long as you live, our family’s name covers you, as well.”
That was a lot of organization mumbo-jumbo that I couldn’t quite decipher through the pain in my head and the settling haze accompanying it, so I looked at Gabriel. He simply gave me another kiss on the forehead and promised to explain later.
“I gotta go assess the damage and see where we went wrong in security,” Luca said.
It didn’t seem like anyone missed the look of disappointment on Molly’s face when Luca started to pull away, but before his hand fell entirely out of hers, Marco stood up, holding tightly onto Kelly. “Nope. We’ll take care of that. You and Molly go get some rest. You’ve had a long night.”
“So have you,” Luca retorted.
“What? I can’t hear you. You’re breaking up,” Marco said back.
Luca shook his head. “You’re five feet from me.”
Alessandro stood up and slapped a hand on Luca’s shoulder. “Looking into cameras is more my jam, anyway. You’re just going to be in the way. Go to bed.”
Luca seemed to be catching on what his brothers were up to but glared at them regardless. With a final sigh, he grabbed Molly’s hand and kissed the back of it, and they walked from the room.
“I’ll do security,” Alessandro said. “You call Ricky and check on the kids.”
Marco nodded. “Fine.”
A moment later, they were all gone from the room, leaving just Gabriel and myself.
Gabriel leaned back, taking me with him. I buried myself against his chest, knowing I could never sleep in that room, but laying there was easing some of the pain, so it was okay for the moment.
“Are you sure you want to be involved in all of this?” Gabriel asked. “I’m not saying this is our every day, but it can happen at any time. We beheaded the Binachis. That retaliation is going to be fierce.”
“I think I proved that I can handle myself,” I said.
Gabriel scoffed. “Damn straight, you did.” He craned his head to look down at me. “But I’m serious. This doesn’t have to be your world.”
“It’s your world, and you’re my world,” I replied. “So, it’s my world.”
Gabriel didn’t argue. “You were amazing today.”
