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“No, they’ll break in eventually or force us out. We can’t risk it,” Ricardo answers.
“Here, here!” Mario beckons us to come inside, and he quickly glances around to make sure no one noticed before shutting the door.
“Is Marcello with you?”
I shake my head, anger twisting at my insides. “They took him.”
Mario’s face darkens, but he quickly recaptures himself. “C’mon. There’s a way out of here.”
He guides us into the kitchenette and beyond, where there’s a door I thought led to a closet for supplies. But when he opens it, he pushes a few cans out of the way and presses a button on the wall. Something clicks, and my heart skips a beat. Mario curls his fingers around the metal and pulls it. The cabinet comes off the wall, including some of the supplies, but he pays no attention to some of the cans and packages that fall off the shelves.
“Inside,” he says, pointing at the small hole appearing behind.
Ricardo goes first, and I follow him into the dark, damp hole. He pulls out his phone and lights the area, showing a long tunnel ahead.
“This tunnel was built during the construction of the house as an emergency exit in case we’d ever need it,” Mario explains. “First time it’s been put to use.”
First time? No wonder there are cobwebs everywhere.
I try to ignore the spiders crawling around as we make our way through the tunnel, leaving the yelling and gunshot noise behind us. Even though it feels wrong to leave Marcello’s people behind, I know they want to defend their home and try to get vengeance for them stealing Marcello away.
“Do you think they can get Marcello back?” I ask.
“Do not worry about Marcello,” Mario says. “He can handle himself.”
“I know Molly and Frank. They’ll chew him up and spit him out.”
“Because he bites,” Mario says, chuckling. “They’re no match for him. They will find out sooner or later.”
I sigh and accept what he says even though I don’t agree.
I know Marcello is a tough motherfucker, but I know Frank is an even tougher motherfucker now that I’ve seen him come back from the dead. And there is no way in hell he’s going to let Marcello win. Not to mention the fact that Molly wants revenge for her crippled husband. They’re probably going to torture him.
The mere thought makes bile rise in my throat, but I force it down and focus on walking because I feel like we’re close. There’s a small ladder leading to a metal enclosure that seals the exit.
“Catch,” Mario says as he throws something at Ricardo.
Ricardo quickly goes up the steps and shoves it into the metal lock, opening it up with Mario’s key. Then he climbs out farther and calls us to come too, so I start on the climb. The bright sunlight blinds me as Ricardo grabs my hand and pulls me outside.
I walk a few steps only to realize we’re on the other side of the mansion in a tiny public park in the middle of the city. I’m impressed they kept this safe and hidden for so long. But it probably won’t be anymore with all of those Irish flooding the house.
“We can’t just leave Marcello in their hands.” I focus on Ricardo and Mario, who seems overwhelmed by my sudden statement as everybody gets out through the hole. “We have to save him.”
Ricardo pushes down the metal door and locks it in place again, throwing the key at Mario, sealing Marcello’s fate. “We can’t help him. The mansion is overrun.”
“But—”
Mario grabs my hand. “Marcello would want you to be safe. At all costs. Even his own life.”
My cheeks turn red, but my eyes water at the same time. “Isn’t there something we can do? We can’t just leave him out there to die.”
Mario nods. “I promise you, I will do my best. But we will have to think up a plan somewhere safe. Not here.”
“The safe house,” Ricardo says. “C’mon. There’s a car parked a few blocks from here that we can use.”
“Convenient,” I say as we all run in the same direction across the street.
“I assure you, nothing is merely convenient in our line of work,” Mario replies as we pass all the people on the street who are oblivious to what just went down only a few blocks away from here. To this Mafia world I now seem entrenched in.
When we get to the car, everybody hops in, and Ricardo hits the gas, racing off. I quickly put on my seat belt as he isn’t being careful at all, and I don’t want to die just yet. Mario’s eyes are glued to the back window as he searches the area for any potential pursuers.
SCREECH!
Ricardo hits the brakes so suddenly that Mario is almost flung to the front, but he manages to hold the chair in front of him.
