AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Patrons screamed as the glass shattered. Rian slammed on top of me, driving the air out of my lungs. He caged me in his arms, then immediately lifted his weight off me. I hated how secure I felt with him on top of me, protecting me from whatever danger lay outside of the restaurant.
“Stay down, princess,” he whispered in my ear before kissing me hard on the back of my head and moving away. I kept my head down, waiting for more gunfire, but all I could hear were the frightened sniffles and sobs of the restaurant’s patrons.
Fuck.Fuck.
Less than twenty-four hours after my return, and the violence I’d fought so hard to escape caught back up with me. When another minute passed without a sound, I took a deep breath and popped up to my knees, keeping my head low. Rian glared at me from where he crouched beside me, a gun in hand. “I said, stay down.”
I glared at him, drawing my own gun. Did he expect me to trust him to keep me safe?
A few young women sobbed quietly, but the vast majority of Baldino’s customers were calm, checking on each other, picking each other up off the ground, making sure nobody was seriously cut. From my vantage point in the corner, damage appeared limited to the giant glass windows in the front of the restaurant. The bullets hadn’t hit anyone, thank God.
I blinked, and Cormac stood beside me. He extended his hand to help me up. Mine trembled as I wrapped my fingers around his. I clenched my other hand tightly around the grip of my gun to hide the shaking as terror caught up with me.
Cormac jerked his head toward the back of the restaurant. “Time to go, darling.” I followed him to the kitchen at a brisk jog, keeping my head down as he and Rian shielded me from any threats coming from the front of the restaurant.
In the kitchen, Luciano wrung his hands. I stepped toward him, only for Cormac to block my path. While Rian checked the rest of the kitchen for hidden dangers, Cormac ran his fingers over my face, my neck, my hands—every bit of exposed skin. When he finished, he nodded sharply and stepped out of my way.
Oh.Oh.He had been checking me for injuries. I hated the tightness his care caused in my chest, as if it fucking meant something, as if he simply didn’t want anyone else breaking his property before he did.
“Luciano,” I said, grasping his hands in mine. “I’m so sorry.”
He shook his head and moaned. “I can’t believe it’s come to this.”
“What do you mean, Luciano?”
When he looked up at me, his brown eyes were clouded and tired. “Talk to your father, Ginevra.”
I squeezed the elderly man’s hands. “Send the bills to me, okay,ZioLuciano?”
He furrowed his brow in confusion. “What’s a pretty girl like you going to do with those bills, Ginevra?”
Cormac laughed quietly behind me. I ignored him.
“Send them to me, all right?”
Rian looked up from his phone. “Time to go, princess,” he said, echoing Cormac’s words from minutes before. He hustled me out of the restaurant, up an alley, and into the back seat of a large black SUV. Rian and Cormac bracketed me in the middle.
Liam was waiting in the front passenger seat. “Where to, boss?”
“Home,” I said at the same time Rian said, “My place.”
I shook my head in disagreement. “No, we need to go to my father’s. If we leave, we’ll lose any shot at influencing the next step.”
His eyes flicked to my trembling hands. I latched my fingers together in my lap, steeling my spine and meeting his gaze.
Rian’s lips pressed into a thin line. He didn’t like being challenged, but that was too damn bad. I was right. After a tense moment, Rian nodded to me. “The Russos’,” he agreed.
The doorof my father’s study loomed before me, a more intimidating gauntlet than it had been the night before. I ducked away when we arrived at the house, excusing myself to freshen up, using the time to calm my shaking hands and aching heart. Entering that fortress of masculinity would mean taking my place at my father’s side, and my future husbands’, leaping headfirst back into a cruel life of violence and tradition I’d run hard and far to escape.
Ignoring the jack hammering of my heart, I walked in. The men had drinks in their hands and stood in small groups, chattering quietly. Luca smiled when he saw me, walking over and clasping my hands in his. “Are you okay?”
Cognizant of the importance of convincing everyone in that room that I was not only fine, but an eager and valuable partner, I squeezed his hands back. “I’ll be fine. Luciano was really upset when we left. Has someone called him?”
“Papà did,” my brother responded. In a low voice, he continued, “He said you told him to send the bills to you.”
I glanced around the room, wondering whether my father’s captains were aware of his financial situation. “We can talk about it later,” I said, pulling my hands away from his.
A warm hand slid around my waist, settling on the side of my hip. The touch was possessive and burned my skin where fingers dug into me, pulling me tightly against Rian’s side. I looked up at him with amusement. “No need to mark your territory, Rian.”
