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Another thirty seconds passed, and I threw the gear into park, tossing open the door. I didn’t give a shit if I ended up stalling traffic. Something was wrong. I slipped as I jogged forward, people yelling at me from their car windows. As I started to make headway, my feet keeping traction, I heard a siren in the distance.
Oh, hell, no.
An icy chill shifted down my spine, a sixth sense swirling through me like a firestorm. As I moved around a corner, my mind couldn’t process what I was seeing.
Two mangled cars.
I moved closer, barely able to breathe.
There was no doubt one of the vehicles was Luciano’s. I wasn’t the kind of man to pray. I’d known early in my life that there would never be any salvation for a member of the Giordano family. That had been proven several times. Our blood was tainted from generations of evil deeds. Even my mother’s devout Catholic faith and her determination to raise decent children who believed in all things good hadn’t cracked the surface of our evil coating.
But at that moment I said my first prayer that my brother was still alive.
As I approached, I sensed the other driver had been the cause. Both cars were flipped on their sides, the stench of gasoline filling the air. There were dozens of bystanders, but no one was trying to help. Goddamn them. Goddamn them to hell.
Luciano had been thrown from the windshield, his stupid habit of never wearing his seatbelt to blame. Blood was everywhere, the crunch of shattered glass pinging in my ears. I knelt onto the snow, feeling for his pulse. He was alive.
“Luciano. Help is on its way. Everything will be okay.”
He moaned, his eyelids moving. “The woman,” he croaked out.
“What woman?”
“Other… vehicle.” He continued coughing, blood flowing from his mouth.
I glanced toward the red car, noticing smoke was billowing from under the hood. “So what?” The sirens were closer, but people and cars were blocking them.Get the fuck out of the way.
“Save… her.”
“Fuck, no. I’m staying right here.”
He managed to lift his arm, placing his bloody fingers on my shirt. “Do… it. My… decent… baby… brother.”
Damn the man. Was this his last-ditch effort to buy his way into heaven? “Fine.” I reacted, stumbling toward the other vehicle, scanning the area. The car would catch fire at any second. Fuck this. I scrambled onto the car, jerking the door handle. It was locked. Fuck. As I peered in, I noticed long blonde hair. Luciano had seen her face before the crash.
She was slumped over the steering wheel, the seatbelt possibly saving her life. How ironic. She’d caused the fucking accident and she might survive. Luciano had known the good side of me, the one he’d often made fun of would never be allowed to walk away from her. I knew all the pressure points to a windshield. Our father had made certain every one of his children had training in weaponry, defense, and knowing how the hell to get out of a damaged vehicle, even one submerged in water.
Enemies had gotten creative in their methods of eliminating their prey.
I jumped off, moving to the other side, a puff of smoke drawing my attention. I’d have one shot at this and with the car being on its side, it would take a miracle of God to get her out. As I started to kick the pressure point on the glass, I almost slipped twice. But I kept going, drowning out the noise of the useless bystanders who were gasping and cheering me on.
Worthless pieces of shit.
When the windshield finally cracked, I wasted no time, punching out as much of the glass as possible. Then I crawled inside, her weak moans indicating she was alive. “I don’t know if you can hear me, but I’m getting you out of here.” I pressed the button for the seatbelt, not surprised the damn thing was jammed.
She moaned again, suddenly trying to move.
“Don’t. Stay right there. I’m going to need to cut you out of this.” The flames were already increasing, the stench getting worse. I yanked out my switchblade, wasting no time cutting her free, catching her before she moved. As I gently eased her into my arms, a rattling sound coming from somewhere under the vehicle kicked my adrenaline into overdrive.
I had to wrench my body trying to keep glass from her face. When I finally got out, I held her tightly against my chest, slipping on the ice as I moved as far away from the vehicle as possible.
“Back away,” someone yelled. “It’s going to blow.”
The boom drove me several feet further, dropping us both hard into the snow. At this moment I was grateful for the blanket of white to soften the fall. Panting, I immediately pulled away, lowering her gently onto the surface. “Someone take care of her!” I peered down, noticing her eyes were open. They were the most beautiful shade of blue I’d ever seen. When she blinked, I rubbed her face for no other reason than to give her comfort. “You’ll be alright. You’re in good hands.” Good hands. Hell. She’d just faced the devil and he’d allowed her to live.
As soon as I stood, I noticed EMTs racing in our direction, a fire engine managing to make it through. Then I rushed back to my brother’s car. As I peered down, I sensed he was losing his will to live.
Then I threw my head back and roared.
