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We hadn’t been able to get to Juliana. Our sources told us that she’d reached her family and the protection of the Società. My muscles were tense as the rage churned through my body.
We were holed up in a safe house just outside L.A.’s city center. We were playing with fire just being here, but I wasn’t going to give up Juliana without a fight.
I looked across at Alessio. We were trying to draw up a plan to get her back, but the Bonardi mansion’s perimeter was near-impossible to get past.
Fuck, fuck, fuck!
JULIANA
In the late evening, I pricked up my ears as I heard a sound outside my door.
I jumped to my feet—I hadn’t heard anyone approaching this time.
As I heard the door’s lock turn, I retreated to the furthest wall from the door, as if that could somehow save me from what was about to happen.
“Juliana?” I heard a hesitant whisper.
Oh my God, it was Jess! I ran up to the door and hurled myself into her arms. “Jess, what are you doing here?” I said in a hoarse whisper.
“I had to come,” she said as she quietly shut the door behind her.
“Jess, it’s not safe. Father will punish you as well if he finds out you came to see me.”
“I couldn’t just leave you here.” She slid something into my hand. It was a keycard and some cash. “The code on the gates has been changed. This keycard will unlock them.”
“Where did you get this?” I asked in confusion.
“I took it from Father’s office. He left his suit jacket hanging on the back of his chair and it was in the pocket.”
“Father will kill you when he realizes you helped me.”
“He won’t know it was me. There are no cameras in here. He’ll think that you picked the lock somehow and that you found a keycard in the house, or a soldier dropped one or something like that. It doesn’t matter what he thinks—you just need to get out of here. I heard Father talking on his cell phone. I don’t know what they’re going to do to you, but he said you need to be punished and made an example of. He said they should kill you!”
My panic was rising again.
I gave my sister one last hug with tears in my eyes. “I don’t know when I’ll be able to see you again, Jess. Please take care of yourself. I’ll try to call you again.”
As Jess went back to her bedroom, I hurried downstairs, letting myself out of the back door. I crept through the back gardens, knowing that the side gate would be my best bet for slipping away undetected.
My heart was thumping as I held the keycard to the fob at the side gate. I flinched as the electronic bleep sounded loudly.
As soon as the gate opened, I rushed through it and then ran off into the shadows.
I needed to get as far as possible from the mansion before they noticed I was missing—I knew without a doubt that my father would send out every available man to search for me once my escape was discovered.
I was wearing only my jeans and a t-shirt. It was getting chilly now. I headed toward the main road and was half walking, half running, when I heard a car coming up behind me.
I darted nearer the wall of the property I was passing, hoping its shadow would obscure me.
Looking over my shoulder, I saw that the approaching car was old, bright red and nothing like what a Made Man would drive. In that split second, I ran into the road in front of it and flagged it down.
An elderly man was driving. “Miss, you scared me there!” he exclaimed after rolling down his window.
“I’m so sorry, sir. I was walking home and I was robbed. The man took my purse and coat.” It wasn’t hard for me to look scared and shaken. “Please could you give me a lift to the main road, and I’ll catch a cab home from there. I don’t feel safe walking around these quiet streets.”
“I’ll call the police for you,” he said, reaching for his cell phone.
“Please, no, I just need to get away from here. Once I’m back home, then I’ll call the police. I’m afraid the man will come back. I’ve got some cash in my pocket—he didn’t check that when he took my purse, so I have enough money to get home.”
