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“Stay calm. We’ll get out of this.”
A burst of light encapsulated the rear, drawing my attention to the rearview mirror. The gas tank had been ruptured, the explosion likely seen from miles away.
“Are you so certain?” she demanded, ignoring my command and rising in her seat, craning her neck to witness the carnage. “They’re still chasing us.”
“Yeah, I know. Get back down.” The tires squealed, skidding across the pavement. Another flash out of the corner of my eye caught my attention as a spray of bullets hit the back of the car, busting out the window. The fuckers started running, shooting without hesitation, bullets pinging off the back.
I pushed the engine as hard as possible, gunning around a corner. While I didn’t expect to hear sirens any time soon given the cops didn’t give priority to the neighborhood, the vehicle would need to be ditched as soon as possible.
After glancing in the rearview mirror several times, I took a deep breath. “I think we’re okay.” For now.
“We’ll never be okay. We’ll never get out of here alive.”
“You don’t know me that well, my sweetleonessa. I’ve learned a lot through the years.”
She struggled to ease into the seat, glancing over her shoulder. “This will never end. Will it?”
“Oh, it will. Trust me. It will. Are you hurt?”
“No. Just scared. I can’t believe this is happening.”
I reached over, placing my hand on her knee. She jumped and I realized it would take a long time for her to trust me.
And I was beginning to wonder if we had any time to spare.
* * *
“Champagne and a jet,” Lucia said absently. “Maybe my comment about you being romantic was incorrect.”
“Only the best for the woman I own.” I glanced out the window, surprised we hadn’t been attacked at the airport. Whoever was behind this had come so far under the radar they’d easily used my feelings for Lucia against us.
“You’re more powerful than you originally let on.”
She had a way of making me smile, particularly when she scrunched up her face. “I’ve been very astute with building my personal empire.”
“You were planning on taking the throne all along.”
“There were two options for me, princess. Either I could accept that my loyalty to the DeLuca family would end with a bullet driven into my brain or I could take over the helm. There was no in between. No escape.”
“For either one of us.”
“True, but we can shift the reign of power into something else entirely.”
There was a faraway look in her eyes before shifting her attention outside the jet’s window.
“How did you find someone in the middle of the night who would sell you a car?” Lucia asked absently. We’d both been lost in thought, initially. Then she’d finally managed to shut her eyes, resting for most of the flight.
Meanwhile I’d remained on edge. At least the time alone had allowed me to make a few arrangements while she’d slept.
“I know people, plus money talks.”
“Uh-huh.” She folded her arms as she lifted her eyebrows. “I guess there’s many sides to you.”
“You have no idea.”
We’d driven to Jersey, a contact I’d made years before providing assistance. The man owed me a favor, including disposing of the trashed car. But I’d located then crushed the tracking device long before leaving New York. What had surprised me was that whoever had hijacked the car hadn’t planted a bomb.
It was entirely possible we were being lured back to Italy. It was too easy for us to disappear in the United States, which would ultimately lead to a war none of the Five Families wanted. One of the phone calls I’d made had confirmed Bratva sentries had been spotted in various Italian localities, as if they were in the final planning stages of initiating a war. As fractured as the Five Families were, they could easily destroy every regime within days.
