AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I know, but you aren’t just an ordinary woman, Felicity. Your brother is the godfather and your… boy toy or whatever the hell he is… is the underboss. Those are two very, very dangerous people to cross. Who is to say they won’t do something to me?” She seems nervous.
“Penelope,” I whisper, sitting next to her on the bed and holding her hand. “You know the rules. No women and children are ever hurt. Plus, you’re family. Neither Basque nor Nico will lay a finger on you.”
“Just get your few days break, and then return back home. It’ll make things easier for the both of us,” she mutters.
“I’m not going back, Penelope.”
She whips her head in my direction and glares.
“Felicity Santoro, you will take your ass back home. It isn’t safe for you to be out here without protection. Do you know how many people would love to get their hands on The Santoro Family’s princess?” she scoffs. “You really are a Ragazza if you are considering not going back home!”
“Okay. Okay. Calm down. I’ll go back home. Just let me relax before I do.”
She lets out a huge breath and nods. I rub her back, assuring her that it will all be okay. I just hope and pray that she can’t sense that I’m lying because there’s no way in hell that I’m going back tothe compound of doom.
***
My two days weren’t up, but I didn’t trust Penelope not to crack under pressure. When I woke up in the morning, I packed my stuff up and headed to a hole-in-the-wall coffee shop to plan out my next move.
“You want me killed, huh?” Michaelangelo asks, looking nervously around the coffee shop.
He’s wearing sunglasses, a beige trench coat, and a fedora. He looks like a spy from some cartoon. Absolutely ridiculous.
“Michaelangelo,” I sigh. “Why are you dressed like that?”
“So no one recognizes me,” he growls between clenched teeth. “Your brother is not the one to cross, Felicity.”
“Oh? And I am?” I ask, twiddling a platinum poker chip. I look up from the poker chip and watch him swallow hard.
“Feli–”
“You were about to meet your maker when I saved you. Were you not?”
Five years ago, Michelangelo made a deal with the devil. It was a deal he thought too sweet to pass up. Little did he know that the devil– Andrei Popov– was not one to make a deal that didn’t benefit himself.
Michelangelo and I had gone to school together. We weren’t super close, but close enough to where he felt safe enough to come to me about his problem. Andrei was threatening to kill Michaelangelo’s family if he didn’t bring him my brother’s head. I for one don’t take well to threats– especially ones to my family– so I took matters into my own hands. Without anyone’s permission, I ordered my very first hit and within an hour, Andrei Popov and his top officials were dead.
And, Nico is still pissed off about it,I groan.
“I know I’m in debt to you, Felicity, but you’re asking me to–” I hold up my hand, cutting off Michaelangelo’s words.
“You may leave,” I smile. He gives me a look of confusion. “I’m being serious. You can go. I apologize for calling you.”
I gesture to the door. He looks at the door and then at me.
“Felicity, I really want to help you. I just… I just–” he stammers.
“Michaelangelo, I don’t force anyone to help me. You may leave. Or better yet,” I stand. I sling my purse over my shoulder, grab my suitcase with one hand and my coffee with the other. “I’ll leave.”
“Felicity, please. I want to help. But your brother will kill me for hiding you.”
“It’s fine,” I squeeze his arm gently. “Enjoy your coffee.”
I walk across the shop, rolling my suitcase behind me, and over to the door. Before I can grab the door handle, the door swings open, revealing my cousin, Rosaline Romano-Bianchi. She smiles from ear to ear.
Rosaline doesn’t even live in Chicago. She lives in Portland with her husband and two kids. I haven’t seen her in years. But here she is, in Chicago, at a hole-in-the-wall coffee shop. That can’t be a coincidence.
“I hear you’re on the run,” she giggles, pulling me into her arms.
