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“Come on,” he says urgently. Pushing himself off the ground, he grabs my hand and helps me up. “Stay behind me,” he orders, then puts a finger to my lips to tell me to be quiet. I’m too flustered to do anything but comply. He moves toward the house, silent as a cat burglar. Heart thundering in my chest, I follow two steps behind him. We go back in through the same door I exited from just minutes ago.
People are rushing in all directions, panicked and fleeing for the exits as fast as they can. My father’s men are nowhere to be found, either because they are chasing after whoever did this, or… I push the alternatives out of my mind. Several of the large, arched windows have been shot out. The evening breeze wafts gently in from the outside, incongruous and insane.
Inside the living room, it’s like a war zone. Splintered furniture and broken glass are everywhere. Red stains on the carpet cause me to gasp and avert my gaze. Tina is cowering in the corner all by herself, knees pressed to her chest as though she’s trying to make herself look as small as possible. My father is lying on the ground. My mother is screaming and sobbing next to him.
“Daddy!” I scream. Running toward him, I forget that I’m barefoot. A slice of pain shoots through my foot as I step on shards of glass. I cry out, but ignore it, and fall to my knees next to my father. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Antony heading to tend to Tina.
“Daddy!” I half-sob. “You’ve been hit.” I push away my mother, who is wailing hysterically but otherwise does nothing but grasp at his coat and pull at the sleeve. Daddy’s laboredgasps reaches my ears. I pull at the buttons of his suit and tear it open. The first thing I notice is there seems to be no blood, but he’s still struggling to breathe. I paw at his chest, checking for wounds. Instead of skin and muscles under his shirt, I feel hard plates. I gulp air, riding a wave of nervous relief. “Body armor?”
My father gives me a quick nod, then struggles to push himself up. “Yes, little one. They didn’t get me. Hurts like a son of a bitch, though.”
Half an hour later, all of the guests have fled.
I try to make my father stay lying down, but Carmine Mucci does not take direction well. He is in obvious pain, but sitting upright on a sofa after barking at us to help him up. My mother continues to wail and weep quietly in an armchair. Tina is at her side, looking pale and drawn. According to one of my father’s men, two guests were wounded, and one of them has been taken to the hospital. The rest of his men are either protecting the house or searching the grounds for whoever is responsible.
“Nobody saw anything?” I ask my father again. “How is that possible?”
“All of the male guests were searched for weapons at the gate,” my father wheezes. “As always. There is no way any of them could have gotten a gun onto the property.”
“Well, what if a woman brought one in?” I say. “You didn’t search handbags, did you?”
Daddy scoffs. Antony, who is still here with all of us, looks thoughtful.
“Who would want to do this, Carmine?” he asks my father.
“Of our guests?” My father shrugs, then winces. He cuts his eyes at me. “Serafina, take your mother and sister upstairs.”
“No.” I set my jaw. “You can send them up if you want, but I’m staying. You need me here, Daddy.”
“Serafina,” he repeats, more loudly this time. But I refuse again. He’ll have to have his men physically remove me if hewants me out. And my father would never have them put their hands on me.
“Perhaps she should stay, Carmine,” Antony murmurs. “The circumstances are unusual. Especially given that this party was for the purposes of introducing her to potential suitors from the families, yes? Is there any reason someone would not want such an alliance to take place?”
“Or…” I hesitate. “More likely that they would want to shake up and destabilize our family before a marriage could happen.” I glance between the two of them, hating to even discuss this. But I must. “If a marriage is to occur that would result in a new capo for the Mucci family, better to strike now, before that marriage would take place.”
Antony blinks at me. “Yes,” he says simply.
I turn to my father. “You have to leave, Daddy. You need to get out of sight for a while. To the safe house. You know which one.”
“I don’t need to be hidden away like a helpless invalid,” he barks.
“It’s not helpless, Daddy. It’s smart.” Almost without thinking, I glance over at Antony for help. He catches my expression and leans forward in his chair.
“Carmine, this is a smart idea,” he says, repeating my word for emphasis. “No one outside this room knows whether the shooter succeeded or not. No one knows whether you are alive or dead. That is a position of strength right now. Think about it. It allows you time to make decisions without worry about reprisal. It also allows you time to find the people responsible.”
A third, disloyal thought comes unbidden to my mind.It also allows me some time before being auctioned off to the highest bidder.
I press Antony’s point further. “You’ll be able to conduct business from the safe house, Daddy. Take Mamma and Tina with you, so you can protect them as well.”
My father still looks skeptical, but I can tell he is beginning to relent. “What about you, little one?”
“I’ll be fine. No one is going to shoot me, Daddy.” I give him a wry smirk. “Remember, I’m the prize. The ticket to the Mucci throne.”
Eventually, Daddy allows himself to be convinced. Antony speaks up again. “You should take one of my cars. You’ll be less conspicuous that way. No one will be following you in vehicles they don’t recognize as yours. Besides, your fleet should be examined for GPS trackers and explosives. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that anyone who could get into your compound with a weapon to shoot you could also get access to your garages.”
But now it’s my turn to protest. “Unacceptable. No one outside the Mucci family knows the location of our safe house. We can’t take the risk.”
“I understand that,” Antony replies smoothly. He turns and locks eyes with me. Something in them reminds me of an hour ago, when he was lying on top of me as the bullets flew. My face flushes, something hot and uncomfortable stirring in my core. “Trust, Sera, I do understand. But under the circumstances, I think the advantages outweigh the risks. You need a friend. Let me be that friend.”
