AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I take the gun from her and fire three shots narrowly missing one of them. I pull the trigger again but it only clicks. I’m about to ask if she has more bullets—though I don’t have the slightest idea how to replace them—when she turns down another alley and the gun slips out of my hand, bouncing on the street.
“What was that?”
“The gun, it slipped,” I yell, and she pulls out a second gun from the bag. This one smaller, barely the size of my hand. We make another sharp turn onto a busy street, weaving between cars.
“Aim for their tires. Don’t let this oneslip.” Her clipped tone still manages to ring loud and clear through the sounds of traffic.
With so many other cars around, I’m afraid I’ll hit something or someone else. One of the motorcycles is too far back to consider shooting at. The other is a lane over and I don’t have a clear shot.
Cat takes the gun from me, and with only glancing briefly to the other motorcycle, fires two shots. One hits the man’s shoulder, the other his hand. He veers off and his bike skids to the ground, pinning him underneath. She hands the gun back to me and continues driving until the other motorcycle is out of sight.
“Where are we going?” I dare ask, still not entirely sure what’s happening.
“You’re going home. I just have to see my father first.”
I breathe a sigh of relief. I’ll be back at the hotel, get drunk at the downstairs bar, and forget today ever happened…Did she say her father?
About ten minutes later, we arrive at a beautiful home. I get off the Vespa and debate helping her get off too—might backfire and I’ll end up with a shot to my hand like the man chasing us. “Where are we?”
“My parents’ house,” she replies as she takes off her helmet. “Just don’t say anything, I’ll do all the talking.”
“Who were those men in the restaurant? And who were the men chasing us?”
“Stop asking questions you don’t want the answers to. A thank you for saving your life will suffice.”
I look at the house again and back to Cat. “Who were those men? Was it like a bad drug deal, was someone trying to hurt you, or…?”
She walks up the entry steps without answering me and opens the front door. I don’t know why I expected her to knock, maybe the fact that this house could be on one of those house shows that features millionaire homes. I’m not exactly dressed to be meeting someone who can afford this house; I feel like I should have a three-piece suit, maybe even a fedora. I chuckle to myself at the thought of dressing like a 1920s gangster, until I lay eyes on a man who could easily double as a mafia don in a movie.
“Is your family likethefamily?” I whisper to her.
Cat ignores me but her voice shakes when she tells the man, “Gio, I need your help. Where’sPapà?” He replies something to her in Italian, but she stops him. “In English.”
He rolls his eyes. “Your father is at the restaurant. He’s on his way. What happened?”
She begins speaking to him in Italian, despite insisting moments ago that they speak in English, so I take out my phone and pull up my translation app. There’s a lag but it catches:Richard fucked it up.
“I heard,” he replies simply, in English. He then addresses me, “You must be Richard?” He offers his hand and I take it. “Giovanni.”
“Hi, sorry, I’m not sure what’s happening, I?—”
He frowns, his gaze falling to my shoulder. “You got hit. We’ll get you cleaned up but there’s a bigger issue. They think you’re Cat’s husband, part of the family.”
Shit. They are definitely a mafia family.
I’m unable to respond before Cat laughs, “What are you talking about? No one thinks I’m married.”
“They do,” he insists. “They think that Richard killed Luca because you were fucking him.”
“I’mthe one who killed him!” Cat exclaims, hands firmly on her hips.
“Doesn’t matter, Catarina. They think Richard did and that he’s a Perrelli. We have to protect him, or it’ll make us look weak.”
“Shit. What are our options?” she asks.
Gio tells me, “You’ll need to stay here until we get everything figured out. As far as anyone is concerned, you’re married. We need to keep up appearances.”
“Oh, I don’t know if that’s?—”
