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The cold night air gives me goosebumps, and I pull on my jacket and close the door behind us with a soft click. “We should wait until we’re out of earshot before we start our engines,” I tell Romeo as we grab our bikes.
He simply nods before sliding on his helmet. We roll the heavy machines through the almost-empty parking lot. “Are we going for Mia?” Romeo asks once we’re a few yards from the motel room door.
“Yeah. Lorenzo found her. We can’t fuck this up.”
He glances back at the hotel before his eyes meet mine. “I know.”
I steal a quick look behind me too. “You think she’ll run?”
“If she has any sense.”
I arch an eyebrow at him. “So no then.”
We drive full throttle away from the motel. Away from Keres, the bitch who’s done nothing but cause problems for me since the moment I met her.
So why the fuck do I feel weighed down by guilt and regret when I picture her face after she wakes to find us gone?
Romeo zigzags in front of me, taking advantage of the freedom and space of the empty freeway, and I turn the throttle, gunning my bike and blowing right by him until I can’t go any faster. Getting to Mia and fixing our massive fuck-up is all that matters now. What happens to Keres from here on out is no concern of mine.
Chapter
Thirty-One
KERES
My phone’s incessant vibrating rouses me from a fitful sleep. The bed next to me is empty, and I shake the remnants of a bad dream from my head as I frown at the flashing screen. Despite our close relationship, Father Mike rarely calls me. My gut tells me this can’t be good.
“Hey, Father.”
“Keres!” He says my name like I’m a stubborn thirteen-year-old due a scolding. “What the hell have you done? That woman—” His rant is cut off by a sharp inhale. He must have visited Phoenix and discovered her little houseguest.
“I know it looks bad, Father, but she’s safe.”
“That is Lorenzo Moretti’s wife,” he whisper-shouts, the way he does when I’ve really pissed him off.
“Yes, I know.” But how does he?
He sighs. “But you don’t know who he is, Keres.”
I almost snort a laugh, but I would never be so disrespectful to the man who all but saved me. He has no idea of my connection to the Morettis, and I intend to keep it that way. “I know exactly who he is. Don’t worry—”
“No, you don’t, Keres.” He releases another heavy sigh, and I picture him pushing his glasses up to pinch the bridge of his nose. “I know you think they were involved with the people who took you, but Lorenzo and his brother and Maximo… they’re not the kind of men you think they are.”
“They’re exactly who I think they are. Salvatore Moretti was—”
“Salvatore Moretti was an animal, but that doesn’t mean his sons are too.”
I scoff. “Are you forgetting they’re the fucking Mafia, Father?”
“Everything isn’t always as it seems. You have no idea what those men have done for you. The men who got you out—”
“You… you got us out.” I grit the words through clenched teeth. My free hand balls into a fist, and white-hot rage sears through me.
“No. Your memory of that time is so hazy. We’ve talked about this before. You’d been through so much. The trauma, it…” His voice breaks. “It wasn’t me. You know this in your heart.”
My legs almost buckle, and the air leaves my body in a rush. My head spins. No. Logic tells me that the faceless man who pulled me from the van wasn’t Father Mike, with his lean frame and his smooth, calm voice. The voice that soothes my nightmares was deep and rough. “I-I don’t understand. The Morettis are evil. All of them.”
“No, you silly girl. Salvatore’s sons were never a part of it! And now, thanks to your misguided desire for vengeance, you’ve dragged poor Phoenix into something that neither of you can just walk away from. You know how that girl looks up to you. Do you have any idea of the danger you’ve put her in? What the hell were you thinking taking that innocent woman and her child?”
