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“I intend to,” I answered back before lifting Olivia into my arms and taking long strides up the steps, her cute giggle echoing down the hall.
Vinny
Cecilia
“Don’t worry, my love. It was just a heated argument and you both said things you didn’t mean. Gio will come around,” I ran my hand up and down Vinny’s forearm as his hand gripped the gear stick.
“He is so stubborn. He knows I am right, yet he loves to test me. This deal that Sal wants with the Aianis is absurd. Why would we ever need an alliance with another family? It makes no sense to me to go into business with someone we cannot trust. Yet Sal has brainwashed Gio into believing we will gain power from this. We already have power. The Buccini name is feared across the country and we are the most successful Mala Del Brenta. Why join forces with rivals?” Vinny ranted, his hand gripping the steering wheel tightly. I reached up and ran my hand through his silvery hair and down the back of his head. He instantly relaxed.
“Because Sal wants more. This family. This power. It is all he has and he will always strive for more,” I shrugged my shoulders. I understood my brother-in-law’s strategy from a lawyer's point of view. Cementing an alliance between us and the Aianis would mean more deals, power and control over Northern Italy. But my Vinny thought with his heart. And his heart was loyal. He never went into deals with people he didn’t like or trust. It was his main principle. “And as for Gio. You are too alike. That is why you clash. Gio is loyal to Sal, which is why he agrees with him. He loves you, but you are not boss darling.”
Vinny rolled his beautiful brown eyes and pulled my hand to his mouth, kissing the back of it.
“Thank the fucking lord for that. Enough about business. This is our night,” he smiled. “You look worldly, my angel.”
Batting my eyelashes at him, I felt the warmth of love rush through my body. Tonight was our 25th anniversary and he was treating us to a private opera performance and dinner. Suddenly, his eyes flickered up to the rear-view mirror of our Porsche and his jaw clenched. I knew my husband’s body better than anything else in the world and from the way all his muscles tensed and his nostrils flared, something was wrong.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Security. We’ve lost them,” his voice was hard. He was in underboss mode. I turned in my seat and looked out the back window and saw in the distance our men’s SUV had come to a stop as two huge transits blocked their way. Suddenly, gunshots were fired.
“Fuck,” Vinny gritted as I realised that whoever had blocked them had just opened fire on our men. Vinny slammed his foot on the accelerator and gunned us forward down the desolate road.
He dialled Sal’s number on a loudspeaker.
“Vin,” Sal’s deep voice filled the car.
“I am being followed. They’ve taken security out. Unlicensed vehicles but I recognise one that looks like Leone’s transit.”
“Where are you?”
“East Verona. Back roads. I am going to try and lose them.”
“I’m coming now.” Sal hung up. The trees zoomed by in a blur and I gripped the handle of the car as my heart started drumming in my chest. It wasn’t long until a transit was speeding behind us. It was clear by the way they were driving that this was a car chase. They were coming for us. Vinny kept his cool as he swerved skillfully around corners and took last-minute turns downside roads in an attempt to lose them. When the first bullet hit the back window, I screamed. The sound of the metal on glass sent fear through my body. This was not my first car chase, but this was the first time I had been shot at.
“CeCe, take the wheel,” Vinny ordered as he pulled his ... gun out of his trousers and clicked the safety off. My eyes widened as he leaned out the window and I grabbed the steering wheel, focusing on keeping it steady and straight. Vinny balanced, gripping the roof with one masculine hand and shooting at the car behind. I wanted to scream at him to get back inside for safety, but I reminded myself that he knew what he was doing.
I heard the shrill screech of tyres and a loud bang as I looked into the rear-view mirror and saw that Vinny had shot their tyres and the car had flown off the road and into a ditch. Vinny climbed back in, and I was about to let go of the steering wheel when I glanced down from the mirror and screamed. Another car had come out of nowhere and was speeding towards us head on.
Vinny took back control and swerved aggressively. Then we hit something hard, coming to a jolting stop. A tree. “Are you alright?” Vinny asked in a rushed and frantic tone. I reached up and touched my forehead where a throbbing pain had started. My fingers were covered in blood as I pulled them away. I had hit my head pretty badly.
“Yeah,” I managed to say.
“Stay in the car. Whatever you do. Stay in the car,” he ordered. Before I could stop him, he had thrown open the door, climbed out, gun in hand and slammed the door shut. Tears brimmed in my eyes as complete fear overwhelmed me. Not fear for my life, but fear for his. Gunfire erupted outside and all I could do was slam my hands over my ears, sink down into the seat and whimper. He was just one man, taking on God knows how many...
Suddenly, the pummel of bullets at the car made me scream and the already fragile glass from our crash shattered on top of me. Before I could react, my passenger door was flung open and a dark figure with a black balaclava mask appeared. All I could see were his piercing green eyes behind the mask and I kicked his stomach before trying to scramble over the seats. I felt a grip on my ankle and insane strength as he pulled me back and wrapped an arm around my waist, hoisting me out of the car.
“Vinny!” I yelled blindly as I kicked and fought against the man who was carrying me towards a black parked SUV. All I could see was the blur of swiftly moving figures and the deafening sound of bullets being released through the air. But I couldn’t see Vinny.
“Lasciala andare! (Let her go!)”
My kidnapper froze and the gunfire ceased. Everything fell eerily silent. All I could hear was my pounding heart in my ears. And then I saw him. Walking out from the shadows of the trees, tall and muscular and terrifying. My Vinny. His left arm was covered in blood and a sense of dread crept over me. He had been shot. Stepping over the litter of bodies on the tarmac, his dangerous eyes were on me and my kidnapper. His jaw tight and hand gripping his gun, pointing at the man behind me.
“Vinny,” I cried when another masked man appeared at his side, pointing his gun at Vinny’s head. I struggled to get free but the man’s grip on me got tighter and I felt a knife against my throat, stilling me.
“Lasciala andare,” Vinny’s voice was almost unrecognisable as he glared at the man, not caring that he had a gun pressed into his temple.
“Abbassa la pistola,” the man next to Vinny spoke deeply, commanding Vinny to lower his gun. No one moved. Time seemed to pause as the stand-off continued. I whimpered as I stared into Vinny’s eyes, pleading with him to let them take me. We both knew he couldn’t save us both. He slowly lowered his gun, his dark eyes glittering in the dim light.
