Page 59 of Secrets from the Past

Darn it, could she save him? Vito was gasping for breath now, and what a beautiful sight that was.

“I think he’s having a heart attack,” Otello said, sounding more puzzled than anything else, probably confused that his furred-up arteries had outlasted his father’s. “Do you know CPR?”

“Of course I know CPR. Do you have an AED here?”

“A what?”

“A defibrillator. Try any public buildings nearby, gyms, health clubs, fitness studios. If the ambulance doesn’t get here soon, we might need one.”

Sal started yelling at people again—he was an expert at that—and Otello lumbered toward the front door. For a moment, I wondered if I could slip away in the confusion, but I had no money, no phone, no way of getting to Matty before someone noticed I was missing, as they inevitably would. Then Cesare would?—

“Hey!” I blurted as a stranger lifted me from the stage. A giant, but not one of Vito’s men. He was dressed too casually. “What are?—”

Someone wrapped a coat around me, cape-style, and I found myself being half carried toward the fire exit. Was this a kidnapping? I mean, if they asked me nicely, I’d just go with them because nothing could possibly be worse than spending yet another night as Cesare’s sex doll. There was no need for all the manhandling.

“Nico sent us.” The voice belonged to a woman, and my misery turned to elation in a heartbeat. He’d kept his promise? He hadn’t abandoned me? “We’re leaving.”

I wanted to ask about Matty, about Cricket, but I could barely breathe as they bundled me down the steps and into the back of a waiting cab. I landed hard, gasped as I found myself next to one of the Divas, then realised she wasn’t a Diva at all; she was just dressed like one. The purple dress, the big hair, the white headband.

“Who are you?” But I already knew the answer. “You’re Nico’s wife?”

Her laughter was unexpected. “Hell no. But he’s kind of cute, don’t you think?” The driver coughed, and the blonde gave an unladylike snort. “Nico’s waiting at the airport. Once we’ve picked up your kid and the dog, we’ll head over there and say bon voyage.”

“How?” I blurted. “How will we get Matty and Cricket? Cesare’s at home.”

“Right now, Cesare is roughly halfway between Belgravia Place and the Starlight Lounge. If he decides to turn around, my team will let me know, and we can deal with it.”

“Louie’s in the lobby, Serge too.”

“Louie’s the guard? Cesare promoted him to chauffeur. When we get to Belgravia Place, the car will pull up outside the front door, and we’ll go inside. You’re going to tell Serge that there’s a medical emergency and the whole family needs to get to the hospital. Cesare sent you to get Matteo so he can be with both his parents.”

“What if he tries to check with Cesare?”

“There’s no landline at the front desk, only a cell, and we’ll be jamming it.”

“Lyndsey’s upstairs with Matty.”

“Tell her the same thing. Cricket’s coming to stay with me for a few days until the Vito situation resolves itself.”

“Will Vito be okay?”

“Is it a problem if he isn’t?”

“My only regret would be that if I’m leaving the city, I won’t be able to dance on his grave.” I forced myself to breathe. To take stock of the scene. “Where will I go? Cesare’s going to come after me.”

“Your first destination will be Oregon. After that, who knows? That’ll be for you and Nico to decide. I’m just the delivery girl. But Cesare won’t find it easy to track you, and with all the hoo-ha tonight, he’s going to think you took advantage of the confusion to slip away. He won’t realise immediately that you had outside help, so you’ll have time to consider your next move.”

Whoever this woman was, this delivery girl, she shared Cesare’s confidence. I only wished I could. Serge was an obnoxious little prick, and I wasn’t sure where Lyndsey’s loyalties lay. I got along okay with her, but she’d been hired by Cesare, and look what had happened with Lucia.

“I feel sick.”

“Well, you’ll have to hold it. This isn’t an airplane. We don’t have puke bags in the seat pockets.”

“What if something goes wrong?”

“Then we’ll deal with it. Relax—this time tomorrow, you’ll be freezing your ass off beside Nico’s swimming pool.”

I only hoped she was right. If she wasn’t, I’d be dead, and Matty would be one step closer to a future in hell.

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