Page 58 of Heartless Union

Dante motions with his gun for me to move.

And I do.

“Rocco,” Lara calls out.

“It’s ok. Just stay here. Stay safe.”

I follow Dante out of the door, then make my move. Slamming the door shut with my foot, I lunge at Dante. He’s taken aback, so he doesn’t get his gun up in time. I grabble with the gun, pointing it toward the ceiling.

Dante comes at me, kicking me in the stomach. I double over before tackling him, and we fall to the ground as the gun slides across the floor.

The door opens, and Nico is there, pointing a gun at Dante. “Stop this now.”

I punch Dante for good measure before getting up. Dante stands up slowly, his hands raised.

“Leave,” Nico says. “Rocco isn’t going with you. And neither is my daughter.” Lara pokes her head out of the door. I want to scream at her to get inside, but I don’t want to draw attention to her.

Dante slowly backs down the hall. “You’re going to regret this. All of you.” With one last glare at me, he turns around and runs away. Good. Fucking coward.

I pick up Dante’s gun and stuff it in my jacket pocket. “Lara, get back inside now.”

She does as I instruct, even though she looks annoyed doing it.

We all convene back in the townhouse. “We need to leave. All of us,” I say, meeting Nico’s eyes.

He shakes his head. “I’ll only slow you down.”

“Dad, no.” Lara touches his arm. “You have to come with us. Dante could come back and use you against us.”

“Dante doesn’t want your father,” I remind her.

Her eyes flash. “No. But he could use my father against me, drawing me out and kidnapping me again to use against you.”

That makes me shut my mouth. She makes a good point. Lara is more competent in Mafia matters than I gave her credit for.

“My dad is coming with us,” she continues. “That’s final. If you get to bring your brothers and sister, I get to bring my dad. End of discussion.”

“Fine,” I mutter. “We just need to leave now. We have to get back to my house, get everyone, and leave. I have a safehouse neither Carlo nor Dante should be able to find.”

“But it sounds like they have spies watching,” Nico says. “We have to be careful. We need to split up. Draw attention to one of us, make them follow. That person can lead them in the wrong direction while everyone else gets to safety.”

“Good idea,” I say. “I’ll do it. I’ll draw them away. But first, I need to get you back to my house, Lara, so my brothers can take you to the safe house.”

She nods. “Ok.”

“Ok,” Nico says. “I’ll go back a bag really quick.” He leaves the room.

Lara gently touches my hand, surprising me. “I’m glad you’re not dead.”

“Thank you, I think.”

She smiles slightly. “No, I mean it. I don’t want you to die, Rocco. For a moment, when you started to leave with Dante, I thought that was it. That that moment would be the last time I ever saw you. It made me sad.”

“Is this your way of telling me you care about me?”

“It depends. Do you care about me?”

I take her hand in mine. “I think I’ve shown I do care for you.”

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