Now that I’m free of my shoes, I can run much faster. I turn the corner before Emilio can reach me, and I jump over the garbage can lying on the sidewalk. Thank god I don’t step on anything. I would hate to prove Emilio right. That would be awkward.
I keep sprinting down the street, feeling him right behind me. With a last ditch effort, I turn down an alleyway and end up bumping into someone. I gasp and stumble back.
The person I ran into turns around, and I immediately eye his clothing. Baggy jeans. Baggy jacket. Just baggy everything really.
He eyes me over and smirks. It’s then I notice another man is behind him, holding onto a wad of cash. So, this is a drug deal.
For just a second, I feel smug until both men start advancing on me.
“What are you doing out here on your own, sweetheart?” the drug dealer asks.
“Care to join us?” the other man asks.
“Not really,” I reply, making both of them laugh.
“We have a girl who thinks she’s clever,” the drug dealer says. “I say we have some fun.”
I hold up my hands and start to back away, but they follow me. “I say we don’t.”
The customer gets behind me while the drug dealer grabs me around the waist roughly. “We just want to have some fun. You were the naive little princess who thought she could be out here on her own.”
“She’s not on her own,” Emilio’s deep voice sounds out behind me.
The customer jumps away, but the drug dealer doesn’t release me. “Who are you? Her boyfriend?”
Emilio steps forward, looking imposing compared to the other men. “No. I’m her fiancé. And you’ll get your dirty fucking hands off her.”
“Make me,” the dealer says before pulling out a gun. I scream and flinch.
Emilio doesn’t even look fazed. It makes me wonder how many times he’s stared down the barrel of a gun before. “You don’t want to shoot me.”
“Oh, yeah? Why not?”
The customer is inching his way out of the alley. “This isn’t worth it. I’m fucking out.”
“Pussy,” the dealer mutters.
Emilio doesn’t stop the man from leaving. His eyes are solely focused on the dealer, who still has his arms around me. “You don’t want to shoot me because there’ll be consequences.”
“I’m not afraid of no fucking cops.”
“It’s not the police you need to fear. It’s my family.”
He snorts. “Your family? What are you? The fucking godfather?”
Emilio doesn’t reply with words. He continues to stare the guy down until he understands the situation he’s in.
His eyes widen. “Wait? You’re the Mafia? Shit. I didn’t think that was actually real.”
“Well, it is.” Emilio whips out his own gun and points it right at the dealer’s head. “And I’m not a man to be messed with. If you shoot me, that’s a death sentence. I’m giving you the chance to walk away now. Alive.”
“Shit. I’m out. No bitch is worth dying for.” He lets me go and runs away, and I’m shocked he doesn’t trip on his baggy pants as he goes.
“Thank you,” I say to Emilio.
“Save it,” he grumbles. “I only saved you because I’m not going to let an innocent woman die. And it would upset your father, whom I like. It wasn’t for you, Caterina. You got yourself into this mess.”
I place my hands on my hips. “Is that victim blaming I detect? I should be able to go anywhere without being harassed by men. What they did was not my fault. I could have been in a public place in daylight and it still could have happened. Don’t blame me for this.” I grab my shoes back from him and stuff them on my feet. No more running for me tonight. Besides, I think I might have stepped on a bit of trash, and I’m so grossed out by that thought.