Page 50 of Mafia Baby

The Cobra chuckles. “She should be. It runs in the family,” he says. This time, The Cobra doesn’t speak with an accent. In fact, he sounds just like…

My heart freezes in my chest. I feel like I’m suffocating as my mind spins wildly. “Oh my God,” I whisper, my heart breaking.

All of the times that my brother warned me to stay away from Dom. All of the times that Will was gone until all hours of the morning. All of his time working with “business associates”.

Suddenly, it all makes terrible, horrible sense to me. I look over my shoulder, and my heart breaks.

“Hello, Gianna,” Will says to me with a grin.

Chapter Nineteen

Dominic

“You see, when I was young, we used to work out deals with people who didn’t speak English,” the old man next to me is saying. “That way, when they got caught, they couldn’t tell the Feds anything about anything.” He laughs like he’s just made the best joke in the history of jokes.

I resist the urge to roll my eyes. His voice is loud, and he’s been getting increasingly drunk while I’ve been sitting next to him at the Blackjack table.

I wouldn’t normally put up with such inane conversation for a second, but this table at the center of the room is the best place in the casino to see what’s going on at all of the exits and entrances.

I crane my neck to look around for Gianna. She had come out of the bathroom a while ago and I had shared a heated glance with her. I wanted nothing more than to take her sexy ass home and have fun with her.

Listening to this drunk old man chewing my ear off is not my idea of a good time.

I don’t see her anywhere, and I start to feel a little worried. I look behind me at the bar and don’t see her there either.

A sudden flash of silver color near the door catches my eye. I wonder if she’s stepped outside for some reason. I had tried to impress upon her that this kind of thing is dangerous, but she didn’t seem all that concerned. I can’t decide if she’s brave or naïve that she isn’t more concerned. It worries me, but leaving her alone at the rented house worries me as well.

“Excuse me,” I say to the old man still chattering away at me. I hear his harrumphing about my rudeness, but he shuts up when I push my stack of chips at him before walking away from the table.

I hurry over to the back door by the men’s room and step outside. I don’t see anyone on the street, so I walk quickly down the side of the building toward the alley.

I scan the area, my eyes peeled for her bright silver dress. She should be incredibly visible out here as there are only industrial buildings and parked cars on this side of the casino.

I feel worry curling in my belly as I round the corner. I look behind me to see if there are any suspicious cars around with people sitting in them before I hear the sound of a car driving rapidly. I look down the street in time to see a black SUV swerve to avoid an oncoming car. I can’t see in the backseat of the vehicle because of the tinted glass, but the driver seems to be fighting with someone inside.

Suddenly, I see Gianna poking her head into the front seat, grabbing at the wheel, and trying to wrestle with the driver.

Did the car belong to The Cobra? Was he in the back seat?

My heart flip flops in my chest as the car swerves wildly back and forth across the street. She’s going to cause the car to crash, which could kill everyone inside.

I run into the street and stand there, wishing there was something I could do. Abruptly, the car rights itself and starts to drive in a straight line again. Gianna must have lost a hold of the wheel.

My blood runs cold as I see the SUV take the corner at a high rate of speed and vanish from sight. Our car is parked on the other side of the casino, so there won’t be time for me to collect it and tail them.

I stand in the middle of the street feeling lost and hopeless. Vince has already made it clear that he doesn’t have any intentions of helping me with this job.

He was already really angry about Gianna being in my life, and I lied to him about bringing her out here with me. He’s likely to cut me off entirely if he finds out that I want help to get her back from some Atlantic City mob.

I drive a hand through my hair in frustration. I have very few connections in this world since I work alone. I’ve always liked it that way, but in this moment, I realize that it might have been a mistake.

Vince is my only point of contact besides my own employees, and I don’t have any other mob connections that I can call in.

Except…

I feel physically ill thinking about the option that has just occurred to me. Can I honestly be thinking about calling Gianna’s father and telling him that she’s been kidnapped on my watch? The man will kill me. Her brother will kill me.

The thought of bringing down the entire Bianchi family on me doesn’t sit well with me. And it might put Gianna in danger as well.

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