Page 14 of Princess of the Mafia

“Yeah. Let’s go before the guards come around.”

We sneaked out of the garden, sliding through the hedges, and walked down the street to Luna’s parked car. Yet another thing we differed in. She knew how to drive. She only needed the key to drive a car. I’d have to look for a driver and a bodyguard.

Thick silence hung between us in the car. The longer we drove, the faster my heart beat. I’d done some reckless shit. There was a reason that Mamma called me impulsive. But those were innocent compared to this. The worst I’d done was run off and get my hair chopped to spite Mamma when I was fifteen. She’d gone mad and locked me up in my room for a week. The consequences would differ from what I was contemplating doing.

We drove out of Corleone and into Palermo. The air was dry and sparked electricity. A storm was brewing, and I felt it in my veins. The decision I had made weighed heavy on my chest. My hands were clammy, and my thighs pasted onto the fake leather of Luna’s passenger car seat. The pounding in my ears was so hard I couldn’t tell if the music was on or off. Luna was quiet. That’s what I loved about her. She’d be there for me if I went through with it or not.

The heavy thumping of music announced my fate. We couldn’t find parking near the club. One that Luna had hunted down that wasn’t owned by anyone who knew my family. Palermo wasn’t their outfit. But it didn’t hurt to double-check.

“Drop me off here.” I didn’t even recognize my voice. It wheezed, broken.

“I’m not leaving you alone. Let’s find parking and—”

“No.” I clutched her arm. I took a shaky breath. “I need to do this, and fast. Please. I don’t want to back out.”

“I don’t know about this, Daria.”

Minchia! I hated that I was dragging her along to my downfall, but I didn’t need her backing out on me. Dread pulled at me. What will I do if she backs down? “Come on, you said he’ll be nice. What’s there to worry about? Besides, you’ll make me nervous. I don’t want anyone I know around.”

“No.” Her lips stiffened into a determined line. “I am coming along.”

“Fine,” I mumbled and let go of her arm. She did a U-turn to drive around. “Just drop me here, and I’ll wait for you.”

“I thought we just—”

“Have you seen these heels? I’m not walking from where we park to here.”

She cursed loudly and double-parked on the street to the honking of the cars behind us. Nothing unusual, really. Italians loved their horns as much as Cosa Nostra loved their guns.

She twisted around and fixed her stare on mine. “You’ll stay here?”

“I just told you I will.”

“You promised. Remember that. Now get out.”

I jumped out and watched her drive off like a madwoman. She’d hurry to get back, and I didn’t lie. I was going to wait for her. I was. Except the pounding of my heart was going to get me killed, and I needed to pee. Badly. I didn’t know what I had to do first. My organs were all messed up, and I was in a full fight-or-flight mood. Minchia! I am getting this over with.

I put on the wig that Luna had brought with her, crossed the street, and walked to the club. My lips trembled as I gave the guy at the door a coy smile and sneaked inside without showing an ID. The moment I stepped in, the music took over my heartbeat. As if it wasn’t beating to a wild beat already. The heaviness of alcohol and sweaty bodies clung to me. The flashing lights thumped to the beat of my pulse. I stumbled blindly through the crowd to the bar. My eyes skittered to find him. There was a guy with his back to me. I slid along the bar and tapped on his shoulder with a shaking hand. When he turned around, he was all that was wrong and that was right. He was blond, pale, and had a boyish look going for him. Complete opposite of the men of Cosa Nostra. “Aldo?” I whimpered.

His face lit up with a kind smile. “You must be Luna’s friend.”

LORENZO

I grabbed the phone ringing on the nightstand on the second ring. I was never a heavy sleeper but Sicily and a wedding two days away kept me away from any kind of sleep.

“Yeah,” I snapped, sitting upright and glancing at the clock. Two a.m.

“Boss, I didn’t want to disturb you—” My blood ran cold when I recognized the voice of one of my men on the other end who was trailing my future wife.

“What’s wrong?”

“She sneaked off with a friend.” I shot out of bed. “They drove off to Palermo, to a club.” A chill as cold as frostbite crawled under my skin. I switched on the speakerphone and haphazardly started throwing on clothes. My mind raced even as I listened to words being uttered on the other end. Is she running away? A guy? Is she eloping?

“What the fuck do you mean you can’t find her?” I bellowed through the phone.

“She was in the club, boss. They had a couple of drinks.” Drinks? What the fuck were my men doing watching while she had drinks? “Then they just took off. I think…” the voice trailed off at the other end.

Stefano came out of his room in his boxers, and his eyebrows raised. “Get dressed,” I snapped at him. “You think what, Elio?”

---