Page 9 of Married to the Mafia

Brandi swallowed. “Some cash in my wallet. Everything else is plastic, credit not debit. My other electronics are at home. Not a problem.” Except for the phone in her pocket, but she’d much rather keep that, of course.

“Uh-huh.” The barrel of a gun pressed into her cheek and she squeezed her eyes shut. “You’re awfully cooperative.”

“Forget it,” another male snapped. “Too much trouble.”

The gunman scoffed and pulled his gun from her skin.

Torturous seconds passed and something heavy hit the ground next to her feet. “We’re done,” the same other male declared. “Get the keys.”

“Keys, bitch,” the original speaker demanded immediately.

Brandi pointed to the car without lifting her head. “Still in the ignition.” She’d left them there in case she’d needed to make a quick getaway—how that had made sense she now wasn’t sure—but she supposed it was working in her favor. Maybe.

The car door opened and the second speaker said, “I see ‘em. Let’s go.”

The gunman stepped in front of her, obscuring her limited view as the other two clambered into her car. “Close your eyes and count to fifty. You fuckin’ move from this spot, maybe my friends come by and blow your head off.” He pressed the gun to her forehead and whispered, “Boom, bitch.”

She shut her eyes again and whispered, “Okay.” She swallowed against a fresh set of nerves. “One … two…”

The gun left her skin and another door slammed. She almost didn’t hear a smaller, softer impact on the dirt seconds before the engine rolled over and her car peeled away. Dirt kicked up, almost directly in her face, choking her and leaving her coughing.

By the time Brandi cleared her throat and blinked her eyes open, the car and her assailants were gone. Her heart was pounding so wildly she thought she might faint. She looked around slowly, wondering who else might manage to crawl out of what hadn’t looked like much of a ditch but was clearly sufficient for hiding at least three adult males. All she saw was her purse, half the contents spilling at her feet. Slowly, she bent and scooped it up. Her wallet was there, but open. The cash and credit cards were missing, of course.

Brandi glanced to the side, where the remains of her shredded tire rested, and a once-familiar sense of helplessness built up in her chest. I’ve been carjacked. She couldn’t even believe it.

She should have just gone for food and dealt with the stupid fucking stalker. At least he’d never approached her during the day.

She sank to the dirt, well aware that she was too far from anything to walk there in a reasonable time frame. She would need to call someone and she’d sleep in this spot before she’d call her father. So she pulled out her phone and looked up a local cab company.

“I really appreciate you making time for me out of your busy schedule, Mikey,” Eleonora De Salvo said with her usual warm smile.

Mikey felt his expression soften as he looked over at his mother. “I always have time for family, Mom.” He indicated the tablet that was technically hers, though he was well aware she left it to her head of security to operate. “And this is literally what I do.”

Eleonora laughed quietly. “That big brain of yours never ceases to amaze me.” She clasped her hands together. “So do you think you can do what I want?”

“Of course.” She’d asked him to upgrade her home security, saying that with the incoming of more grandbabies to think of, she wanted to be sure her home was as safe as possible. Not that she needed an excuse. If it was within his power, Mikey would give her whatever she asked for. “I can get it done this weekend, if that’s good for you. Shouldn’t take more than a couple hours.”

Her eyes widened. “Really? It won’t need rewiring or anything?”

This time he chuckled. “No wires required.”

She waved a hand dismissively. “It might as well be magic at this point, I swear.”

He stood, and she stood as well. “I’ll do the technical part, don’t worry about it.” He let her pull him into a hug, promised he would be there for dinner on Friday like always, and made his way to the door. If he weren’t his own boss, he’d be late getting back to work. The butler nodded respectfully at him as he passed and Mikey jogged down the steps to his car. He almost didn’t register the buzzing of his phone in his pocket.

It was Brandi, of all people, and he was surprised enough to come to a full stop. He didn’t think she had ever called him without him having called her first. That concern he’d thought he’d felt earlier flickered again somewhere in his chest and he accepted the call. “Go ahead.”

She pulled in a breath and he knew two things immediately. She was not okay, and she was not at the office. “I’m sorry to bother you, sir,” she said, her voice shaky. “I know I’m late. I’ve been trying to get a cab, but no one will come out here or no one can promise to be here in less than a couple of hours and—”

“Where are you?” Mikey pulled open his door and ducked inside, quickly queuing up his GPS. He couldn’t immediately decipher the twisting sensation that struck him at the unfamiliar tone in her voice, or the recognition that she was calling him for help, so he put that reflection on hold. His fingers stilled as his brain registered the street name she gave him. Anger lashed through him. “What the hell are you doing out there?”

“I … went for a drive. I needed to clear my head. I was just trying to take a shortcut back and … I got carjacked.” There was obviously more to the story than that, but the punchline hit a little too hard to ignore.

Mikey programmed in the location, mostly as a precaution, and switched the phone to speaker so he could do something more useful with his hands. “Are you hurt?”

“They didn’t hurt me. Just took my car, and my credit cards. So … my pride, you know?” She made a sound like she was going for a laugh, but she failed miserably. She also didn’t actually deny an injury, which he thought was interesting.

“I’m on the wrong side of town,” he said. “I’ll send a team ahead. If they don’t give my name, I didn’t send them. Don’t waste your phone battery on more calls.”

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