Page 46 of The Don

Instead of pushing through the crowd on the dancefloor, Federico gestures to the rest of our men to scatter, and then he and I step through the open wall of the club directly onto the beach.

The night is cool, edging toward cold with the soft breeze from the sea. The sand gives way under my shoes. I feel the hard microscopic particles sneaking into my socks. There’s a party happening further down the beach. We head for the crowd, joining the scattering of other people enjoying the night air.

I tuck my bloody gun into my holster, not worried about the mess I’m making of my clothes. In a few hours or less, everything I’m wearing will be nothing more than ash.

Federico places a quick call to arrange our pick-up. We turn at the sound of a commotion behind us. The lights in Luca’s club flicker on, casting a harsh white glow on the dark sand, and the music abruptly shuts off as people rush out onto the beach, arms in front of them and their heads swiveling left and right.

So, here are Luca’s men. Late. Hopefully, they learn something from this, or next time, they’ll die.

At the first chance, we turn away from the water and jog up to the shore. A car pulls in front of us, and Federico pulls the back door open before the wheels stop spinning. “Come, padrino.”

“If anything happens to me—”

Federico cuts me off. “It won’t.”

19SHAE

So,from all the mob movies Steve forced me to watch — a lot — and that I can remember — fewer than that — I think I’m supposed to be pretty, if not sexy. Check. A bit of a bitch. Fail. And composed while the mobster I’ve tied myself to goes out and does some probably…scratch that. I’m supposed to remain composed while the man I’ve tied myself to goes out and does some definitely heinous shit.

I’m not there yet. I’m not even remotely there yet, and I don’t know that I want to reach that point.

But I manage to mostly keep myself together as Lorenzo walks me out of the club. My knees only start to shake just before I collapse into the back seat of the car. It still smells like Salvatore’s cologne.

I feel like I’ve run a few miles in heels. I think the ridiculousness of this trip is finally taking a toll on me.

“Are you…okay?” Lorenzo asks carefully once we’ve pulled away from the nightclub.

“No.”

“Are you hurt?” he asks in a panic.

“No. Yes.”

“I don’t…know what to do?” His voice is a mess of confusion, and his eyes squint at me in the rearview mirror.

“Can you go back for Salvatore?” I’m not even embarrassed by the desperation dripping from every word of that request.

“No. Are you hungry?”

“No,” I bite out, but as soon as I say that, my stomach grumbles. Traitorous ass body. “I just want to go…” I almost called it home, but it’s not without Salvatore there. “Just take me back to the apartment, please.”

“Si, madrina,” he says gently. I can hear the pity in his voice. I’m so not composed that I appreciate it. I don’t care what he thinks about me; I just want Salvatore to be alright.

When we arrive back at the condo, Lorenzo pulls the car into the garage again and helps me from the back seat and into the building. This time, because I know what I’m looking for, I can see all the bodyguards stationed around the property. Some of their faces I recognize from the night we arrived, but besides Lorenzo, I don’t know any of their names, so I stick closer to him than I normally would considering the fact that I don’t know him either; not really.

Lorenzo says something in Italian, and the men give me some space, but not much, on Salvatore’s orders, I guess. But once we make it up to the penthouse, instead of leading me past the men stationed along the hallway, Lorenzo stops at the first man.

“This is Manuele,” he says. He doesn’t say that I need to recognize him by sight just in case, but I can hear that warning in his voice. I look Manuele in the eye and commit as much of his face to memory as my sad, tired brain will allow.

“Nice to meet you, Manuele,” I say in a quiet voice.

“Benvenuto a casa, madrina,” he says slowly to make sure that I can hear and understand each word. He smiles broadly, and that sets me at ease.

We walk down the hall, stopping every few feet so that Lorenzo can introduce me to each of the men Salvatore apparently trusts to put as close to me as possible.

At the front door, Lorenzo leaves me in the hallway while he checks the entire apartment. He might be going overboard, but again, I can see why Salvatore entrusted me to him.

I wedge my body into a corner and hug myself as the fatigue starts to set in, draining me of all the energy and fear keeping me upright. It’s been maybe half an hour, but it feels like forever since I left Salvatore and a little longer since Lorenzo disappeared into the apartment.

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