Page 17 of Escape You

“Okay. I would offer to go upstairs and have a drink, but I guess I’m on the wagon for a bit.” I laughed. When he raised an eyebrow at me, I quickly corrected. “I haven’t decided.”

The truck’s headlights flashed on the metal rolling door as the engine revved. When the door lifted a foot off the ground, four men dressed in black fatigues appeared on the other side. Fuck me. I ran to the driver’s side and slammed the door with my palm. “Gianni, drive through. We’ll cover you.”

I pulled my weapon and shot at the pair of legs in front of us. As soon as the truck had clearance, Gianni hit the accelerator. The rest of the crew took cover by the entrance and kept shooting until our guys careened onto the main road. I glanced over at Vic. He nodded. Our guys had made it, but I still had ten of my men on site.

The men out there were not ATF. Though their gear looked top notch. Vic tapped my arm, and I glanced behind me. “That’s the New York faction.”

“Are you kidding? Why? Are they here to make sure this deal doesn’t go through?” The rumor had been true. We were being poached by the New York faction.

“Doesn’t look like it.” Vic shook his head. “Truck four is a go.”

“Then what?”

Ahead of us, our guys were barely keeping the other crew at a distance when a man across the lot spoke. “We just want a word with the lady boss.”

“Because calling at my house is too civilized?” I asked Vic.

“Go upstairs. Allie will help you get out.” Vic wedged himself in front of me, his weapon at the ready.

“Are you serious with this shit? I can’t let these guys take a bullet for me. Get out of the way.” I sidestepped him before I put my hand in the air and projected my voice. “You wanna talk. I’m here.”

The fire ceased immediately. At least they were not lying about that. “Mia Torelli?”

“Who else, fucker?”

A chuckle rumbled through the parking lot. Fuck my life. They’d brought a battalion. I trudged to the middle of the parking lot. Ten steps in, the headlights hit my face. I squeezed my eyes against the burning flashes. “Is that necessary?”

“Yes, it is.” A man about Vic’s age, late sixties maybe, dressed in a dark three-piece suit, stepped forward with a couple of bodyguards behind him. He stopped within earshot of me, but his guys kept coming at me.

I pulled out my weapon and aimed it at the fancy old guy regarding me with amusement on his face. Not a smart move on my part, because the second the barrel of my gun found his chest, at least fifty clicks echoed in the now-quiet parking lot. I couldn’t see past the bright lights, but if I had to guess, I had a bunch of guns pointed at me.

“The young ones are always so rash. The hubris is intolerable.” The man spoke.

My pride was hurt a bit, to think that he could take my crew away by just showing up in Jersey. “What do you want? This doesn’t concern you.”

“You’re wrong, dear. Your little makeshift crew concerns all of us. I’m here to correct the situation. I would advise you to come with us quietly. Being here already has me in a poor disposition.”

Makeshift? He wouldn’t be saying that if Uncle Mickey were standing beside me. Or if Vic were in charge. I had to fight the urge to shoot the asshole.

“Who are you?” I glanced back at Vic, hoping he’d used this time to get the guys out. A quick look showed me he had, but he’d stayed behind. Damn that old man.

“Jac Rossi. Now that you know, I will take offense if you do not lower your weapon.”

Jac Rossi, as in the Rossi family, the New York faction under the protection of the Big 5. Jac was more than a rival, he was the only one who could bring my crew, my town, my family down to their knees. He could end us right now if he wanted to. All he would have to do was say the word.

Out of fear, or hubris, I kept my gun in place, my gaze on him. Behind Rossi, a deep voice that had haunted me every night for the last month cursed a string of words I had a hard time understanding. Mostly because the hot blood that’d rushed to my ears muffled every sound.

My mystery guy stepped forward, and the lights dimmed to a normal level. Suddenly we weren’t in a standoff between two opposing gangs.

“Mia, please. Put the gun down.”

A tiny sound escaped my lips as I shuffled back. He knew my name. He fucking knew my name. Heat rushed to my cheeks at the implication of it all. The man from my one-night stand worked for a rival gang. Was that why he came to the bar that night? He’d walked in knowing exactly who I was. He’d come here to make a fool of me, to get information, to… My free hand fell to my belly.

“You?”

“He just wants to talk. You won’t be harmed. I promise.” He was more beautiful than I remembered.

How stupid could I be? Even now, he stood there asking me to concede to a rival faction and all I could think of was how much I had to say to him. Images of us dancing in the bar upstairs flooded my mind. By the way he regarded me, I could swear he was thinking the same thing. Could he still hear that song he played? Did he even remember that night? Because I hadn’t forgotten the way he kissed me, the way he held me afterward. I hadn’t forgotten how empty I felt when he left.

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