Page 28 of Love Without Control

“Since I saw the woman I was supposed to be picking up on that video. A little wildcat with fire in her blue eyes and a bigfuck youwritten on her face.” Damiano slowed and then stopped the car as traffic stalled on the freeway, swiveling his head to meet my unrelenting gaze. “Till I saw you, Evie.”

I was completely lost for words. My mind couldn’t process all this new information.Damiano is a Mafia man who saved me from the even worse Mafia man, and now he’s not in the Mafia anymore.

“I don’t understand what that means,” I told him, my voice shakier than I wanted it to be.

“That makes two of us,” he muttered. “I can’t explain it, Evie. I saw that video, and you were vulnerable but so fucking strong at the same time. Luca said he was going to have fun breaking you, and I almost killed him on the spot.” His right hand left the steering wheel and reached toward me before he pulled it back and let it fall into his lap, but his eyes remained on mine. “I couldn’t bear to think of him breaking your spirit.”

“Wow. Okay. That’s… a lot.” I smoothed my index finger absently over the cut in my lip. “What happens now?”

A car horn beeped, and Damiano pulled his head around to find that traffic had started moving again. Placing both hands on the wheel, he drove without speaking for about a mile before I repeated myself.

“Damiano, what happens now?”

He sucked in a breath through his nose. “We have to go into hiding.” The air pushed from his nostrils so forcefully, they flared. “If he finds us, we’re both dead.”

“My family can hide us,” I said quickly, not thinking too much about the fact that I’d used the wordusinstead ofme. That should go over well.Hey, Dad and Mother. This is Damiano. He’s a stone-cold killer, and he’ll be staying with us while his psycho father looks for us.“They have money and—”

I cut myself off at the sharp shake of his head. “We have to go deeper than that. And besides, if you arrive back at your family’s house, law enforcement will know, and then Luca will inevitably find out. He has spies everywhere, including in the Feds and local police.”

“So we’re going into the Witness Protection Program?”

The shake of his head made my heart sink even further. “Have you ever wondered why my father is a notorious gangster and yet he’s never spent a day in jail?”

“Weirdly enough, I’ve never given that much thought,” I shot back.

Damiano ignored my sarcasm. “Fourteen people who were going to testify against my father have gone into WITSEC over the years.” A muscle twitched beneath his eye. “Guess how many survived.”

A sharp pinch formed over my chest and deepened into my heart. From the firm set of his jaw, I knew the answer. “I’m guessing none.”

“Correct. If he can’t find them, he draws them out of hiding by going after their families or loved ones. The only way you and your family will be safe is if… if he thinks you’re dead.”

A cold dread seeped over me, bringing with it an involuntary shudder, and I rubbed my hands up and down my arms. “He’s the one behind the helicopter, isn’t he?” My heart went out to Damiano when he nodded. “But he knew you were going to be on there too. His own son.”

Bitterness curled the corner of his mouth upward and wrapped around his words. “Yeah. He’s a fucking peach of a father, isn’t he?”

I reached out and laid my hand on his forearm. “I’m sorry, Damiano. My mother is a cold-hearted bitch, but I think your father has her beat for the suck-ass parent of the year award.”

“Fuhgeddaboudit,” he drawled, feigning indifference with a shrug of one shoulder. “Rodrigo is taking care of the chopper situation. It will blow up off the coast just like Luca expects it to. That way, he won’t be looking for us as long as there’s no reason for him to suspect we’re still alive.”

“Why the hell does he want me dead so badly?” I fumed.

Damiano turned on his blinker and merged into the center lane as traffic began to thin out and speed up. “He saw a press conference with your family last night, and that’s when he realized who you were. Then the paranoid sonofabitch freaked out because your disappearance is high profile and the extra media attention turned up the heat. He decided the only way to keep anything from being traced back to him was to make sure you were… out of the picture.”

At the mention of my family, my chest swelled with an ache so profound, I was afraid my ribs would crack. “I need to call them and tell them I’m okay. I’m sure they’re worried sick. Can I use your phone?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he hedged.

“Well, I think it’s a great idea,” I argued. “I can’t just let them wonder where the hell I am. I’ll tell them not to say anything to anyone.”

“Not good enough.”

My cheeks flared with red anger. “If I explain it to them…”

“Listen to me, Evie. If you were my sister and you were missing but suddenly called and told me you were fine and not to worry, you know what I’d do? I’d burn up the goddamn world getting to you.”

I stayed silent because that’s exactly what my family would do.

“If they were to tell anyone from the media or the FBI or even a friend, and it got back to my father, you’d be dead before you knew what was happening. In fact, the Feds undoubtedly have your family's phones monitored. Luca is ruthless and powerful, and he will stop at nothing to save his own skin. Including blowing up a helicopter with his own fucking son in it,” he shouted, slamming his fist against his chest. Damiano took a few heaving breaths and then his voice softened marginally. “Wouldn’t your family rather you be safe and they be unaware of it than to know for sure that you’re dead?”

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