Page 28 of The Sicilian Princess
Rose
Ishook the fog that had taken over my head. Nick was consuming me, and I needed to focus on Eunji. I turned toward Maddox, giving him my full attention. "I've called my brother about Eunji. I think he may be able to get her out of New York."
Maddox shot me a look. "Who's your brother?" He had every right to be concerned.
"Vittorio Picone." I was going to explain more, but apparently, I didn't need to.
"Fuck," Maddox let out a frustrated yell. "This is on both of you. Eunji is mixed up in the mafia because you guys didn't deal with your shit." As much as I agreed with him, Maddox needed to tone it down.
"Who's to say Eunji wouldn't have gotten snatched by the cartel? We are awfully close to Mexico, and she could've easily been taken out of the country. Women get taken every single day and have no one to look out for them. So, I wouldn't be throwing stones," I snapped out.
As if someone like Maddox could understand our way of life. Being a part of a crime family was no easy feat. I looked over at Nick and then quickly glanced away. We all had hurdles we needed to cross to survive.So, you should forgive him,the devil on my shoulder whispered. I didn't want to forgive him. I wanted to hold on to the betrayal, which I guess made me petty as hell.
"You're right," Maddox said as he sank wearily to the ground.
"We need a game plan," I offered him. If he could bounce ideas off me, he would feel like he was helping the process of retrieving Eunji.
"We?" Nick scoffed.
I shot him a glare and just barely stopped myself from flipping him off. "Maybe we could go to Philly?" It was a questionable idea at best. I can't go because my father will have my head. If I step foot in Philly, he'll either kill me or capture me." I shuddered at the mere thought of going back and being my father's toy.
"What's the story with that?"
The casual way Maddox asked me didn't fool me one bit. He was asking not just for himself, but for Nick too. Knowledge was power. The more you had, the more harm you could do. I saw no reason to hold back with these men, though. They wanted the truth. I'd give it to them raw.
"Ever since I was diagnosed with my seizure disorder, I've been treated like I was less than. My father kept me locked away at the compound and I was barely ever allowed to leave." I took a deep breath and watched their faces to see the impact of my word. "About a year ago, my father pulled me into his office. A man I had never seen before was there with two guards. It was Capo Thomas Romano of the Falcone outfit. My father informed me that I was going to marry the capo soon." I felt tears threaten to fall but held them back.
"How did you get away?" Maddox asked.
The hard part almost over, I rushed the rest of the story. "My older brother Vittorio helped me. He got me a new identity, cash, and a car that wasn't being tracked. All he told me was to go west as far as I could. I was only going to stop and get something to eat when I had a seizure in Haley's." I shrugged my shoulders like this wasn't the biggest trauma in my life.
"Good thing you landed here, Rose." Maddox got up and pulled me up as well. He draped me in a hug. He was smaller than Nick, but it felt good just the same. I pulled back to give him my thanks when a ping sounded, and he exploded all over my face. Blood was dripping off me. In confusion, Nick tackled me to the ground as bullets rained down on his house.
"Crawl to the bedroom," Nick yelled over the racket. I belly crawled up the stairs, keeping my body as low as possible. I slid into Nick's room and stayed on the ground.
He followed closely behind me. "Get under the bed and don't open the door for anyone but me." With that order, he locked the door behind him and left me alone. I slid under the bed, my hands shaking, my body covered in Maddox's blood and guts. One minute, he was in front of me, the next, he was gone. I hadn't even seen anything suspicious. I covered my mouth so no one could hear the sobs wracking my body. Maddox had done nothing to deserve his death. It was all my fault. I shouldn't have come here. I should've moved on so everyone would be safe. The gunshots kept going and I lost track of time. I had no idea how many were on the property or if Nick had been able to take care of them. After a while, there was only silence. I feared the worst. The doorknob turned and I yelped.
"Little thorn, it's me. Let me in," Nick rasped from the hallway. I crawled out from under the bed and threw open the door. I flung myself into Nick's arms, sobbing the entire way. He lifted me up and carried me into the shower. The hot water flowed as he pulled off my clothing. There was nothing sexual about it. We were covered in blood and needed to get clean. "We have no choice but to go to Philadelphia, my little thorn," he said.
My heart lunged in my throat. I didn't want to go to Philly. "We can't. My family will kill me," I cried out. There was no way my father would let me get away with the slight against the family and the Falcones.
"I have it under control, little thorn, trust me." Nick gave my hair a quick wash and then we got out of the shower and dried off. We threw together a bag for him and I threw on some clothes he had for me. Funnily enough, Nick had a fake ID for me in his home as well. I was too distraught to ask him why exactly he had that. We drove to the motel and switched cars. Instead of taking Nick's to the airport, we were taking mine. He drove like a maniac. I understood we needed to get out of Texas, but he was focused. I was afraid of what the future held for us.
"What are you going to do with your business?" It just struck me that both Nick and Maddox's businesses were now not being operated by their owners.
"I'll eventually sell mine, but for now I have a proxy who is coming in to take care of both. Maddox has a will, so I'm not sure what will happen with the bar, but he was prepared for losing his life. As for me, I put a few things in motion in case I wouldn't be able to go back to Texas," Nick stated bluntly.
"But we are going back, right?" I looked over at him.
His jaw was clenched tight, a tic showing under his eye. We weren't going back to Texas. I was confused now more than ever. How was Nick going to keep me safe? Also, I wondered if my brother would protect me from my father. I already knew none of my other siblings would try. Not even my mother would go against my father. As far as I could tell, I was royally screwed. I sank lower into the seat and tried to close my eyes and not think about it.
