Page 40 of Mafiosa
‘Move, move!’ Nic snapped, as we fell into formation and ran from The Sicilian Kiss like our lives depended on it.
We dropped into the parking lot, Luca out in front and Dom close behind him. Nic came around the back of me for extra cover as we sprinted towards the SUVs, our guns raised in every direction.
‘She’ll have backup!’ Luca called over his shoulder. ‘Keep your eyes open!’
A flurry of shots exploded around us, and I didn’t have to look back to know that Donata was out on the roof of The Sicilian Kiss, spending all of her bullets on us. We could all hear her wailing into the night sky. ‘Ti scuoierò!’ Shot. ‘E ti ucciderò!’ Shot. ‘Molto Lentamente!’ Shot.
‘Zigzag!’ Luca roared. We covered our heads, panting as we skidded between a wave of bullets. We reached the SUV, flung the doors open as shields and threw ourselves inside, gasping and shaking. A bullet ricocheted off the windshield – bulletproof glass – as Luca slammed his foot against the accelerator and sped out of the parking lot.
Donata’s screams might have been thundering through the world outside, but all I could hear was Libero sneering inside my head,You failed! You failed! You failed! You’re a coward!
I knew he was dead. But he would always be alive in my head, taunting me, freezing me in that moment where I had faltered.
I failed.
I was a coward.
And now I had to face my punishment.
PART II
CHAPTER SIXTEENA DIFFERENCE OF OPINION
Nic and Luca sat in stony silence up front, the car moving so fast it felt like we might break the sound barrier. Dom was beside me in the back seat, on the phone to Paulie, who had escaped to a nearby restaurant to wait out the Marino ambush. They were still trying to figure out what went wrong with their intelligence, how they didn’t know the Marino boss was planning to show up when she did.
Dom just kept asking Paulie the same thing, his voice tinged with a strange mixture of confusion and awe. ‘What thehellwas she even doing there?’ By the sounds of it, Paulie wasn’t coming up with any good answers, because Dom kept saying over and over again, ‘She must have known we were coming. Shemusthave.’
Finally, they seemed to settle on the same conclusion: ‘Wehave a rat.’
A rat that was going to die slowly and painfully when they tracked him down.
I tried to take solace in the fact that Jack hadn’t been with Donata. That would have definitely cut our chances of escape in half. I was deliberately avoiding thinking about my father’s whereabouts, how easily he could have sauntered into that room with Donata too.
When we were almost back atEvelina, Luca turned to Nic, his voice deadly quiet. ‘I told you not to do it without me.’
I watched the sides of their faces as they stared at each other. Nic could sense the rage festering beneath Luca’s careful demeanour. We all could. Nic leant away from it, pressing his head against the window. When he spoke again, he sounded like a little boy. ‘But Valentino said—’
‘I told you towait,’ Luca said.
Nic blinked at his brother, once, twice, and then said, ‘Why, though?’
‘Why?’ Luca repeated. ‘Why?’
‘Donata was a surprise. It’s not like I could foresee that.’
‘Oh, youthink? I told you not to do it without me.’
‘I had it under control,’ Nic shot back. ‘She doesn’t need a babysitter.’
‘What the hell is that supposed to mean?’
‘It means we didn’t need you, Luca.’ There was a sharpness to Nic’s words. They hit Luca between the eyes, pulled his brows together. And it wasn’t true, I knew. Because Ihadneeded him. We all had. I needed him even now. If he hadn’t been there, who knew what damage Donata could have done? Who knew if we would have escaped or not?
‘It was always supposed to beourmission,’ Nic added petulantly.
‘Right.’ Luca’s voice was dangerously even. ‘So, who failed then, Nicolò?’
‘What?’
