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“He would’ve gotten out anyway.” Brianna was suddenly sure of it. “One way or the other, he would’ve found a way, Carina.”

“Maybe,” Carina agreed as she looked out the window again.

“I feel like we’re both in serious trouble,” Brianna said fearfully. “What the fuck happens now?”

“I don’t know.” Carina shook her head and looked back to Brianna. “But it’s not good.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

The Don freaked out about Carlo getting away.

Worse than Brianna had ever seen him lose it. She was scared shitless that he would blame her, but at the end of the day, he came to the same conclusion they did.

Nothing could’ve stopped Carlo once he decided to break free.

Enforcers always found a way.

At least that was what he said to Brianna’s face.

The Don sent a few soldiers after Carlo with orders to keep it quiet that he was missing.

So far, they had zero leads.

Carlo didn’t even take a car—he just disappeared into the night.

In the morning, the Don decided they would move all the families seeking shelter to Frankie and Mary’s house. Mary was out of the country getting some sort of state-of-the-art plastic surgery in Brussels, and Frankie was still in prison. The other Moretti mansion was a good, safe, well-guarded place. They kept it quiet that Carlo was gone, and they made double sure no one knew the Borgata’s much-loved Consigliere had taken a bullet to the chest.

Tino never told Brianna why he couldn’t take Nova to the hospital, so the Don felt it best thatno oneknew Nova was injured while they waited. It wasn’t odd to have doctors there when war was brewing, so they stuck to that story.

Moving everyone took all day.

Brianna and Carina helped, even though they were both close to dropping dead from exhaustion. The urgency created a wild surge of adrenaline. Aided by large amounts of caffeine, they were going on day three with almost no sleep. They barely ate, and every time the phone rang, they jumped in fear.

Brianna carried around Nova’s burner phone like a lifeline.

Tino checked in four times with quick updates, but he didn’t have time to waste, so their information was minimal. They knew Nova was still alive and conscious, but that was about it.

The house was empty by sunset, save the dozen soldiers who stayed behind to protect them and the doctors who were waiting on Nova’s arrival. The Don turned on the evening news in his den and invited them to join him.

Brianna got the impression he didn’t want to leave them alone much, like maybe he didn’t trust them not to say something about Carlo or Nova. More than likely, it was just Brianna he didn’t trust, but she couldn’t think about that right now.

The Don sat in the large leather chair behind his desk.

Brianna fell onto the couch. Carina stretched out with her, eventually ending up with her head resting on Brianna’s thigh as the three of them stared up at the news playing on the expensive flat screen mounted on the wall.

“What would happen if we warned the Brambinos?” Brianna mused as she let her head fall back against the back of the couch. “Would it help?”

She knew it wasn’t her place to question the Don, especially when she was already on thin ice, but she was too exhausted to censor herself.

“Fuck the Brambinos.” Carina’s eyes drifted close. “Too bad the puttana who gave birth to me isn’t there to bury with the rest of ’em.”

“Sick cunts,” the Don agreed.

Brianna almost explained herself because she didn’t care if Carlo burned the entire Brambino Borgata to the ground, and she didn’t want them to think she did. Unlike Carina and the Don, Brianna knew some of the details from what happened to Tino during the dark years when the Brambinos sold him. She wanted the Brambino Borgata to go down more than anyone, but not at the cost of losing Carlo.

If the Brambinos knew Carlo was on the prowl, maybe that would stop him from doing something that could send him to prison for a very long time.

Then the Don said, “Hope he makes it worth it.”