Page 42 of Enemies in Ruin

I’m ready to ask her what’s going on when she speaks again.

“Luca, I think I’m being followed.”

Chapter 16

Carina

Twenty-Three Years Old

DearDiary,

Twelve hours later, my heart is still pounding.

The fucking ambush came out of nowhere. I don’t know where Sal’s guy got his intel from, but it was piss-poor, and there’s no excuse for it. Those guys weren’t there for a buy; they were there for an assassination attempt.

That’s okay, though. I sent Johnny to take care of that problem already. Somebody’s losing a fucking eyeball because clearly, they can’t see for shit.

We got out of it okay; that’s not such a big deal. We kept our end of the bargain, made the trade. If they didn’t actually walk out of the warehouse, it’s no skin off us, you know.

The thing that really got me was the dog. Someone brought a fucking puppy to a gun show. Beautiful little guy, couldn’t have been over three or four months old. I think the breed’s called a Malinois—it’s those supersmart kind they use in the military and the police. It hid under one of their SUVs while we were shooting at each other, and I thought I was going to die. One of the bastards kept trying to grab it and pull it out like he was gonna send it out to do his dirty work for him. I could see it shaking from across the warehouse, poor baby.

Like, what the HELL was that little puppy gonna do?

I know it was stupid. It makes no sense, even now, looking back. There was just something about it, though, that made me think of Francis. It was so helpless. So stuck. So I ran out and shot the bastard in the head. Someone shot me, but only in the arm before my guys got him and the rest of the motherfuckers, thank Jesus, and I got that baby, and we got the hell out of that place.

And now he’s mine. I kissed him, and he’s mine.Baccio.

Iclutchthephoneto my face and walk swiftly down the sidewalk. I don’t know how he can continue to speak as if he’s discussing the weather when death itself could be chasing me. There’s something comforting in his calmness, though. It’s reassuring. He may not have been there for me in the past, but he’s here now. I’m sure of that.

“Where’s the guy I sent with you?”

I look behind me, but I don’t see the man Luca assigned to go with me. Up until now, he had been less than six feet behind me. “He’s not here anymore.”

“Not there—” Luca bites off a curse. “Don’t go back to the car,” he says.

“What? Why, that doesn’t make sense—”

“If someone’s following you, they could push you into your own car and take you. Just listen to me, please.”

“Fine.” I huff, cutting my eyes to either side of the busy street. A couple of men across the street push off the wall where they’re leaning and start walking, matching my pace in a quick fashion. My heartbeat quickens. “There are more of them. From the other side of the street. They’re looking for a place to cross.”

“Don’t directly look at them.” Luca’s voice is edged in frustration. “Tell me where you are.”

I glance up at the next cross street and tell him the street name. Through the receiver, I hear the blare of a horn and the rev of a motor.

“Okay, pass the next street,” he says. “At the next alley to your left, I want you to cut through and get to the next street. I’ll pick you up in my car.”

“You’ll be there?” I pick up the pace, conscious of the man behind me and two on the opposite side of the street.

“I’ll be there.”

“You promise?”

“I swear it, wild one.”

The promise and the pet name slides like sunshine over my fraying nerve endings, calming me.

In my periphery, I see one of the men from across the street jaywalk and cross over. A horn honks, but I keep my gaze fixed ahead.

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