Page 22 of Dare You

“Shit, shit, shit,” I muttered. “How the fuck did they get here? What are they doing?”

Anthony ducked into an alley and grabbed me on his way, yanking me after him. I fell against his body and peeked out around the corner, my gun ready.

“Seems to me they’re shooting at each other,” he huffed. “How many are there?”

“Too many, and I can’t see all of them,” I replied, my gaze darting from one doorway to another. “Why the fuck are they having a war right here? Are they after us?”

“All signs point to no. But I don’t think any of them will be happy if they see us together.”

I pulled back and looked up at him, sorrow rocketing through my body. He wasn’t wrong. We weren’t supposed to be together, and if any of those men saw us, they’d name us both traitors. Moles. They’d be sure we were trading secrets.

We’d be dead in seconds, and it would be both Rossis and Massimos who shot us.

“Shit,” I said again.

“Pretty much,” he murmured, his eyes searching mine. “Run with me,” he said quietly. “This isn’t our fight. This isn’t our problem, and it doesn’t have to be the lives we lead. We can choose something else. Run away with me, Brooks Peterson. Let’s build a different life together. Just you and me. No Rossis or Brennans or Massimos.”

I bit my lip. No Rossis or Brennans or Massimos. Just me and Anthony. Me and the boy I’d been half in love with for much of my life. Me and the man I’d been with all night, who was sitting comfortably under my skin like he belonged there.

Me and Anthony.

But no Sloane or Penny. No Joseph or Michael. No Irish Brennan.

I couldn’t do it. I might still be half in love with Anthony, but Sloane and Penny, Joseph and Michael? They were myfamily. I didn’t know who I was without them.

That didn’t mean I was going to let Anthony go, though.

“I can’t,” I told him firmly. “But you’re right. This isn’t our fight, and this isn’t where we lose our lives. We have to get out of here.”

He searched my gaze for another moment, like he was waiting to see whether I’d change my mind, but I stared right back, knowing that I couldn’t take him up on his offer. Not right now. Not when my family needed me.

Finally he nodded, his face going from open and vulnerable to all business. “You go first,” he said. “Run to the main street and get a cab. Get away from here. I’ll watch your back.”

Of course he would. He always had.

“What about you?” I whispered.

He looked to where the battle was still raging, his lip caught in his teeth. “I’m no good to them here,” he said. He gave me a crooked and very wry grin. “I’m not a soldier for the Massimos. I’m their public face. The one no one suspects of being involved in anything. That’s what makes me so valuable. Go. I’ll follow as soon as you’re safe.”

Something in my chest cracked at the danger he was putting himself in—and the fact that he was doing it to keep me safe—and I nearly sobbed. He pulled me to him and kissed me before I could, though, his lips a promise on my own, his breath full of the future.

“This isn’t over,” he whispered. “Not even close. Don’t forget me. And don’t leave me hanging again.”

I put my forehead against his and stared into his gorgeous eyes. “Forget you? You’re not that lucky, Anthony Massimo.”

And then I turned and ran away from him, searching for the main street and a car that would take me back to Rossi headquarters.

Where I was going to start building a bridge toward peace with the Massimos. Because I wanted Anthony, and I wasn’t going to let a stupid little war between my family and his stop me from taking him back.

I always got what I wanted.

Anthony Massimo was just the next thing on the list.

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