Ruthless Empire: A Dark Mafia Collection

I pulled myself up to my walker and padded barefoot to his restroom. After I finished, I edged over to Anna in her crib. She remained out, in the kind of unconcerned sleep only children can accomplish. She was such an adorable creature with her chubby pink cheeks. I wondered if our baby would have those same cheeks when it came into the world.

I hoped so.

Tara would never meet my baby. She’d never get to be the aunt she could’ve been.

Her graveside service would be held tomorrow, and while I wanted to honor her life, I didn’t know how I’d get through it. Luca had told me he’d be at my side the entire time, which should’ve comforted me. And it did to a certain extent. But nothing would bring her back. I still hadn’t gotten used to the idea of her being gone.

I didn’t want to get upset, so I attempted to push those thoughts away. I was only partially successful. I glanced down at my stomach and concentrated on what it’d be like to be as pregnant as the border patrol agent I’d met. She’d been glowing but also looked a bit miserable. I wondered what it would feel like, how I’d look. Guess I’d find out sooner rather than later.

I was about to head back to bed when I heard a noise. It reminded me of when someone threw a rock through a window. Luca must’ve heard it, too, because he opened his eyes blearily and sat up. “What was that?” he asked, and then we heard it again. Closer this time. He stood, a frown marring his features, as he stepped swiftly into his pants from the day before.

And then the entire house seemed to shimmy from the inside out, the bedroom door flying back on his hinges, as everything from lamps to Anna’s toys were thrown to the floor. A wave of heat came right after, bursting through the walls of the hallway. Smoke detectors went off, and I glanced up at Luca who was staring at me wide-eyed.

An explosion, I realized. Something in the house had exploded. Anna had just started to whimper from her crib when another explosion rocked the structure, this time from much closer by. The last one must’ve taken place on the first floor, and we were on the second. But now, something on our floor had exploded, too.

Anna’s whimpers increased in volume, so instinctively, I pulled her into my arms. It hurt my injuries to do it, but it didn’t matter. We had to get out. Luca had just reached us when yet another explosion hit, this time overhead. The ceiling buckled and a car-sized piece of it fell, narrowly missing Anna and me.

Coughing, I blinked through the dust and debris, feeling more heat. Flames. The mansion was on fire.

I looked over my shoulder for Luca—he’d just been right there—but he’d vanished. Panicked, I peered at the place he’d been to discover him on the floor, half of his leg pinned beneath the fragment of ceiling. A gash on the side of his face bled freely and his expression was rife with pain, but when I leaned down to assist him, he shouted at me.

“No, get out! Get yourself and Anna out!”

“I can’t leave you here,” I protested, but he waved his arms fiercely.

“Don’t worry about me. Just go!”

Torn, I didn’t know what to do. I knew I had to get Anna out, but Luca was injured and trapped. He kept tugging on his leg to free it, but so far, hadn’t managed to get loose. Anna was full out shrieking in my ear now, and I was trying to think of some solution that would work for all of us when Marco appeared at the door.

His muscle-bound frame was in nothing but black boxers, but I’d never been so glad to see him in my life. He took one look at the three of us and ordered me out into the hallway. “I’ve got Luca,” he promised. “Take Anna and meet me at the far end of the circle drive out front.”

I turned to leave but then hesitated at the threshold. Gripping under Luca’s arms, Marco yanked with all his strength, and I watched relieved as he dragged his brother along the floor, making visible progress. But just as Marco pulled him free, Luca cried out, and I gasped. Bone protruded through the skin of his shinbone, bleeding profusely. I’d never seen such a bad break.

Horrified, I took a step back toward them. With a grunt, Marco hauled Luca up over his shoulder in a firemen’s lift and saw me standing there. Nostrils flaring, Marco yelled at me, his tone almost vicious, “Goddammit, Molly! Get out of here!”

Satisfied that they’d make it out, I headed toward the staircase to go downstairs. The heat had intensified, making my pajamas feel like they were being melted like wax to my skin. I used the wall for support and went as fast as I could, but it felt like I was moving at a snail’s pace.

The smoke was getting thicker and thicker, and I pushed my pajama top over my mouth and held my sleeve up to Anna’s face to provide us with some sort of filter to breathe through. She continued to wail, but now her wails were punctuated by coughs, too. Despite the addition of our impromptu masks, we couldn’t help but choke on the toxic air.

The house had become a warzone.

Pieces of ceiling and other debris kept sifting down from the floor above, making me take a winding route to safety. I’d just reached the first floor when I saw it; one of the decorative columns adorning the entry way had fallen across the tile, blocking the main door. I knew there were other exits, but the denseness of the smoke meant I was having a hard time with visibility.

I twisted around to see if Marco and Luca were behind us, but they weren’t. Where had they gone?

Fire licked its way along the ceiling and the stairway behind me now, it’s yellow and orange flames consuming the wood of the banister and the drywall as if it were kindling. Going around the fallen marble column, I reached a bank of windows. Several of them had been blown out, probably from the repeated blasts, and I rushed toward them, my lungs constricting from the need for oxygen.

I made it outside, and a few feet from the exterior, the air seemed much clearer. I took in gulping breaths as I pushed on, pulling my pajama top down and moving my sleeve from the front of Anna’s tear-stained face. She hadn’t quit crying for even a second throughout the whole ordeal, but at least I knew she was still breathing.

I saw a group of shadows hovering in the distance, and I limped toward them, glad they too had gone to the far end of the circle driveway. Fire engine horns and sirens could be heard closing in on us, and soon the trucks appeared, their lights flaring.

When I reached everyone, I took inventory. Greta and Rosa were there, both fully dressed. Alessandro and Gabriel stood off to the side, both without shirts, as they each spoke loudly into their cell phones.

“Where’s Luca and Marco?” I asked as I approached, raising my voi

ce so I could be heard over Anna.

“We haven’t seen them,” Rosa said, her eyes never leaving the burning inferno that had been the Varasso mansion. Greta lived on the premises, but Rosa must’ve arrived recently to prepare an early breakfast. I was glad they were out, but I needed to know that Luca and Marco had also reached safety.