Bound by Temptation (Born in Blood Mafia Chronicles 4)

Fabi nodded slowly and aimed his weapon at the ground. “Okay. But I will have to call for help. I can’t wait more than a few minutes or they’ll get suspicious.”

“A few minutes should be enough for us to drive away,” Luca said. “They will follow us once they figure out what’s going on but five minutes will bring enough distance between us and them. Dante isn’t someone who likes fighting in the open, so I doubt he’ll send his men on a wild car chase. He’ll attack us later, once he’s figured out the best way to hurt us.”

My stomach tightened. All because of me. How selfish could a person be to let others risk so much for her?

Romero gave me an encouraging smile, but for once it didn’t manage to cheer me up. “War with the Outfit was inevitable. Things have gotten worse by the day.”

Luca looked over to us. “That’s true. If it weren’t for Aria and Gianna, Matteo and I wouldn’t even have come to Chicago for the wedding.”

That might have been the case, but Benito’s death would put fuel into the fire. Things would get very ugly now.

“Let’s do this now,” Matteo urged. “We’re wasting time.”

“I think we should move our shooting to the garage. Maybe that will buy us additional time. People won’t hear your scream as easily,” Romero suggested.

Together we headed for the door and down a flight of stairs into the underground garage. It wasn’t as big as the one I’d seen in New York. Despite our decision to work together, none of the men had put their guns back into their holder yet. When we stopped close to our two rental cars, I slipped out of Romero’s grasp and walked up to Fabi. I didn’t miss the way, Romero tensed and raised his gun, but I trusted Fabi. Maybe he was on his way to becoming a soldier of the Outfit, but he was also my little brother. That wouldn’t change. I hugged him and after a moment he wrapped his arms around me. In the last year, he’d avoided public displays of affection because he’d tried to act cool, but it felt good to have him close, especially since I didn’t know when I’d get another chance to see him.

“I’m sorry for getting you into trouble,” I whispered. “I wished things were different.”

“I never liked Benito,” Fabi said only. “Father shouldn’t have married you off to that guy.”

Suddenly Gianna and Aria were there too, and took their turns embracing us.

“We have to go now,” Luca reminded us.

I pulled away from Fabi and returned to Romero. He motioned for me to get into the car, while Aria and Gianna got into the other. I watched as they tried to figure out the best way to fake a shooting. Eventually Fabi fired two muffled shots, and then it was Romero’s and Matteo’s turn. When Matteo’s bullet, sliced through Fabi’s upper arm, I winced. My brother dropped his gun and fell to his knees, his face scrunched up in pain. Nothing about that was fake. Romero rushed toward our car and slid behind the steering wheel before flooring the gas. Luca pressed the button that made the garage doors slide open. Most guests had parked in the driveway so I worried that the sound would draw attention to our flight even before Fabi started screaming. I doubted anyone had heard the silenced shots through the thick ceiling of the underground garage. Romero steered our car up the slope and down the driveway. Matteo was behind the steering wheel of the other car and close behind us. We raced down the driveway, past a couple of drunk guests who sat on one of the marble benches on the side. My heart stuttered in my chest, but there was no time for worry. I clutched the seat as we drove off the premises at dizzying speed. I glanced through the rearview mirror, but the only car behind us was the one with my sisters and their husbands. “Nobody is following us,” I said.

“Give it a moment. Most of them are drunk and it’ll take a while for them to figure out what’s going on, but someone will be sober enough to chase us,” Romero said.

He looked calm about it. This wasn’t something new to him, even if the circumstances that had led to us being here were, but Romero had been a Made Man for a long time. This wasn’t his first chase and it wouldn’t be his last.

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to come to terms with everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. I’d walked down the aisle toward a husband I hated, a husband the man I loved had killed for me. Romero linked our fingers and my eyes shot open. Despite our speed, he was driving with only one hand. He’d stashed his gun in the compartment between our seats. I gave him a grateful smile. “When we’re back in New York, what happens then?”

“You move in with me.” He paused. “Unless you’d rather stay with one of your sisters.”

I shook my head. “I don’t want to be away from you again.”

Romero brought my hand to his lips and kissed it gently, but then his eyes darted to the side mirror and he tensed. He let go of me and grabbed his gun.

I peered over my shoulder. Three cars were chasing us. I sank deeper into my seat and folded my hands, sending a quick prayer above. I wasn’t particularly religious but it seemed like the only thing I could do. So far not a single shot had been fired from either side and it made me wonder if the Outfit had set a trap somewhere. “Why aren’t they shooting?”

“This is a residential area and Dante doesn’t like to draw attention to the Outfit. I assume he gave orders to wait until we’re out of the city limits, which will be any minute now. We’re crossing over to an industrial area.”