Twisted Loyalties (The Camorra Chronicles 1)

I could tell that she couldn’t believe it, and from what she’d seen of Remo her disbelief was understandable. “So you’ll leave Las Vegas, take your mother with you if you must, and move to the East Coast. Remo won’t risk an attack on Luca’s territory right now.” I lifted her arm with the bracelet. “And if you don’t know what to do, if you need help, then go to New York, to a club called the Sphere, and show them your bracelet. Tell them Aria will recognize it. And tell Aria that you are the one.”

“The one?” she asked with a frown.

“Aria will understand.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

I washed a few glasses that nobody had taken care of last night. This morning I’d finally given Mom the money I’d won. I hoped she’d use it to pay her debt. I’d warned her to not pay everything at once so it wouldn’t raise eyebrows. She’d probably spend most of it on a supply of drugs anyway.

Cheryl was rolling cigarettes beside me for her shift because when things got busy later she would hardly find the time. Her fingertips had a slight yellow tinge. She’d been smoking a lot in the last few days. Considering my frayed nerves, I wished I had something to calm them with.

She hadn’t asked me about Fabiano in a while and I knew better than to offer any kind of information to her. It was too complicated to involve more people in this.

The door swung open. “We’re closed,” she shouted without even looking up.

My eyes slid over to the entrance and my hands stilled. Nino Falcone and one of his younger brothers entered. Cheryl followed my gaze and set down her cigarettes. Her eyes darted to me.

They came over to us. They didn’t hurry, seemed almost relaxed as if this was a friendly visit. But Nino’s cold gray eyes settled on me and I just knew that they were here for me. Iciness clawed at my chest. I quickly dried my hands, my right hand reaching for the mobile I’d put down on the counter beside me. I needed to tell Fabiano about this. Perhaps he could at least escape but I knew he wouldn’t.

Nino shook his head, empty expression, eyes hard. “I wouldn’t touch that if I were you.”

I snatched my hand back from my mobile. Cheryl took a step back from me, from them. Her eyes held worry and fear, for herself or for me, I couldn’t say.

Nino propped his elbows up on the bar. He was wearing a black turtleneck and he looked like an Ivy League student, not a mobster, but one look at his eyes and nobody would have taken him for anything but dangerous. And I had seen him fight, had seen the many disturbing tattoos on his body, always covered by clothing when he wasn’t in the cage. He pointed at the Johnie Walker Blue Label. “Give me a glass.”

My hands were shaking when I filled the glass with Scotch. He took a sip. “My brother and I are going to take you with us now. We have some matters to discuss.” He scanned my face. “You won’t fight us, I assume.”

I swallowed. The younger brother came around. He was still a teenager, definitely a couple of years younger than me, but there was no sign of boyish innocence on his face. He didn’t touch me as he stopped beside me. Cheryl’s eyes filled with pity.

I gave her a small smile, then nodded toward Nino in agreement. There was no other option. Fighting them would have been ridiculous. I’d heard Fabiano talk about their fighting skills. I’d seen Nino in the cage myself. They would have me on the ground in a heartbeat, and other than Fabiano they wouldn’t take care not to hurt me, quite the contrary. I grabbed my backpack and mobile.

“Savio,” Nino said simply.

Savio held out his hands and I gave him both without resistance. Then he jerked his head. I walked ahead of him, even if having him at my back raised the little hairs on my neck. Nino appeared at my side. Neither of us spoke as they led me outside toward their car, a black Mercedes SUV. Savio opened the backdoor and I climbed in. They sat in the front, not bothering to tie me up. There was no running. Nino sat behind the steering wheel and we drove off.

My hands were shaking badly as I curled my fingers around my knees in an attempt to calm myself. This didn’t have to mean we were in trouble. Perhaps something else was up. But I didn’t come up with an explanation that set my mind at ease. I caught Savio watching me through the rearview mirror on occasion while his older brother was completely focused on the windshield.