Twisted Pride (The Camorra Chronicles 3)

I swallowed and nodded. Adamo touched my shoulder lightly then drew back. “Sorry I should have asked before touching you.”

I shook my head. “How did you end up being so polite and kind when you are related to Remo? Were you raised by different parents?”

“Remo and Nino were raised by our parents, but Savio and I were mostly raised by Remo and Nino.”

I stared. “They raised you?”

He nodded then rubbed the back of his head as if he realized he shouldn’t have told me. “I should go.”

I tried to imagine Remo raising a child. It blew my mind, especially since they all must have been on the run at the time.

Night had fallen and I was reading in bed, when suddenly the lights went out. I blinked into the unexpected darkness and climbed out of bed, putting the book down on the nightstand.

Following the trail of silvery moonlight, I glanced out of the window. The lights in the garden and every other window of the mansion that I could see were out as well. In the distance I could make out lights from other houses.

My pulse picked up. What was happening? My eyes searched the shadows of the perimeter, and then I saw two figures running across the lawn toward the house.

The Outfit. It had to be.

They had come to save me.

Euphoria pulsed through me, followed by fear. This was Remo’s territory. The Falcones knew every inch of their property and the Outfit didn’t. What if Samuel was among the attackers?

I clung to the windowsill, immobilized by terror at the thought. Dante and Dad would have never allowed my brother to come here. He was the heir to Minneapolis. He was too important for such a risky endeavor.

Maybe the dark gave the Outfit an advantage. Maybe it caught Remo and his brothers by surprise. Who knew how many of them were even in the mansion?

The lock of my room turned, and I faced the door. This was my chance to run. The Outfit didn’t know where in the house I was being kept. They probably expected to find me in the basement. I needed to find them first. It would take too long for them to search every part of the mansion.

A tall figure stepped into the room. It was difficult to make out much, and it didn’t matter who had entered. I attacked without hesitation, storming toward my opponent, hoping to ram my elbow into his stomach. Unfortunately, backlit by moonlight I was an easy target. My opponent sidestepped me then grabbed my shoulder and thrust me forward. I collided with the wall and a firm chest pressed against my back.

“No soup today?” Savio taunted, but his voice was filled with tension. I tried shoving away from the wall, but Savio didn’t budge. “Do I have to knock you out or will you stop the fucking struggling?”

I jerked my head back, hoping to hit his nose, but he was taller than I remembered, and the back of my head collided with his chin.

“Fuck,” he snarled. He lodged his arms around my chest and waist like Samuel had done in jest not too long ago, and despite my thrashing, he carried me through the room and shoved me into the bathroom. “I won’t carry you into our panic room like that. Fuck it.”

I whirled around to face him.

“Don’t fucking move,” he growled.

“The Outfit will kick your asses. I bet you shit your pants when the lights went out,” I hissed.

Savio chuckled. “It was Nino who turned off the lights. We know every inch of this fucking house by heart. We don’t need lights. By the way, our surveillance camera showed a guy with blond hair. I wonder who will kill him. Remo or Nino?”

I froze. Samuel?

Savio closed the bathroom door. I rushed forward and hammered my fists against the wood. “Let me out! Let me out!”

“Scream all you want,” Savio said. “Maybe it attracts an Outfit fucker so I can have some fun as well.”

I pressed my palms against the door and slowly sank down onto my knees. Savio had to be lying. Samuel wasn’t here. If Remo or Nino got him in their hands …

CHAPTER 13

REMO

My brothers and I were watching the cage fight of Savio’s next opponent. Kiara had already fallen asleep against Nino as usual. I doubted she ever watched more than a few seconds of a fight. Violence just wasn’t in her nature.

“I can’t wait to fight him,” Savio said when his next opponent drop-kicked the other fighter into the cage. Not bad.

My phone lit up and so did the phones of my brothers. For a moment neither of us moved. I reached for it. An alarm had been raised. What the fuck? I opened the alert. Someone or something had touched the electric barbed wire at the top of the walls.