I slam my hand on the steering wheel as the phone falls into my lap. “Sonofabitch!”
“What happened?” Serena asks. “I know something happened. I can tell from your expression. Something is wrong. What is it, Diego?”
“I don’t know. My sister said she heard shots fired outside her room. Cops are on the way and my brother-in-law is MIA.” My eyes meet Serena’s frightened ones. “What floor did you say your father’s room was on?”
Chapter Eight
Serena
“I didn’t,” I whisper. An icy sensation winds through my insides. “But it’s the fourteenth.”
“Shit,” Diego grumbles. “My family is on the same floor. They have to be on lockdown right now.”
“Oh God…how is this even happening?” I hug my arms around myself, rocking back and forth in the passenger seat as Diego navigates traffic in the area around the hotel. “We need to get back there! We need to get them out of there!”
“I’m trying.” Diego mutters in Italian under his breath, weaving in and out of traffic on the narrow city streets. Rubberneckers gather along both sides of the sidewalk, struggling to get a glimpse of what’s happening at the hotel. Sirens explode, rising in volume as they get closer, but instead of making a path for us, they block us from moving. He lets out a frustrated sigh and grabs his phone. He stabs the keyboard and sticks it against his ear as he maneuvers the SUV down a side street. “Ant! I need help.”
Whoever this Ant person is, he’d better be able to get us through the heavily armed police barrier. My stomach twists as we get closer and officers dressed all in black swarm the grounds. They are covered from head to toe, including plastic face protection masks.
“There’s a situation at the hotel where Gi and Alek are staying.” He casts a sideways glance at me. “Franco Vitale is on their floor, and someone put a hit on him and his daughter, Serena.” He pauses. “She’s with me.” He rolls his eyes and slaps the steering wheel, cursing for almost a full straight minute before listening to what this Ant guy has to say. “Goddammit, Ant! I don’t have time for your bullshit, okay? I need help!”
“Oh, for Christ’s sake!” I grit my teeth and yank the phone away from Diego. I struggle to keep my voice calm, but once my mouth opens, all fucking hell breaks loose, and I lash into the guy, whoever the hell he is. Let him put a hit on me, too! “Ant, is it?” I hiss into the phone. “This is Serena Vitale, Franco Vitale’s daughter. I am sitting in an SUV next to Diego Marcone. He just jumped an assassin who was about to shoot me in the fucking head at a café and now we’re trying to get back to the hotel to save my father and Diego’s family. I don’t know who the fuck you are or what magical skills you have to get us past security, but if Diego called you, he must have faith that you can help. So…” I wait for a second, taking a deep breath before I scream my final words. “Fucking help us!”
A moment of silence follows, not that we can really afford it. My heart thuds hard against my ribcage as I wait for any indication whatsoever that this clown heard me. “Do I need to repeat all that, Ant? Or are we on the same page?”
“Uh, yeah…um…we’re good, uh, Serena.”
“Good!”
“I, uh, I’m sorry someone tried to kill you. That sucks.”
“Do you know what would suck even more?” I shriek. “If it happens again and they succeed! So can you help or not? Because if you can’t, fuck off so we can find someone who can!”
I can almost see this guy’s jaw hit the floor. My hand shakes as I clutch the phone tight.
“I’ll be right there,” he says in a meek voice. “Can you put Diego back on now? Or is there more you, uh, want to say?”
“Oh, trust me, you can’t imagine how much more I want to say!” I screech, thrusting the phone at Diego. “Take it! This guy had better not be as fucking useless as I think he is!”
Diego slows to a halt right before we pull in front of a barrier of flashing red lights. He pulls over to the side of the road, double parking next to a red Fiat. He growls into the phone. “Real smooth, bro. Looks like you made quite an impression. I sure hope you can redeem yourself, otherwise her father may put his next hit on you.”
I run a hand through my hair and tug at it. “Look, can you and your bro please figure out how we’re going to get inside? Look around! It’s a zoo! There are people and cameras and cops and ambulances everywhere!”
Diego looks at me as he listens to Ant. I don’t get much from their exchange. It’s a lot of code-like words, and I trust he knows what the hell they all mean. Finally he ends the call and looks at me. “Put on your cap and sunglasses. Shove your hair all the way under the hat.” He pulls a red windbreaker from the backseat. “And put this on.”
I wrinkle my nose. “Red? Really? Because that won’t stand out at all.”
He rolls his eyes. “If the guy who was gonna take you out in the café sees you in the same outfit you wore earlier, he won’t hesitate to put a bullet between your eyes, capice? Hit men don’t usually give a shit if there are people in their way, either. They know how to clear a path.”
My lips press together, but I follow his instructions. He’s right, I’m just completely out of my element. For years, I lived in the spotlight without anyone looking to kill me. I graced red carpets as well as the slums of Italy, and nobody ever took a shot at me. Well, at least with a real live weapon. Words are another story altogether.
But I’m a long way from that life. I knew how to live that life.
I’m still learning the ropes of this new one.
My new normal.
And I hate it more and more every day.
It’s a horrific maze filled with deadly threats and zero chances for escape.
His phone pings with an incoming text and he swipes across the screen. “Thank God,” he says to himself, his head collapsing back onto the leather cushion.
“Who is it? Is it your sister?”
He nods. “Yeah, she and my niece are good. They were evacuated, and my brother Ant has a couple of security guys on the payroll who are gonna get them out of there as soon as they have a clear path. But she said the gunman is still on the loose. My brother-in-law is still missing. And your father…” He rubs the back of his neck and takes a deep breath. “I need to get in there. I don’t like this at all.”
“I hope you know you’re taking me with you! You can’t leave me here! I can help, I swear!”
“It’s not a question of help. It’s a question of safety.” He looks at me. “I didn’t almost take a shot for you so I could let someone else get in close. I need to keep you safe.”
“Yeah, because you know what my father will do to you if you don’t,” I say with a forced laugh.
“No,” he says, his voice low. “Because you’re the best person I barely know. And you’re a person I want to know better. Need to know. That’s why.”
I nod, transfixed, my eyes locked on his dark ones. The intensity flickering in the depths warms my insides.
It makes me feel protected.
Secure.
Hopeful…for the first time in months.
“Okay,” I murmur. “Tell me what to do.”
The corners of his lips curl upward. “You don’t seem like the type to take instruction well.”
“I’ll make an exception today.” My fingers find his and squeeze. “Just please promise me that this nightmare will be over soon.”
“I don’t make promises I can’t keep,” he whispers, tucking a stray strand of my hair back into the hat. “But I can promise that I’ll do everything possible to end it.”
I swallow hard. “Let’s go.”
We get out of the car, almost immediately swallowed up by people crowding the sidewalks. Diego grabs my hand and pulls me close to him. I’m practically on top of him as we weave our way through the throngs of spectators. I look at them craning their necks, taking pictures and videos, talking loudly. “I swear I’m going to smash the next phone I see recording this shit,” I grumble,
pressing myself against Diego’s side.
He squeezes my hand. “So vicious. That Vitale blood really runs through your veins, huh?”
“Diego,” I whisper. “How are we supposed to—?” My nose smashes into Diego’s shoulder as he stops short about a hundred feet away from the hotel’s entrance. “Ahh!” I gasp and press a hand to my throbbing nose. “Jesus!”
“No, it’s my brother-in-law, Alek.” He yanks me in the direction of a tall man in a t-shirt and shorts. He’s pacing, yelling into his phone, and very focused on the hotel entrance.
“Alek!”
Alek twists around and jogs over to Diego, giving him a quick man hug. “Oh fucking Christ, Diego! What the hell is going on? I can’t get to Gi at all! Fucking phone lines are jammed!”
“The girls are fine. I just got a text from Gi. She’s with Ant.”
Alek lets out a shaky breath. “Thank God. I left for ten minutes to get Ava some of those cookie things she loves at a café a couple of blocks away, and all hell broke loose!”
“I know. Bad fucking timing. Bad hotel choice, too.” Diego smacks him on the back.
“Tell me about it. Who knew we’d be stuck on the same floor as Franco Vitale?”
I wince at his words, and Diego takes that as his cue to make the introductions. “Alek, this is Serena Vitale, Franco’s daughter.”
Alek narrows his eyes at me. “Tough break.”
“You’re telling me,” I say in a weak voice.
He sticks his hand out. “Alek Severinov.”
My eyes widen. “The same Alek Severinov who went up against Sofia Rojas and her Colombian cartel?”
“The one and only,” he says, his piercing ice-blue eyes still studying me. “You know, I really respect all the work you’re doing to put an end to these trafficking rings. Sorry it put your head on the chopping block.”
I shrug. “Yeah, well, no risk, no reward, right?”
“That’s what I hear.” He gives me a half-smile. “Been there, done that, got the t-shirt. So you’re in good company.”
Chapter Nine
Diego
“We need to get inside of the hotel,” I mutter, straining to see over the heads of the people in front of us.
Alek smirks at me. “Vertically challenged, bro?”
“What I lack in height, I make up for in other places, smartass.” I pull out my phone and dial Ant’s number. Christ, I’m six feet tall, not a goddamn midget. But next to my six-foot-seven brother-in-law, yeah, I guess I look like the American actor, Kevin Hart, standing next to Dwayne Johnson, the Rock.
He answers on the first ring. “Yeah?”
“Where are you guys? I’ve got Alek.”
“Okay. My guy is taking us down to the basement. We can get out to the back of the hotel that way. Where are you?”
“In the middle of the three-ring media circus out front,” I say, rolling my eyes. “Has your guy seen Vitale?”
“No,” Ant responds in a terse voice. “And to be honest, I don’t wanna be where he is right now. I need to get the girls the fuck out of here, fast.”
“Yeah.” A loud roar catches my attention, and people are pointing at something in the front of the building that I can’t see. “Alek, what the hell is everyone looking at? Can you see?”
He doesn’t need to stand on his tiptoes. “Emergency Services just pulled out a black body bag.”
Someone in front of us turns around. “The media is hinting that it’s Franco Vitale, the mobster from Naples.”
Serena gasps and claps a hand to her mouth, burying her face in my shoulder. “Papa?” she whispers into my arm. “No, no, no!”
I pull her close. “You don’t know that. The guy said hinting, not confirming.”
She looks at me, tears in her green eyes. “I knew coming here was a bad move! Someone found out, someone leaked our plans!”
“We need to try your father again. If nobody confirmed the identity of the body yet, I don’t believe it’s him.” I say. “We will find him. And then we’ll get you and the girls far away from here.”
“Hey, you look familiar,” the guy who reported the news says, pointing at Serena’s tear-streaked face. He nudges the woman next to him. “Look, it’s Principessa Filantropa! Serena Vitale!”
And I thought hell was only supposed to break loose once a day.
“Wow! Mafia royalty in our midst!” she shouts in excitement, pointing at Serena. “It’s really you! Serena Vitale! Oh my God! Is that really your father up there? Is he the one the gunman was looking for?”
The crowd turns away from the front of the hotel and focuses on us instead. They’ve formed a large group, barricading us in as they assault us with camera flashes. They snap like crazy, capturing Serena in her blacked-out getup because a true princess evidently cannot be camouflaged.
“These people are fucking insane,” Alek grunts as people get closer, peppering Serena with questions about her father, his work, how she feels about him being gunned down.
“Fuck this!” I yell, pushing through the human barrier and pulling Serena behind me. But it’s not slick enough of a move because they start to chase us. “Alek!” I grunt as we run. “We need to get the hell away from here!”
“No shit, genius!” He brings up the rear, but even his oversized body isn’t enough to keep those nosy assholes back. We pass the side of the hotel entrance where an ambulance is being loaded with a single black bag. Serena lets out a pained cry and stops short for a split second. “Papa,” she weeps.
“You don’t know that,” I say, giving her arm a gentle tug. “We’ll figure it out, I promise. But right now, we need to get you someplace safe. One way or the other, he’d want that.”
She stares at the doors of the ambulance once they’ve been slammed shut, taking a few shuddering breaths.
“Serena Vitale! It’s really her!”
“Is the gunman coming for you, too?”
“How will this impact your work in Naples?”
“Will you take over the family for your father?”
Holy fuck, I want to take the gun out of my goddamn pants and start shooting these assholes! I pull Serena along, and Alek is right on our heels. We finally lose ourselves in the crowd closer to the hotel entrance and once we’re past it, the crowd thins and we jog a couple of blocks around to the back of the hotel to meet Ant and the girls.
We slow when we realize that nobody is following us anymore. And Serena drops my hand, sinking to the sidewalk. She pulls off the sunglasses, letting the tears flow. Her shoulders quake as sobs wrack her body. “Papa, please no. Please don’t leave me, too!”
I get down on the concrete next to her and let her cry into my chest. I hug her tight, not knowing what the hell to say because, let’s face it, it’s very fucking likely that Franco was just driven out of this chaos.
Dead and zipped into a plastic coffin.
I can’t feed her any more bullshit.
It’s not like she doesn’t know the life we live and the risk her father took on by supporting her cause.
My chest tightens as I look up and down the desolate street.
It’s not a place I want to be right now, especially when there is a gunman on the loose who may or may not have accomplished his objective for today.
If he didn’t…and I’m hopeful that’s the case…he might be looking for another victim. And since the whole world knows by now that she’s here in Palermo, more specifically, only a mere feet from the assault site, a deserted street is not the place for us to be right now.
Alek nudges me and nods toward the back entrance of the hotel.
“Serena,” I murmur against her ear but not releasing my grip. “I know you’re upset, but we really can’t stay here. It’s too dangerous.”
She sniffles, her sobs quieting. I’m sure there will be more to come, but right now, I need to get her someplace safe.
Her and my family.
Immediately, if not sooner.
She pulls away, wiping her
eyes with the sleeve of her shirt without knocking the sunglasses off of her face. “I don’t know why I’m bothering,” she grumbles, pulling them off. “It’s not like I’m fooling anyone. They all saw right through this stupid disguise anyway.”
“You can’t hide true beauty,” I say, winking at her as I rise to my feet and pull her up next to me. It’s a lame as hell line, but at least it gets her to smile.
“Oh my God,” Alek groans. “Does that shit really work for you, bro?”
I flip him off and lace my fingers with Serena’s as we close in on the back driveway. Tiny hairs on the back of my neck prickle as the darkened entryway approaches. I can’t imagine why there’s no security back here, save for my brother’s ‘contacts’.
“Diego, where the fuck are the cops? Why aren’t they covering back here?” Alek hisses.
“I don’t know,” I say, pulling out my phone again and dialing Ant’s number. I let out a sigh of relief when he answers. “We’re here.”
“Where’s your car?”
“A couple of blocks away, in the middle of that zoo out front.”
“Okay, I’ll take care of it. Give me about thirty seconds.”
I furrow my brow and look at Alek. “He said—”
Before I can even get out the words, tires screech to a halt at the top of the driveway. Big, black, and beautiful. I don’t know whose SUV it is, but right now it just became our salvation, and it’s gonna get us the hell out of here.
Ant rolls down the window. “What the hell are you waiting for? Get in!”
“Where’d you get the car, Ant?” I narrow my eyes at him. My brother’s not the brightest candle on the cake, but I hope he didn’t do something stupid to get this car. Stupid enough to make some very dangerous people come after us.
“Relax, one of my contacts let me take it. It’s his. He knows I’m good for it.” He rolls his eyes when I hesitate. “Look, Diego, if you wanna fight your way through that crowd and risk taking a bullet yourself, be my guest. But I’d rather get the hell outta here. Now.” He taps the steering wheel. “Your choice.”
Wanted: A Dark Italian Mafia Romance (Men Of Mayhem Book 1) Page 8