by Cora Reilly
“Most people but not all of them.”
“Have you ever heard of someone who escaped the mob successfully?”
“No, but I doubt anyone would tell us about them. Neither Father nor Matteo or Luca have any interest in putting ideas in our heads.”
Aria sighed. “You are really determined to go through with this.”
“Yes.”
“Okay,” she said. This was the perfect moment to ask her for help but I realized I couldn’t do it, couldn’t ask that of her.
Of course Aria being Aria didn’t need to be asked.
“You can’t do it alone. If you want any chance at succeeding you’ll need my help.”
I stared at my sister, my beautiful, brave sister. I’d often thought we were twins who’d been born apart by some cruel twist of fate. She was the one person I’d die for. And if she’d asked me to stay, told me she couldn’t live without me, I wouldn’t even have hesitated. I’d have stayed, would have married Matteo. For her. But Aria would never ask that of me. Aria was the one thing that reminded me that there was good in our world too, and I hoped she’d never let the darkness around us corrupt her. “No,” I said firmly. “I can do it on my own.”
But Aria ignored my comment.
“If I help you to run, I’ll betray the Famiglia and by doing so my husband,” she said with a distant look in her eyes.
I shook my head. “You are right. And I can’t let you take that risk. I won’t let you risk it.”
She linked her fingers with mine. “No, I will help you. I’m your only choice. And if anyone can make it, then it’s you. You never wanted to be part of all this.”
“Aria, you said it yourself, what I’m doing is betrayal and the mob deals harshly with people who betray them. Luca isn’t the forgiving type.”
“Luca won’t hurt me.” There wasn’t the hint of doubt in her voice. Sadly, I didn’t share her conviction. I opened my mouth to object but she raised her hand.
“He won’t. If Salvatore Vitiello were still alive, things would be different. I’d have been under his jurisdiction, but Luca is Capo and he won’t punish me.”
How could she trust that cruel bastard like that? What must it be like to love someone so much that you would put your life in their hands without hesitation? “Maybe his men won’t leave him a choice. He’s a new Capo and if he looks weak, his men might revolt. Luca won’t risk his power, not even for you. The Famiglia comes first to Made Men.”
I was talking to a wall from the impact I was making on Aria. “Trust me,” she said simply.
“I trust you. It’s Luca whom I don’t trust.”
“And if you think about it, I wouldn’t really be betraying the Famiglia. You are still part of the Outfit until you marry Matteo. That means what I’m doing is a betrayal of the Outfit at most, but I’m not bound to them, so I can’t betray them.”
“Be that as it may. Luca might not see it that way. Even if you aren’t betraying the Famiglia, you’re still going behind Luca’s back. Not to mention that Matteo will probably move heaven and earth to find me.”
“True,” Aria said slowly. “He’ll hunt you.”
“He’ll eventually lose interest.”
Aria looked doubtful. “Perhaps. But I wouldn’t count on it. We have to make sure he can’t find you.”
Above us the sky was turning dark gray, the first signs of an impending rainstorm. If I were superstitious, I’d probably see it as a bad omen. “Aria, I shouldn’t have come to you with this. You can’t get involved.”
Aria rolled her eyes. It was such a me-thing to do that I couldn’t help but smile despite the severity of our conversation.
“Don’t try to talk me out of it. I’d feel guilty if I didn’t help you and you got caught,” she said firmly.
“And I will feel guilty if you get in trouble for helping me.”
“I’m helping you. End of story.”
“How can I ever make it up to you?”
“Just be happy, Gianna. Live the life you want, that’s all I want.”
That was so typically Aria. If anyone deserved a life outside of this fucked-up world, it would be her. I pressed my lips together, fighting tears. “Shit.”
Aria smiled. “Come on. We need to figure out when and how to get you away.”
“I suppose it’s a bit too late to give it a try during this visit?” I forced a smile, wanting to get rid of the heavy feeling in my chest.
“Yeah. But you’ll definitely have to run when you are in New York. You’ll never escape from Father’s men.”
Sadly, she was right. Father didn’t let me out of his sight for a second. He didn’t trust me. The only thing missing from my prison was leg irons. “But Romero is always around.”
Aria and I both glanced toward the living room where Lily was laughing at something Romero must have said. She looked so happy. “I think we can get him off our back,” Aria said.
“Next time Lily won’t be around to distract him. I don’t want her to know about this.”
Aria nodded. “I’ll figure something out. I tricked him once before. I can do it again. Luca trusts me. Romero doesn’t follow me as much as he did in the beginning.”
Guilt twisted my insides again but I ignored it. “I have to get a passport so I can leave the country. I’ll never be safe in the States.”
“You should go to Europe.”
“I’ve always wanted to visit Sicily,” I joked.
Aria cracked up. “Yeah, that sounds like a foolproof plan.”
“I need money. Maybe I can find out where Father keeps his stack of cash.”
“No, he’d notice. We’ll have to take Luca’s money. If we wait until the last minute before we take it, he won’t notice until it’s too late.”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
Aria nodded but there was a flicker of hesitation in her eyes.
“Maybe we can get money from somewhere else. I could ask one of the credit sharks for a loan. It’s not like I’ll be around for them to get it back,” I said quickly.
Aria shook her head at once. “All the credit sharks either belong to the Famiglia or to the Bratva. That would be the quickest way to get caught.”
“I know I can’t ask the Famiglia, but what about the Russian credit sharks? I don’t have to announce to them who I am. I could pretend I was some random girl with financial troubles.”
Aria seemed to consider that but then she shook her head. “It’s too risky. Those guys are dangerous.”
Memories I’d tried to bury resurfaced like a tidal wave. I’d been terrified when the Russians had attacked the mansion. I’d been sure we’d die a horrible death, sure we’d be raped and tortured. I really didn’t want anything to do with the Bratva ever again but Aria didn’t need to know how much the images of that day still bothered me. Most of the time I managed to lock them away, and once I was in Europe, away from this world, they’d hopefully disappear for good. “Aria, you are married to the man all those dangerous guys are scared of.”
“And you are engaged to the man who cuts those dangerous guys up,” she said. “But the Russians are worse than our men. They don’t have any honor.”
I wasn’t sure if that was possible, but I wasn’t in the mood for that argument. “Okay, so no loan sharks, but what about a forged passport? I’ll have to get that from somewhere. Is there anyone we could bribe?”
Another gust of wind tore at us, raising goose bumps all over my body. Aria moved closer to me until we huddled together. “No one will go against Luca.”
“Except for us,” I said with a snort. “Tell me this isn’t crazy.”
“It’s crazy, but we’ll figure something out.” She paused, scrutinizing me.
I raised my eyebrows. “What?”
She smiled. “I have an idea. You know how people always say we look alike?”
“Not if you look closely. I’m a couple of inches taller than you and then there’s this.” I lifted a strand of my hair.
; “Yeah, but if we dye your hair blonde, nobody will doubt that you are me. Luca has a few forged passports with different names in the same place where he stashes the money, in case we ever need to leave the country fast. You could use one of them.”
“Luca will be able to track them.”
“Yes, but you’ll already have landed in Europe by then. You can throw away the passport once you’re there and travel around without a passport until you figure out a way to get a new one. They don’t have border control in the EU, so you should be fine to cross over to other countries within Europe.”
Hope kindled in my body. “That could actually work.”
“It will.”
We stared at each other. “So I’m really running away,” I whispered.
“Yes,” Aria said quietly.
“When?”
“Next time you visit, so we have time to really think every detail of our plan through.”
I couldn’t believe I was really going to do this, but now I wouldn’t back out, even if part of me wondered if this was really what I wanted.
* * *
I was allowed to visit Aria again in May; pretending that I had finally come to terms with my marriage to Matteo had made my father more lenient with me.
Lying had once been hard for me but I was getting better at it.
I hugged Lily and Fabi before I left Chicago, knowing it might very well be the last time I saw them, but I didn’t allow myself to linger on that thought. It would make things only more difficult. If I started to cry, someone might get suspicious.
When I arrived in New York, Aria picked me up from the airport with a new bodyguard. There was something bittersweet about our reunion. The new guy gave me a quick nod after Aria and I had pulled apart. “Who is he?” I whispered.
“That’s Sandro. He’s one of Matteo’s men.” So Matteo had already chosen a bodyguard for me, for a future life as his wife, someone who would cage me in whenever Matteo wasn’t around to do it.
Once we were in the penthouse, my new bodyguard retreated to the kitchen under the pretense of giving us privacy. As if there was ever such a thing under his constant surveillance. Aria and I lingered near the sofa, out of earshot. “Does Luca still have Romero guard you all day?”
Aria shrugged. “I don’t mind having Romero around, especially when Luca is busy. Sandro has taken Cesare’s place mostly, but he’s never watched me before. ”
“You need to ask Luca to let you go to college or do something else before you go crazy over here. I want you to be happy too, Aria. I want to know that you’ll be okay once I’m gone.”
“Don’t worry. And the last few weeks I’ve been pretty busy planning your escape,” Aria said with a teasing smile but there was a hint of wistfulness in her voice.
We both glanced at Sandro who was making coffee. “Why is that Sandro guy really here?”
“Because of you.”
“Because I’m the troublemaker?”
“No,” Aria said with a laugh. “Because Matteo wants you to get to know the guy who’ll be your bodyguard once you move to New York.”
“Oh great, how thoughtful of him.” Again a decision about my life that no one had bothered to discuss with me. With a nod toward Sandro, I asked, “How are we going to get rid of him?”
“I have a plan.” Aria opened her bag and pointed at a small syringe. At my confused look, she explained, “I remembered how you’d told me that Luca found the tranquilizer he used on Lily in a drawer in the basement. Last time I was in the mansion, I sneaked down there and took what we needed.”
My eyes widened. “You are a genius, Aria.”
“Not really.”
Our eyes darted toward our bodyguard once more. He was busy with his phone. “How are we going to inject him with the tranquilizer?” I asked. “He’s tall and strong, and probably a skilled fighter.”
Aria bit her lip. “We have to distract him. Maybe I can talk to him and you ram the needle into his thigh?”
“What if I break the needle by accident or if he smashes it?”
“I have a second syringe, but that’s it, so we should try to get it right the first time.”
Aria could be so badass if she tried. “Are you sure the dosage is right?”
“I don’t want him to get hurt so I reduced the dosage they listed on the packaging.”
“Okay. It still should be enough to knock him out for a while, right?”
Aria nodded. “We should probably tie him up. I found duct tape in the gun cupboard.”
She knew where her husband kept his guns? “Luca must really trust you.”
Aria didn’t say anything and I felt bad for bringing him up. Did I have to remind her how she was risking her marriage for me?
“Come on,” she said after a moment. “Let’s do this. Matteo and Luca will be back in a few hours. We should be gone by then.”
After another look toward Sandro who was still reading something on his phone, she quickly handed me the syringe. I hid it behind my back as we strolled toward Sandro who finally looked up from his phone and set it down on the counter.
“Would you like some coffee?” he asked with a nod toward his own cup. He was polite and his brown eyes were friendly. He didn’t look very threatening, but I didn’t let that fool me.
Aria leaned next to him against the counter and pressed a palm to her stomach.
Sandro frowned. “Are you okay?”
“I’m not feeling so good,” she said, then her legs buckled. It was a bit over the top if you asked me, but Sandro must have acted without thinking because he reached for her. My chance.
My arm shot out and I rammed the syringe into the back of his thigh and injected the tranquilizer. Sandro hissed, let go of Aria and lashed out instinctively. He caught my arm and I was thrown against the kitchen island, my back colliding painfully. I swallowed a cry.
“What the fuck?” he gasped, eyes furious as they darted between Aria and me. He reached for his phone but Aria shoved it away. It flew off the counter, crashed to the ground and skidded over the marble. Sandro staggered toward it, his movements already less coordinated than usual. I quickly rushed toward the phone and kicked it away. “Where’s the stupid tape?”
Aria nodded and rushed away.
Sandro glared at me. “What are you doing?” he growled. He advanced on me, his hand fumbling for the gun in his chest holster. Did he want to hold us at gunpoint?
He didn’t get very far. His legs gave away and he fell to his knees. He shook his head like a dog then tried to stand again.
“Aria!” I screamed. What if this didn’t work? What if our plan was over before it had really begun?
“I’m coming!” She ran toward me with the tape. “Grab his arms.”
I tried to pull Sandro’s arms behind his back, but he was too strong even in his dazed state. He shook me off.
“It’s not enough tranquilizer!”
“I don’t want to hurt him,” Aria said panicky.
I tried to grip his arms again but he managed to stagger back to his feet, pushing me out of the way. Aria moved quickly and thrust the second syringe into his leg. This time he dropped to his knees almost instantly, then fell to his side. Aria and I made quick work out of tying him up then she touched his throat.
“Is he okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, it seems so. I hope we didn’t give him too much.”
“He’s a tall guy. I’m sure he’ll be fine.” I got up. Aria did the same and then she rushed off again. A few minutes later she returned with a huge stack of dollar notes as well as two passports. For a moment I thought she’d decided to go with me and that was why there wasn’t only one passport, then I realized how ridiculous that thought was.
“Here.” She handed me everything. “That’s about ten thousand dollars. That should get you by for a while, and two passports just in case. But you should really get rid of them once you’re in Europe.”
I stuffed everything into my bag then grabbed my suitcas
e.
“Ready?” Aria asked, hesitating.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.” She didn’t return my smile, only glanced at Sandro again before setting her phone down on the counter. I did the same to prevent them from tracking us.
We took the elevator down and hailed a taxi. Traffic was on our side and we pulled up in front of the JFK airport after forty-five minutes.
After we’d entered the departure area, I headed straight to the ticket counter to buy a one-way ticket to Amsterdam while Aria stayed back; the photo in the passport looked more like her than me and if we stood beside each other nobody would have been fooled.
I gingerly slid the fake passport across the counter. The woman barely glanced at the photo, despite the fact that I didn’t have blonde hair like the girl in it. She probably thought I’d dyed it red. Twenty minutes later, I walked over to Aria with the ticket to freedom in my hand. I’d have thought I’d feel more excited, instead nerves twisted my stomach so tightly I worried I’d throw up, but I couldn’t let Aria see it.
“So how did it go?” she asked nervously.
I waved the ticket in response. “She didn’t even ask about my hair.”
“That’s good, but once you’re in Amsterdam, you need to change your appearance.”
I smiled, touched by her concern and at the same time wondering if I was really doing the right thing. This could be the last time I ever saw Aria. I couldn’t even imagine a year without her, much less the rest of my life. “Don’t worry.”
A small part of me wondered how Matteo would feel once he found out. I didn’t think my disappearance would do more than bruise his pride. This wasn’t about love, or even feelings.
Aria peered toward the main entrance again. “When does your flight leave?”
“In two hours. I should probably go through security.”
“I will rent a car and drive it out of town as a red herring. Luca will think you and I ran away together. Maybe it’ll buy you additional time. Once you’re off the plane, go to a restroom and put on the wig, in case there’s already someone looking for you at Schiphol airport.”
Aria was talking fast but it didn’t stop me from noticing the way her voice was shaking. She was trying to be strong for me.