CHAPTER EIGHT
SIENNA
Eve made a quick right, then cut through traffic. The cake boxes in the back seat slid slightly.
“Turn right up ahead and let’s take this to the highway,” I told her.
“Good idea.”
It was a busy Saturday, cars everywhere. But that worked in our favor. The more traffic, the more opportunities to disappear. Eve switched lanes, speeding up to get around a slow-moving vehicle. She continued forward, weaving through traffic.
“Four stayed on us,” Eve told me. “The others we lost because they didn’t realize I was about to hit the highway.”
“Speed up and get around those two eighteen-wheelers,” I instructed, spotting an opportunity ahead.
Two massive trucks were creating a natural barrier that we could use to our advantage. The engine revved as she did as I’d asked. I turned slightly to look into the back seat, concerned about our precious cargo.
“I should’ve put the cakes in the front seat,” I mumbled before facing forward in time to see her drive along the emergency lane to get around the two eighteen-wheelers.
Cars honked at us in protest. Eve honked back and sped up, a savage grin on her face. We made two more lane switches, winding through traffic. Two black vehicles stayed locked in behind us. The others had slowed, stuck at the light she’d just beaten.
“Take the next exit,” I told her, watching the map reroute.
She didn’t slow down much before making the turn, the tires squealing as she straightened the wheel and hit the gas again. I’d almost forgotten that she was the best getaway driver ever.
“That’s my bitch!” I yelled, excited.
“You already know,” she shouted, switching lanes.
“They’re still there,” I said, noting our persistent shadows.
“Yeah. They’ve got skills.”
She switched lanes again, cutting off a minivan whose driver gave us the finger. She flashed him a smile and waved. We approached another light that had just turned yellow.
“Speed up,” I insisted.
“On it,” she replied, making it through before the light changed to red.
One of the cars made it through behind us. The other didn’t.
“We’ve got one more to lose,” she mused.
She slowed just slightly, then turned onto a narrow side street. The car tailing us followed, maintaining its distance but not backing off.
“Damn,” Eve muttered.
“He’s good,” I told her, giving credit where it was due.
“So am I,” she bragged, then took another turn, then another, my GPS struggling to keep up.
“If it wasn’t broad daylight, I’d shoot out their tires,” I mused when I saw the car still behind us.
A familiar thrill was washing over me. This was my element. Sure, I was enjoying living my soft girl era with Stefano taking care of my every concern. I loved being spoiled rotten. What woman wouldn’t love that?
But I was a bad girl at heart. A rebel. A morally grey diva with murderous tendencies. A soft era without a little bloodshed wouldn’t work for me. Not right now. Maybe not… ever. Did that make me crazy?
Did that mean I didn’t want to change? Did that mean Maureen was right about me and about the darkness that tainted my soul? Would I be the reason Stefano and I could never escape from this life?
I didn’t know. This life… killing… it was in my blood. It was all I knew. I was Sienna Keys, trained assassin, survivor, a woman who had never needed anyone to save her. I did the saving.
Part of me wondered if I was being selfish. Stefano wanted us to leave this behind, to find peace somewhere. But what if I couldn’t? What if this chase, this danger, this rush was what made me feel most alive?
What if the darkness in me was too deeply rooted to ever fully extract? I’d spent so much time these past few months trying to fit into Stefano’s world, trying to be what I thought he needed, shying away from danger because I didn’t want him to worry about me.
In doing that, I’d almost forgotten the power that came with being myself. I was power. I was danger. I was the threat. I was the thing my enemies needed to fear. Not the other way around.
Maybe that was what had been missing all along. I didn’t need to learn to cook or clean to be worthy of Stefano’s love. I needed to remember my own worth, my own skills, and bring those to our relationship.
Because right now, watching Eve execute a perfect evasive maneuver while I navigated, I felt more alive than I had in weeks. Knowing that if we found the person who was spying on us, we were going to make him wish he’d never heard of us, that made my heart race in a good way.
We weren’t necessarily being reckless. We were simply doing the same things Stefano and Enzo were doing. We were protecting ourselves and the people we loved. Unfortunately, we had to outrun our guards to do that.
Different approaches, same goal.
Who was right and who was wrong?
Us or our guys?
I guess we’d figure that out later. The car behind us was still there, tenaciously following every twist and turn. Whoever was driving it knew their stuff. But then, so did we. Eve made a quick left and went the wrong direction in a roundabout.
We swerved to avoid an approaching vehicle. Cars honked at us as we sped off. The car following us couldn’t make that turn and had to go in the other direction.
“Who’s a bad bitch?” Eve yelled.
“You’re a bad bitch!” I shouted, feeling proud as hell of us. “Now, let’s head back to the cooking class.” I stared down at my GPS, which was rerouting us back to the class. “Take this left at the light.”
I turned the volume up on my phone so Eve could hear the GPS’s instructions.
“Turn right in five hundred feet.”
Eve slowed just enough to make the turn, her eyes flicking between the road and the rear-view mirror. We drove in silence for a few minutes, Eve following the GPS instructions, me checking behind us every so often to make sure we weren’t being followed.
“We’re almost to the plaza where our cooking class is,” I pointed out.
As we drove, I found myself thinking about how to explain this to Stefano. Would he be angry? Probably. Would he understand? Maybe not at first. But he needed to see that I could protect myself, that I could protect us.
The cooking class building came into view.
The GPS voice chimed in again, ‘You have arrived at your destination.’ There were no people in the lot.
As for the black car, it was still there, parked in the same spot, the only vehicle in the lot.
Eve slowed as we passed it, both of us glancing in that direction.
“We could park across the street and wait to see if someone comes back to it,” Eve suggested as we neared the stop sign.
I was just about to answer when I noticed a tall guy, clad in a dark hoodie that was pulled low, shrouding most of his face. He was standing on the corner, staring at us as we approached. I expected him to look away and keep moving. When he didn’t, I spoke to Eve.
“See that guy standing there, staring at us?” I asked.
“I do. Damn. He’s running.”
Sure enough, he turned and ran in the opposite direction from us. If that didn’t scream suspicious, I don’t know what did.
“Follow him,” I yelled, opening my purse to retrieve my weapon.
But Eve was already turning right at the stop sign. The man sprinted down an alley behind a building. We followed, the cakes in the back seat jostling as we made the turn.
“There,” I said, pointing to the guy who was now entering a back door of one of the businesses.
“Damn it,” Eve yelled, slamming her hand against the steering wheel as she drove forward along the back alley. “Going in after him wouldn’t be wise. We don’t know what type of business that is or how many people he has with him.”
True. Damn.
It felt wrong to leave like this. We wanted answers, and I was sure that bastard had some. If he wasn’t with our enemies, he wouldn’t have run from us. Now that he’d been spotted, it would be hard to find him again.
“Shit,” Eve muttered. “This is a dead end.” Looking over her shoulder, she started to reverse. “Another car is coming.”
I looked back to see another car turning onto the back alley. A sliver of dread slipped down my spine. My grip tightened on my weapon as the car behind us stopped.
“Maybe they’re going to back up so that we can do the same,” I stated, hoping that was the case, but fearing it wasn’t.
The car started to reverse. I released a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. Perhaps I was overthinking things. Eve started backing up. My eyes widened when the car sped forward, racing toward us at full speed, engine roaring.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Eve put the car in drive, but there was nowhere to go. We were on a dead end. The car behind us slammed into us with a force that made my body lurch, my teeth clacking together as the seatbelt dug into my chest.
The impact pushed us forward, our car skidding toward the brick wall ahead. Eve tried to turn the wheel, to at least hit at an angle rather than head-on, but another hit from behind sent us crashing into the wall.
The metal crunched, the front end pushing in on Eve’s side as the windshield shattered. Glass erupted around us like deadly confetti, glittering in the sunlight. I squeezed my eyes shut, my head slamming into the passenger window with enough force to make stars dance behind my eyelids.
Pain sliced through my skull as I opened my eyes. Through blurred vision, I saw Eve slumped against the steering wheel, blood trickling from a cut on her forehead. The airbags hadn’t deployed.
I tried to move, to reach for her, but my body felt weighted down. A familiar darkness greeted me, embracing me like an old friend who’d been waiting for my return. I fought against it, trying to stay conscious, but the effort was futile.
As the world began to fade, a single thought crossed my mind…
I missed being a badass.
But I didn’t miss this part.
***
STEFANO
The smell of blood filled the warehouse, metallic and thick enough to taste. I stared down at the motherfucker who deserved to die a brutal death. His face was battered, a mess of darkening bruises and split skin.