15
LUCA
S era looks badass as she walks—no, saunters — away from us.
We’re all left dumbfounded.
We were expecting threats, raised voices, a brawl. In fact, I was hoping for the latter so I had an excuse to put a bullet through someone’s head. The fact we were only met with silence and the odd murmuring from the other side of the closed door left us all a little uncertain. I was all ready to go in, guns blazing to save Bianchi. It seems she didn’t need rescuing at all.
Our leader is finally finding her place and that brings a smile to my face.
With a subtle turn of her head, Sera waits for us to catch up. Giovanni is already ahead of us, his long strides eating up the distance with ease. It’s probably to stop Levi from kicking his ass, but you can’t fault the guy’s tenacity.
As soon as we’re outside, Serafina takes a deep breath. “I can’t believe it worked,” she gasps, clutching her chest.
“He’s agreed to help?” I ask.
“I gave him no choice. He pushed back, but as soon as I mentioned his little secret, he was putty in my hands.”
Pride surges through my chest. Not just from this plan working but for Serafina holding her own. I know she likes her independence, but it was tense for a second back there. We were all anticipating having to storm inside and put a bullet through Greco’s head. By the looks of Bianchi, though, he didn’t touch her.
Levi pulls her into his side. For a moment, you wouldn’t have thought Sera was our leader. She’s clutching Levi by his jacket, smiling up at him like he’s all she needs. He’s looking down at her with the same admiration, his lips tilted up in a suggestive smirk.
I feel like I shouldn’t be a part of whatever is going on, but I can’t seem to forget the moment Sera and I had earlier on the dance floor. There was definitely some attraction, however imperceptible. I’m more than familiar with the way women flirt, and despite the subtlety, Serafina was definitely flirting.
I’m still not sure how I feel about the shift in dynamics between us. I only joined her so I could get my revenge. Admittedly, it was because I had wanted to make her pay, too. But that thought went flying out of the window so quickly I didn’t get a chance to reconsider my options. Before I knew it, I was falling under Bianchi’s spell. Just like Enzo and Levi, I’ve been charmed by our leader.
It remains to be seen whether that spell is a curse.
“Guess we should thank Fontana,” Levi beams at me, snapping me from my thoughts. “It was his idea after all.”
Sera slips away from his side, approaching me with confident prowess. She reaches up, cupping my cheek, all while her brown gaze never leaves mine. “Thank you.”
The familiar shift of attraction floats between us. I’ve felt it all evening, and I have no doubt that she feels it too. As much as I want to blame her for losing my father, I can’t. The more time I spend with Bianchi, the more difficult it is to see her in any other way than the gorgeous woman in the sparkly dress.
I’ve watched her all night, absorbed her energy, and smiled at her charismatic laugh. She’s breaking down my damn walls and there is nothing I can do to stop it. She commands a room, and she’s unaware of it. Her presence demands something more than just attention. It calls to me and I’ve never felt like that before .
“You coming?”
I’m yanked out of my trance as Levi calls me down the steps. The Ferrante brothers are already in their car, waiting for us. I get a salute from Marco as I pass them, heading to the front of the convoy. I think we’re all eager in some way to get out of here. Tonight went far too smoothly.
With the dark night looming, we hit the main road out of the valley. In no time, we’re heading back to the bay with the prospect of a successful meeting now in the back of our minds. The windows are open, the summer breeze whipping as Levi presses his foot down. Even the scent of the sea grows stronger the closer we get—and we’ve still got miles to go.
“You two seem to be getting along better,” Levi smirks beside me.
“There’s no point holding a grudge, right?” Weak excuse at best.
“Is that what that is? You’ve matured in the space of a few weeks?” he laughs, taking a corner smoothly.
“Maybe,” I shrug. “So are you going to tell me what’s going on between you two?”
Because I sure as shit feel guilty about what happened earlier. It was nothing, but everything all in the same breath. Sera calmed me, liberated me in the most subtle way that I can’t even deny the effect she has on me anymore.
“Nothing to tell,” Levi mutters, though it’s audible enough for me to catch.
Liar.
I guess I can’t blame him if he’s keeping his cards close to his chest. I can tell he’s afraid of getting burned, but I don’t think that’s the reason he’s staying closed off. Maybe she wants to keep things quiet, not that there would be anything wrong with what they’re doing—if anything.
“What about you?” he quirks a brow. “You two looked pretty cozy earlier. That was more than just dancing, Fontana. I saw the way she was looking at you.”
“You were watching? ”
Before he can answer me, my phone is ringing. I frown, looking down at the screen. “It’s Marco.”
“We have a tail!” he says sharply when I pick up the call.
“Who?”
“Well if I knew that, we’d be having a different conversation.”
BANG.
The sound of gunfire ensues, the reverberant echo through the phone marries with the noise behind us. Bullets whiz through the air, twanging against the cars while tires screech behind us.
I twist to get a look, my body practically vibrating with anticipation as I grab my weapon. I knew tonight was going too smoothly. I knew that sooner or later someone was going to take the opportunity to come after Bianchi. Without firm proof, though, I had nothing.
I’ve learned to trust my gut when it comes to these things. But that’s the problem, you can never convince others if you don’t have the proof. The only time my gut ever let me down was when it came to my father’s death, but I was drowning in guilt, too suffocated by my loss to actually see sense. Now, I’m seeing clearly enough to know that my gut was right.
Everything fell into place tonight too easily, too quickly. The Verdis never made a move, Greco conceded like a puddle. The entire night was too normal for someone like Bianchi, and I should have figured this out sooner.
“Hold steady!” I twist my body the other way, pulling myself through the open window. The Ferrante brothers are still on the road, battling with another car. I can’t make out anything past the glaring headlights and swerving cars, but I can hear the scream of metal as it collides and scrapes.
I aim for the enemy’s car, but they swerve at the last second, taking out the back end of Sera’s SUV.
They twist and turn. The tarmac screams and burns up while smoke whirls from the back end.
No!
It’s like I’m watching it in slow motion. The headlights seem to glow brighter, the car seems to decelerate. Sera’s SUV hits the bank with such force that it flips once, bouncing and rolling from its roof to right-side up. The vehicle slides through the grass, coming to a halt beside a tree.
I don't know which is worse, the shock or the anger raging through me. By the time I register that it’s both, Levi has slammed on the brakes and has us skidding in a full circle.
“Out!” he barks.
Bullets soar through the air, bouncing off metal and tarmac. We take cover behind the open doors, but it won’t be enough. I glance to the right, where Sera’s car is half buried in the grass. There’s already smoke whirring from both ends of the vehicle now, and there’s no movement.
“We need to get her out!” I bark over the ruckus, even though the probability of anyone surviving that crash is low.
“I’ll cover you!” Levi nods, positioning himself by the open window.
Gunfire pops through the air once more, this time it comes from the other side of the enemy. Marco and Matteo emerge from their own wreckage, guns blazing, allowing me just enough time to dart out from Levi’s car.
With only the light from the enemy’s van, I use the shadows to block me while Levi fires out. Each bullet misses, but that doesn’t matter. It’s a distraction, a diversion so I can get to the SUV.
I round the front that’s half buried in the dirt and grass, my pulse pounding in my ears.
No. Wait.
There’s banging coming from the side of the car. I rush to the driver’s door, prying the beat up metal away until Giovanni has enough space to crawl out. He’s looking worse for the wear, but aside from the gash on his temple, he’ll survive.
My breathing picks up speed when I don’t see her , though. There’s no way I’m allowing her to die on my watch. I rush to the other door, panic burning through my bloodstream as I yank at the crumpled door.
“Sera! Sera!” I freeze when I see her, my breath catching as I’m spun into what can only be described as a sick cocktail of relief and awe.
There in the broken glass, she sits frowning at me. She’s covered in scratches, bloody cuts mar her beautiful skin, but in the moonlight she looks even more stunning.
She climbs over the seats effortlessly. She doesn’t seem to care about her dress or the glass or the fact I’m leaning through the window in awe at her. She pulls herself up and uses her bag to push the shards of glass out of the way. “You going to help me or just stare, Fontana?” she quips.
Relief washes through me as soon as she hooks her arms around my neck.
“Are you okay?” I rasp as soon as her feet hit the ground. “I thought…” Shit. I won’t deny that seeing her alive was probably the last thought going through my mind after that collision. But I can’t tell her that.
“I’m fine,” she pants, but I can tell she’s lying. Her forehead is cut open and in the shadowy light I can see her busted lip.
I go to run my thumb over the delicate torn skin, hoping she doesn’t push me away.
“Luca!” Levi calls out.
Chaos surrounds us. The cacophony of bullets whirring past us force her to cower. I use my body to shield Sera while I draw out my second weapon.
“I’ve got her!” I shout back just as gunshots resume—or maybe I just ignored them because I was focused on other things.
Giovanni is already leaning over the hood of the car, aiming at the men approaching with his own gun.
“There’s three of them,” I count. There were four.
One is dead on the ground beside the car closest to Marco. He’s crouching, slowly heading towards the others. We’re not outnumbered, but these assholes don’t give a fuck. They’re storming ahead of us, aiming at anything and everything they can.
Giovanni takes one out, the body dropping onto the ground with a sickening thud .
It takes one moment of pause before the other two are back at it. But they’ve forgotten about Levi. He takes out the second, and I take out the third.
Before I can comprehend what is happening, my body is shoved sideways.
Two gunshots fire out.
And then there’s just silence.
I spin around just as a man drops into the grass from the tree line behind us.
What the ? —
“ Figlio di puttana ,” Sera hisses clutching her arm. All of the sudden, her legs give out from underneath her and she drops to the floor.
“Sera!” I feel my knees crunch as I bear my weight down on them. “Sera!”
Blood trickles down her arm, spilling through her fingers.
“What the fuck, Bianchi?“ I scream at her, clutching her sweaty face.
“He was going to kill you!” she winces.
I don’t have time to process what I’m feeling. I should be grateful, I should be relieved, I should be anything but angry, but it’s my go-to emotion. And right now I’m furious that she would put herself in a vulnerable position.
Should have fucking let him.
“I heard that!” She grabs my hand, looking sternly into my eyes. “I would never allow that to happen, Fontana.”
The way she says those words holds so much more meaning than she realizes. Just those simple words seem to knock down more of that solid wall I had built up. The more she speaks, the harder she looks at me with such fierce determination, the more those bricks tumble.
“Here,” I say, clearing my throat. “Let me see.”
She releases my hand, allowing me to finally get a look at her arm. Thankfully, it’s just a flesh wound. There’s a fair amount of blood, but there’s no entry or exit wound. Just a sharp gash slashing her flesh.
“It’s superficial. ”
She frowns while I grab the hem of her dress.
“What’s that meant to mean?”
“That you’ll live another day,” I smirk, grabbing a shard of glass from the floor.
“I’m sorry, Dolcezza .”
“Wha—”
I rip the hem of her dress. It’s not much, but it’s enough to both destroy the dress and make a tourniquet.
“Shit, Bianchi!” Levi appears from the side of the vehicle, panting. He has both Marco and Matteo in tow and they look like they’ve seen better days. I’m glad to see they’re not harmed, though. They put up a good fight back there. It makes me glad I put my trust in them in the first place.
“I’m fine!” Sera laughs, waving Levi off. “Luca says it’s superficial. Though, I don’t know if he was referring to me or the gunshot wound.”
“Gunshot wound!?”
I finish tying the material around Sera’s arm, while she bats off a frantic Levi. It’s not hygienic, but it’s enough to stem the bleeding until we get home.
Shit. We need to get home.
While Levi helps Sera stand, fussing over her, I make my way over to the fifth dead body by the tree line. It’s nobody I recognize, even without a bullet hole right in the center of the man’s forehead. I glance back at Bianchi, then at the dead body, rubbing my forehead in disbelief. I knew Sera could use a gun, but I didn’t know she was a good shot. I don’t think I could have even made that shot, at least not at night and from this range.
My thoughts are scrambled as I crouch down and dig for the man’s wallet.
Nothing.
“I don’t like this,” I say over my shoulder.
Sera frowns at me. “What?”
“I don’t recognize him.” I head over to the other body by the car, the one Marco took out. I already know what I’m going to find and I don’t like it at all. “Or him,” I sigh.
I turn to see Sera is still frowning, absentmindedly rubbing her arm.
“Either Verdi is outsourcing, or…”
Levi runs his hand through his hair. “Or there’s another player involved.”
Pulling my phone out, I dial Raf’s number. He’s the only other person I trust right now, and I know he’ll be able to help.
“Fontana,” his deep voice carries through the speaker.
“Where are you?”
“Why? What do you need?”
I turn to the group, watching their weary faces. “A ride.”
“Done.”
“Who was that?” Sera asks when I pocket my phone. She’s shivering, clearly fighting off the cold. I’m not prepared to drop another bomb on her just yet. I’ll leave that for Mancini to fight her over. Those two have never seen eye to eye, partly because of the ‘no-guns’ things Raf has going on.
I march towards Sera, tugging off my jacket. “I’ll explain later,” I say, pulling the jacket over her shoulders. “Right now, we need to get out of sight.”