Chapter Fourteen
Venezio
My biggest concern moving out into the hall had been someone standing around, waiting to see who it was that had been fucking in the bathroom. Because there was no way someone passing by hadn’t heard Steph’s soft mewls and loud moans.
Even just the memory of them had my cock twitching, ready to go another round.
I saw no one at first, though. No guest with a smirk and a camera handy. No employee with a frustrated head shake, worrying there might be something gross for them to clean up.
No one.
Until a shadow seemed to shift.
My gaze zeroed in, all my instincts knowing that it was never innocent when someone was using darkness as cover.
In the ballroom, the music had shifted from some crooning ‘lonely at Christmas’ song, to one about decking the halls.
It could just be an employee sneaking a second to vape, the more rational part of my mind suggested.
This was a fancy-ass event. I’d even eyed one or two personal security guards inside. I was pretty sure no one else had clocked them. But I knew what to look for: the tight posture, the way their gazes were always moving, how they checked in on their principals to make sure no one needed them.
Maybe it seemed crazy for lawyers to have security. But these were criminal defense attorneys. And there was always someone pissed off whether they won or lost their cases.
This place was secure.
There was no reason to suspect any sort of threat.
And yet my blood went icy.
Every muscle seemed to tense.
Any other day, I would have walked forward, faced the potential threat head-on.
But Stephanie was standing beside me, still orgasm-woozy.
I wasn’t going to put her in trouble.
The shadow shifted.
My guts twisted.
Because the light slanted just right across the man’s face.
Some people struggled with faces.
Everything about my life up to this point demanded I remember them, note them, recognize them even if they’d changed their hair, got ink, pierced something.
And that immediate recognition, the way my mind flew right back to that alley, to that truck, to the man I’d killed… and the one who’d gotten away, was the only thing that probably saved us.
My hand grabbed Steph’s.
He stepped forward, his hand going into his waistband.
“Run!” I demanded, my voice a ragged rasp.
I didn’t wait for her to understand, to move of her own accord. I turned and ran, dragging her along with me.
“Venezio,” she gasped as I pulled her down a side hallway, my gaze searching for an exit.
The carpet muffled it, but I could hear the man’s footfalls as he chased us.
His motivation was strong.
Mine was stronger.
I pulled Steph in through a door marked Employees Only.
The chaos of the kitchen assaulted us all at once.
Pans banged. Water splashed. Voices barked or laughed.
The scents came to me next: the lingering traces of garlic and onions, with a syrupy sweetness from dessert, an industrial cleaner that stung my nose, and the scent of bodies that had just rushed through, making a fancy four-course dinner for the elites in the other room.
The dishwasher eyed us first, his brows furrowing.
There was no time to explain. I didn’t even bother to warn them as I ran forward toward the red Exit sign at the back of the room.
Steph let out a grumble as the holes in the fatigue mats grabbed at the heels of her shoes.
But I couldn’t let her slow down.
Not as the door somewhere behind us flew open so hard that it knocked against the wall.
Everyone’s attention followed.
And I knew the guy’s gun was out in the open by the gasps, by the cries of alarm that went up around us.
Fuck.
How the hell was this happening?
At this event, of all places?
“What’s going—” Steph started to ask as we closed in on the door.
Before I could push it open, though, a loud bang filled the kitchen. And the fucking bullet whizzed right past my ear to lodge in the door.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
I yanked Steph in front of me, half curling over her as I shoved the door open.
The cold bit at my skin, and I knew Steph had to be freezing in her gown.
But there was no time to worry about comfort.
I scanned the alley, grabbed Steph’s hand again, then dragged her with me toward the gate at the end.
“Was that… did he…”
“Yes,” I said, running faster as I heard the door fly open again.
I fumbled with the gate lock, then threw it open and pushed Steph forward through it, blocking her body with mine as she rushed out.
She didn’t ask any more questions as I took her hand again and broke into a sprint. She just forced herself to run along with me, her heels clacking hard on the cement with each stride.
“What—” she started, only to get cut off as a shot rang out and a mirror to the parked car at her side shattered.
A choked cry escaped her as I yanked her down the cross street, my heart fucking hammering. Not from the running. It was from how close of a call that had been.
That bullet was for me.
And it could have taken her out.
The near miss had her lengthening her stride, allowing me to move faster too.
Bodies close, I was able to nudge her toward the next cross street without having to say anything, saving my breath for what really mattered—getting us the hell out of Dodge.
We zigzagged up and down several blocks before I no longer saw him on our tail.
Only then did we run down the steps to the subway.
My heart was pounding as we got to the turnstiles. I whipped out my MetroCard, ran it through once, then twice, and pulled her along with me.
I hoped the guy would keep scanning the streets, not run down to check out the subway.
“Shit. Run,” I demanded again as I saw one train car’s doors open to let people off.
I didn’t care where we were going.
I just wanted to get there quickly.
As far away from this fucker as possible.
We made it through the doors by the skin of our teeth, though Steph nearly lost the edge of her dress in the process.
The car was surprisingly empty, allowing me to lead Steph down toward some empty seats near the corner between cars.
For a moment, Stephanie was huffing too hard to get any words out.
I reached to remove my jacket, placing it around her shoulders and pulling it tight around the front.
Only when the train pulled away did I drop down beside her and suck in a steadying breath.
Steph turned to me slowly, studying my profile until I was forced to stop being a coward and face her.
Her voice was low but fierce when she spoke. “What the hell was that?”
“A guy with a gun,” I said honestly.
“But… but why?”
I couldn’t exactly tell her it was because I’d murdered his buddy, now, could I?
“Are Andy and Sammy at risk?”
“No. There’s no reason to think there was someone else.”
She sat with that, but I watched the gears turning behind her pretty eyes.
“He was coming after us. Specifically. I mean… if he just wanted to shoot people, that kitchen was full.”
“Yeah,” I agreed.
“Why was he after us? Shouldn’t we be calling the police?”
“I’m sure the cops were already called.”
“Then maybe we should go back? They are going to want our statement.”
“Did you get a good look at him?” I asked.
“I… no. No.”
“Then you can’t tell the cops anything anyway.”
The only reason she wasn’t asking a thousand more questions was the shock. And I felt like a dick for being glad she was experiencing that.
“That bullet,” she said, gulping hard at the memory.
“Almost got you,” I said.
“Almost got you,” she said at the same time, making my gaze cut to hers again.
“It didn’t,” I said, reaching out to give her thigh a quick squeeze. “We’re both okay.”
She sucked in another breath as her body started to tremble.
“I’m… I’m not cold.”
“You are,” I countered. Her skin had been glacial when I’d slipped my jacket on her. “But this is probably just shock,” I told her, rubbing my hand up and down her thigh.
“My insides are shaking.”
“Yeah,” I agreed.
“You’re so calm,” she said, looking at me with furrowed brows.
She wasn’t wrong.
Outwardly, my breathing had slowed. My heart was at a normal pace. I wasn’t shaking. I wasn’t freaking out.
Inwardly, though, I was anything but calm.
My mind was shooting off in a million directions. But they all met in one central point, trying to answer one pivotal question: How do I keep her safe now?
My knee-jerk instinct was to take her home and make sure we didn’t get seen together again.
But the more I thought about it, the less I felt like that was a possibility.
Sure, there was a chance he’d just been following me. That he had no idea who the hell Stephanie even was.
That said, was I willing to risk her life on that?
The answer was quick.
No.
Abso-fucking-lutely not.
She was in more danger at my side. But there was also no one else who could keep her safe.
She’d be a sitting duck in her apartment if this guy got smart, circled back, and entered the building he’d seen me going into or coming out of. Any idiot criminal knew that you could easily use a loved one to flush out who you were really after.
I mean, no, Steph wasn’t a ‘loved one.’ But this schmuck didn’t know that.
If he’d been watching, he would have seen me glued to her side, hanging onto her every word, moving her around a dance floor, and sneaking away to a private bathroom with her.
“I’m not calm.” I was just really good at hiding my worries. Because if an enemy even saw a hint of that kind of weakness, they would use it ruthlessly against you. “I’m just trying to think.”
What was my move now?
Take her to the boss’s house?
No.
No, that wouldn’t work.
He was out of town, taking the kids to visit a real, live manger.
Fuck.
Fuck.
There were other capos.
We could go there.
Wait for someone to get in touch with Lorenzo. See what the next steps were.
My fingers itched to reach for my phone.
“Thinking about what?”
“About keeping you safe.”
“We’re safe now.”
She had no idea how untrue that was.
“And it’s not your job to keep me safe,” she added.
That was where she was wrong.
I was the reason she was in danger.