Chapter 20 – Nico
She came.
I wished I could say I knew she would. But there had been a shred of doubt that Luigi wouldn’t be able to convince her. If I didn’t have to work the details out with Joey and his dad, I would have gone for her myself.
Taking a deep breath, I stepped out of the garage and let the blistering sunlight bake me. Today was a milestone. The first hurdle was done. Magnolia Rae was here. If I played my cards right, she would enjoy our little adventure and crave more.
And I would be the lucky bastard welcoming her with open arms into the underworld.
The beautiful red beast purred as it turned into the drive.
The white racing stripes reached over the hood toward the windshield.
I forgot the exact name of the color from the one time I read about the history of her car, but who remembered things like that?
All I knew was that the color combination was rare—most of the ’69 Yenkos were blue-white or silver-black.
But not this one. No, Rae had to pick something unique.
I thought it was both aggressive and elegant, the same as the beautiful woman sitting behind the wheel.
I opened the car door, and Luigi jumped out.
Rae peeked through the open passenger door, her gaze met mine briefly, but then it slid past to the garage. I knew the moment she saw my friend’s car. Her hazel eyes lit with a fire. Two seconds later, she cut the engine and was racing around the hood toward the garage.
“No way!” She flew past me. “No freaking way!”
Luigi grinned from where he held the driver’s door open. “See something you like, cara?”
My vision hazed red. He dared to call her darling.
I should put a gun to his head.
My fist clenched at my side on instinct, but Luigi ignored me.
“What do you have under there?” Rae’s voice was filled with awe.
“The 454….” Luigi was smiling like an idiot. He shot a look to me as if to tell me he knew more about my girl. “The LS7. Like what you see, carina?”
The pistol was in my hand a moment later. I shoved the muzzle against Luigi’s crotch, crowding him against the side of the Camaro.
“Call her that again,” I hissed. “I dare you.”
Luigi, the crazy fucker, only smiled. “I’m happy for you.”
I dug the weapon into his nut sack. “What?”
He winced, then lifted his hands. “She’s good for you.”
That was true.
I flicked a glance into the garage. So beautiful….
Luigi shoved me off, and I holstered my weapon.
Rae was already under the hood, practically drooling over the engine.
I didn’t get it. This fascination with classic cars and their engines.
Sure, I liked fast cars. But I had a guy who provided me with vehicles.
Fast cars, modified and modern. All of them European.
I didn’t know the first thing about working on them myself.
“Want to drive it, Magnolia?” Luigi stressed her name.
My fingers itched for the pistol.
“Hell yes!” Rae opened her hand for the keys.
I stepped forward.
“Quid pro quo.” Luigi tossed her the keys. “I want to drive the Yenko.”
There was a beat of hesitation. I used it to make my move, plucking the keys from her fingers.
“Boys don’t drive Rae’s car,” I growled.
Luigi only laughed as Rae lunged for the keys. I held them out of her reach, glaring down at her.
“Nico!” she protested. “It’s a ’70 Corvette!”
I chucked the keys in my friend’s general direction. They bounced off the side of the garage.
“Che cazzo fai, Nico,” Luigi hissed as he squatted to fish them out from the pile of crap they landed in.
“You don’t drive his car, and he doesn’t touch yours,” I growled. “Ever.”
Rae narrowed her eyes. Her fingers glided possessively over the engine. “I don’t like the Vettes, but this car is pristine,” she pouted. “This model has the power of the late ‘60s and bridges the beauty of the ‘70s models. It’s a work of art—especially in the iconic Donnybrooke Green.”
Dio mio, she even knew the color codes.
Her car was red and white, his was green. That was as far as I cared to know. But…that was before.
The resolve settled over my mind to consume everything there was to know about these vehicles. And I was going to buy something. I just needed to text my guy to start looking for something rare. Something fast. A car to make this beautiful woman look at me with awe.
“We’ve got to go,” I snapped.
Rae closed the hood with a gentle click. “Race you for pinks?”
I frowned.
But my friend only laughed. “Not on your life. I only drive Corvettes.”
“Oh, so you’re one of those guys,” she drawled.
Luigi snorted. “It would almost be tempting to take her off your hands—but Dommy-boy there might shoot me.”
Rae flicked a glance at me, rolled her eyes, and then baited him further. “Yeah, probably a good thing you don’t try. I’m not sure where I would store another car.”
“Big talk, little girl.”
Rae drew herself up straight. She was tall, and that was without those chunky boots. “How do you think I got a ’69 in the first place? It wasn’t saving pennies!”
Luigi let out an appreciative whistle. “Damn! Well, I’m going to decline racing you now—and ever.”
“Smart boy,” she grinned.
“Get your fucking and shit, and let’s go,” I barked in Italian.
Luigi shrugged and darted into the house.
That left the two of us.
I took a pointed step forward, cutting Rae off before she could avoid me—again.
“How’ve you been?” I asked, searching her face for signs of fatigue.
Rae shifted, trying to move around me, but stopping when I blocked her. “Fine. You?”
I’ve missed you. “Fine.”
“Good.”
“It’s been a crazy week.”
She rolled her eyes. “Cut the small talk. What the fuck am I doing here?”
Swiping the pad of my thumb against my lip, I murmured roughly, “That dirty, filthy mouth of yours, cherry-bomb.”
Rae shoved me with both her hands. “Nico! We are not doing this.”
I caught her arms and tugged her close. The scent of coconut and tropical flowers washed through me, making my blood buzz. “Why not? I’ve been aching to pick up where we stopped.”
Those hazel eyes flashed wide. Bits of green shimmered in the myriad of browns.
“What happened that night isn’t up for discussion. In fact”—she laughed harshly—“you need to forget it ever happened.”
“See, here’s the thing…I can’t.”
“Try harder.” She stomped her foot.
Her little, tiny foot.
I swallowed a groan. Too fucking cute.
“I can’t, because it’s seared into my brain.” I slid my touch to capture her fingertips. Lifting them, I drew her touch along the sides of my skull. Then down my cheeks. Then across my lips. “I know you haven’t forgotten.”
She opened her mouth, but I was faster. I darted forward. My lips found hers. The exhaled gasp was sweet. Divine. Rae would have kissed me back.
If Luigi didn’t crow from the door to the house. “I knew I didn’t stand a chance with her!”
Breaking the kiss with an outraged growl, I crowded Rae, backing her up to her bright red beast. It was a mistake to introduce her to Luigi. If we didn’t leave now, it would sign his death warrant.
“Get in your car, Magnolia Rae,” I ordered.
Amusement danced in her eyes. “Where are we going?”
“Take Route 99 south,” I instructed.
“You’re going to have to give me better instructions than that,” she grumbled, folding into her seat. “I don’t know the roads here yet.”
“I’ll get us there.” I slid the backpack Joey provided between my legs, careful not to jostle the delicate contents.
In the side mirror, I watched as Luigi slid behind the wheel of his stupid green car. Emanuele ran out of the house just in time to ride shotgun with his brother. Joey had been assigned to a stupid job by his incompetent capo, which left him out of the fun. His brothers would give him shit.
If they survived.
But there was a high probability we pulled this off without a scratch. I wouldn’t have asked Rae if it was the other way around.
Rob Zombie pulsed low in the speakers as Rae eased her vehicle onto the road.
Normally, I wouldn’t have risked using such flashy vehicles, but I’d called in a favor and there would be a city-wide glitch for security cameras in precisely twenty minutes.
The friend of a friend was intrigued by the challenge, and they would create a window where we could slip in and out without a trace.
Rae didn’t say much as she followed my directions, cruising just a hair over the speed limit down the busy highway.
I wanted to chat. I tried to engage her in a light conversation about her life before Boston.
What it was like to grow up in Georgia. Did she have any peach trees at her house, because yes, apparently I was lame and didn’t know anything else about the state other than sometimes peaches came from there.
But her walls were up.
The kiss was a mistake.
No…. Stopping the kiss had been.
It wasn’t until we pulled into the maze of waterfront roads that she began to frown.
“Stop right here.” I checked my watch. The clock had started. “Be ready to drive like hell the moment we get back.”
Gazing through the windshield, Rae looked at the dock workers. “It’s the middle of the day.”
“So?” I cracked the door and stepped out.
“So, don’t you mobsters operate at night? You know, when people can’t see what you’re doing?” She tapped her fingers against the wheel. The nervous tick was adorable.
“Did you ever think I wanted them to see?” I countered.
Her wide-eyed gaze swung to me. “Nico—what are you doing?”
I smirked. She was so unbelievably cute. “Keep the engine running, cherry-bomb.”
The Massachusetts Port Authority wouldn’t interfere. They were deep in the back pockets of our friends in the Old North Neighborhood.
But still, it was a risk some lowly security guard didn’t get the memo and was making the rounds through the various yards.
Emanuele jogged to my side. “I see now why we took two cars.”
No, he didn’t.
Emanuele only saw the pretty girl sitting next to me. That was what anyone with eyes would see. But they wouldn’t hear her. They didn’t listen to the clever things she said. The eyes couldn’t see her grit and inner strength.
But I did.