CHAPTER 33 - ARIANNA
CHAPTER
Arianna
IEXPECTED AN AWKWARD JOURNEY. Liam has been civil since I returned, but his distrust lingers. I feel the same and have no wish to make small talk either. I just want to reach wherever we’re going so that I can talk to Maria.
I can’t cloud my brain with thinking about last night either, yet it’s pushing into my head uninvited.
Red was up by the time I awoke, acting like my begging him to share my bed meant nothing. Did his making no attempt to touch me mean he’s accepted there’s no future for us?
I know that’s what I wanted; what I thought I wanted, but now... I push the futile argument in my head to one side. Maria has to take priority.
Rounding the corner onto the road we arranged to meet; my hand tightens on the car door handle. Will she be there? Will she have done everything I said?
Liam’s eyes burn into me from his rearview mirror.
I’m aware that his gun is primed and ready to use.
I’m half-expecting a setup too, but every fiber of me prays Maria has stuck to what she’s promised and hasn’t alerted Papà or Matteo.
We will all be killed if she has. Getting away is Maria’s only chance of a life, and if she trusts me, she’ll realize that soon enough.
“It’s just down here on the left.” My tense voice struggles to gain volume, and I wonder if Liam’s heard, but the car begins to slow. Staring through the blacked-out windows, I scan the area. Where is she?
Then I see her.
My heart leaps as my sister leaves a hairdressers. Glancing in the direction of this car, she continues walking just like I told her to. “Follow that woman, turn right and then stop around the corner.”
Giving a small nod, Liam pulls away from the curb.
As we pass Maria, she looks up and then turns away.
She’s still walking in the right direction, but her expression makes my heart ache.
I want to jump out of the car and wrap my arms around her, but it’s too risky.
I know what I agreed to do, and I must stick to it.
I twist to look through the back window as we turn the corner. Maria is now out of sight. My throat constricts and my heart thumps painfully. “Here!” I croak. “Stop here.”
Liam pulls up at the side of the road and scans the surroundings. “Don’t move until I tell you.” His eyes train on his wing mirrors, his gun now in his hand below window level.
I nod, my lungs about to explode. Come on, Maria, I chant silently.
“Wait,” Liam warns, clocking my trembling fingers move to the window button as Maria’s familiar figure turns the corner to head this way. “Do nothing yet.”
As my sister draws level with the car, my stomach churns when she glances into my window. “She can’t see me through the black glass. She’ll go past,” I blurt. “I need to open the window.”
“I said, wait.” Liam scrutinizes every angle through all the available mirrors.
“If I don’t act now, we’ll lose our chance,” I plead. “She’s passed us now and won’t...”
“NOW!”
Fumbling for the electric window button, I stab at it and the window opens with what feels like excruciating slowness. It opens only a few inches, but the whine of the motor is enough to make Maria glance behind.
Only a year younger than me, the difference between us in life experience is clear from her wide, innocent eyes as they meet mine through the gap. “She’s seen me,” I whisper.
Liam releases the door locks. Pushing open my door, I then lurch back across the seat to give my sister space, but she hesitates. “Get in the car,” I hiss.
Looking more terrified than I’ve ever seen her, Maria clambers inside.
Throwing myself back across the seat as Liam screeches away from the curb, I pull the door shut. I don’t say anything to Maria yet. There will be time for hugs and explanations later. Instead, sweat trickles down my back as I wait until we’re out of range of any possible gunfire.
But there’s none. My sister is safe.