Chapter 27
Donatello
“You have got to be kidding me.” As soon as two SUVs swung around the corner, following us at close speed, I pressed my foot down on the accelerator.
Emmeline swiveled in her seat, gripping the dashboard as she did.
“Two of them. The windows are tinted.”
“Of course they are.”
“Where the hell are we going?”
I had no fucking idea. “First, we outrun them.” At least given I was in a sports car that handled beautifully, I could handle the sharp curves of the mountainous road with ease. I rolled around several, hugging the outside line in a location where the drop-offs were tremendous.
One wrong move and we’d go careening off the side.
Emmeline continuously glanced from one side mirror to the other while I scanned the rearview mirror, catching glimpses of faces.
“Would you go faster?” she chastised. “They’re gaining on us.”
“Would you like to drive?”
“Actually, I would.” When she reached for the steering wheel, laughing as she did, I threw back a growl on purpose.
“No, you don’t. You’re going to be a good girl and sit there. There’s a Hemi in this baby. I can easily outrun them.”
I tried, making headway after moving to a straightaway. When they disappeared from sight, I took the opportunity to make a hard left, pulling onto a less traveled road. But I floored it as soon as I did, weaving around two vehicles in the way.
She turned around, staring out the back window.
“See,” I snorted. “We’ve lost them. I was trained to outrun the best of them.”
A full minute passed and I was ready to breathe a sigh of relief when she did it for me.
Only the sound she offered was anything but one of satisfaction.
“Who were you trained by? Try again, my darling husband. It would appear they have excellent drivers. Maybe even better than you. Let me see if I can run them off the road.”
I threw a look into the side mirror first, grousing under my breath. I’d be damned if they weren’t gaining on us once again. Who the hell were these assholes?
Before I had a chance to stop her, my new bride had rolled down the window. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
She was attempting to crawl from the window with her gun in her hand. Who did she think she was, Evel Knievel? I managed to snag a handful of her dress, yanking her down.
“You will not do that. You’ll get yourself killed. And then I’ll need to make a horrible phone call that I do not want. To. Make.” With the last words, I smashed my fist against the dashboard with enough force, my beautiful companion jumped.
Meanwhile, my goddamn phone slipped from my pocket given my vehemence, bouncing across the console and directly into her lap.
I shook my head, still grousing under my breath.
“Aww. It seems my husband does care about me.”
“Of course I care, for God’s sake. Don’t do anything stupid. I’ll get us out of this mess. Roll your damn window up.”
Her grin held no consideration that we were still on a dangerous precipice. If we didn’t get ourselves out of this, we would possibly lose our lives.
Damn it.
“Why don’t you let them get closer then we can shoot them. Even just the tires.”
“Maybe. Let me think about it,” I told her, even reaching for my phone.
Which of course she was going to toy with.
She pulled it away, the screen flashing on when she did.
“Whatever we do, I’m doing it,” I told her. “You got that?”
“Mmm… I like it when you get rough with me. Yes, sir. What’s your passcode on your phone?”
“My passcode? Why do you need it?”
“Just give it to me.”
I shook my head.
“You don’t trust me.”
“Not even a little bit, sweet Ambrosia.”
“No sex for a year. Seriously. What’s your code?”
“Fine. Four. Three. Two. One.”
I could feel the heat of her gaze. “Your entire identity is going to be hacked. You do know that. People would love to be the powerful, brutal enforcer.”
“That’s not what I am.”
“Bullshit.”
Rolling my eyes, I continued speeding, able to stay just enough ahead of them. What was their plan from here?
She was busy looking at something and when she made a phone call, I reached for the phone again. “What are you doing?”
“Trust me,” she barked back, cursing under her breath in words I couldn’t detect. “Well, hi there.”
She wasn’t making the statement to me.
“Did you happen to land in Brazil a couple hours ago and are you currently following a black Charger down a rural, mountainous road? Hoping to fire off a couple rounds?”
What the fuck?
Leaning forward, I stared into the rearview mirror, even slowing down so I could determine what we were dealing with.
“Uh-huh. We’re in the Charger, brother of mine. Do me a favor. We’ve had a shitty few days. Don’t add killing us onto the list.”
I slammed my hand onto the steering wheel a half dozen times. “Damn it. Damn it!”
“Don’t mind the noise. That’s just Donatello having a meltdown.” She threw me a look, even blowing me a kiss. “Yes, we’ll pull over when we can find a place. See you soon.”
As soon as she lowered the phone, she burst into laughter.
“I was not having a meltdown,” I insisted, flicking my eyes from her back to the rearview.
“Yes, you were.”
“How in the hell did you know Alexander was following us?”
“If you’d answered the call at the church or hadn’t turned your ringer off, then you might have known they’d already landed and were headed in our direction since Alexander received a tip we might be facing danger.” There was still heavy amusement in her voice.
Huffing, I finally noticed a turnoff a half mile ahead. “We were getting married. I didn’t want the interruption. Did you?”
We stared at each other until a horn coming from the opposite direction caught my attention and I had to swerve to stay in the correct lane.
“No, I didn’t.” Her admittance was subtle, her voice alluring.
And my cock twitched all over again.
After making the turn, I slowed significantly. “Let’s just get the hell out of Brazil. Okay? It’s not safe here.”
“Then what?” she asked, tipping her head toward me. “Have you thought about that?”
No, I had not. At least since leaving the church. “Let’s take one thing at a time. Okay?”
“Fine. Fair enough.”
Almost as soon as I pulled over, the two SUVs surrounded us, finding a spot to park a few yards away. Before the group climbed out, I yanked my weapon into my hand, easing onto the cracked pavement to ensure there weren’t additional soldiers prepared for a violent drive-by.
My lovely bride walked closer, Jaxon the one who jumped from the back passenger side of one of the vehicles first.
I couldn’t hear what they said, still concentrating on watching the road. But I could tell they were both animated. The true hot bloods of the family.
Just something else I loved about her. Yes, loved.
I walked around the front of the vehicle, waiting as Alexander approached. His eyes were covered in dark shades much like mine. When he stopped a couple of feet in front of me, I sensed he was pissed.
So I straightened up as all loyal, respectful men working for a crime syndicate should do.
“Don’t beat up on him,” Emmeline said as she made her way toward us. “He did fight off the bad guys a few times and saved my life. A regular hero.”
Her last few words dripped of sarcasm and unable to help myself, the words just flowed like our usual banter. “Would you have preferred I left you in a heap on the road?”
Jaxon burst into laughter. “I can see nothing has changed in the last few days. You guys hate each other. Perfect. Thanks for keeping our sister alive, my friend.” He walked up to me with his arm outstretched for a handshake.
I felt like I was robbing the family store.
Which I was.
Alexander slowly removed his sunglasses, taking several deep breaths. “Maybe now you will choose to face the obstacles in your life instead of running from them, Emmeline. We could have lost you.”
My hackles rose immediately, and my lovely bride sensed my condition, throwing out her hand to keep me from ruining my career.
She sauntered toward her brother, the Don of the family, and all the soldiers who’d lined up by the SUVs with weapons in their hands cringed.
“You’re right,” she stated without a second of reservation.
“I should have made my point clear so I’m going to do it right now.
I adore my family, every single member, even if most of you are overbearing.
As in most of you.” She didn’t mind tossing shade to Jaxon and Alexander, which forced me to bite back a laugh, but also tossed some my way with a flick of her eyes.
I threw up my hands in surrender while Jaxon was enjoying the hell out of himself.
“So here’s what I will say. I am completely aware of the danger our family will continually be in from time to time. That means I need to be extra cautious.”
Alexander started to intervene and she stopped him.
“Let me finish.” Her sigh was heavy and she threw out both arms indicating the entire area.
“This trip has provided in graphic detail the reason caution needs to be taken. I’m not making light of the danger I placed myself in, but I did have certain…
circumstances that pushed me into needing some privacy and time alone, neither of which I’m allowed most of the time.
From here on out, no running. I’ll accept my security detail, although it might not be needed. ”
Emmeline didn’t catch what she’d said until a few seconds afterwards.
But I caught it.
And so had Jaxon.
He walked closer, cocking his head to the side. “What does that mean? From what we witnessed at the church, Donatello managed to drop plenty of dead bodies, but I think we both know there are more.”
The way he was stating the words meant Francoise and his team hadn’t ventured into the open. Interesting.
“Trust me. Your sister is a weapons expert,” I added, maybe just to earn brownie points.
Which I did, Emmeline’s face lighting up. “Thank you. You’re not so bad yourself as a partner.”
Now I was grinning as well.