Amelia
I listen to Frankie explain who Dave is to the drug-lord family.
“We’re waiting for our men and the woman to arrive, and then we’ll leave this afternoon,” he
says.
“I don’t understand. Why come for you?” I ask. “Why not go for Alessandro? As head of the
family.”
“Because,” Frankie says, “I’m the one directly suppressing his influence in our territory. I’m
the one who is keeping him at bay. This is the territory that I manage for the family. Taking me out will destabilize the family and the territory, and while we try and regroup, he can make his move to take over.”
I think about what he says. “So, Dave is the nephew of this Don Catalan?” I ask.
Frankie nods, so I continue, “And he has been looking for a reason to get to you, so he’s using
the fact you put Dave in the hospital to put a hit on you.” Frankie nods again.
I think about it for another while, and we sit in silence before I say, “Do you think that’s why
Dave dated me? Because we have a history? Maybe he wanted to goad you.”
Frankie’s expression changes. “I hadn’t thought of it that way, but you never know. It could be the case because Jose really has wanted to make his move for some time. If they found out we had been together before, it may be the reason Dave was bold enough to attack you in my club.”
I sigh, feeling somewhat hurt. “I guess no one can just love me for me.”
Frankie looks like he’s about to say something when there’s a knock on the door. Frankie’s
hand goes to the holster on his side that I hadn’t noticed, and he stands up. “Stay here.”
I watch as he approaches the front door. “Who’s there?”
“It’s Joel,” a familiar voice comes through the door. “We’re here for the main course.”
I pull a face. It must be some kind of code to let Frankie know it’s safe. He opens the door, steps out, looks around, and steps back in, followed by several buff guards and a man and woman who look very similar to Frankie and me. I stand, no longer hungry, and I get a bottle of sparkling water out of the room bar.
Frankie and Joel immediately start discussing the travel arrangements while the look-alikes simply stand to the side, waiting for their orders. I always knew the Sorvino family was powerful, this is the world I grew up in too, but I think they are more powerful, with more loyal supporters than any family I’ve ever seen.
Frankie turns to me. “Change of plans. They couldn’t get tickets for this afternoon, so we’ll
make a break for it early in the morning.”
I nod. “No problem,” I say. “Are we just going to stay shut up in the room today, at least?”
“It’s safer,” Frankie says with a nod.
I nod back. “I’m going to read in my room then.”
Frankie holsters his gun. “We’re splitting into four groups rather, as per Alessandro. It’ll be safer once we’re on our own territory.”
I blurt out. “I want a gun.”
Frankie eyes me out. “That’s a bit dangerous.”
“I know how to handle a gun, Frankie. My father made sure of that. I’m not being separated from you and going unarmed.” I cross my arms over my chest.
Frankie looks at Joel. “Get her a small handgun, something that can fit in her purse.”
Joel nods, going to one of the men and then bringing me a small revolver. “Use it wisely, don’t
forget to take the safety off.”
I nod and take the gun to my room, putting it in my purse. I spend most of the day reading and
packing my bags. I try to sleep at night, but I’m too unsettled to get any real rest. Then, while it’s still dark outside, Frankie knocks at my door. “It’s time.”
I take my overnight bag, the only one I’ll be taking with me. Other me, I discovered her name is Heather, is taking my main luggage with her. I wind a scarf over my head and have my sunglasses on hand. Cars are waiting downstairs to take us to airports, bus stations, and train stations.
“How are we going to get out without being seen?” I ask.
Frankie holds out his hand. “Move with me, quickly. When we get downstairs, get in the front car. Don’t wait or look around or look back.”
I nod and take his hand, it’s warm in mine, and I can feel the electricity that flows between us. But I know the sparks are from me, not him.
We wait at the door, and then it happens-all the power goes out.
“Go,” Joel says, opening the door. Frankie leads me down the dark hallway, moving quickly. I keep up with him.
We get to the stairway and go downstairs quickly, not stopping to see if anyone is following
us. We’re a large party, but it’s early, and there’s no one else on the stairs. When we reach the front, the staff scramble to get the power back on, but we don’t stop. We burst through the front doors to see four cars waiting, all running.
I let go of Frankie’s hand, and a cold shudder passes over me. Me, and two of the guards, I
climb into the front car, and the driver pulls off without a backward glance. I don’t look back, either.
We pull up to the bus station, and the guards hand me my ticket. “Quickly,” the dark-haired one
says. I have not even had a chance to ask their names. “We’ll sit behind you, so it’s less obvious.”
I take my bag and climb out. Looking at the ticket, I scan the busses and find the one going to New York. People are already boarding, so I join the queue. I hesitantly glance around, the sun has just risen, and the first light is showing.
I climb aboard the bus and hand my ticket to the driver, who checks it and lets me through. I
stow away my overnight bag at my feet as I sit down in a single seat toward the front. Then I watch carefully who boards the bus, always keeping my purse slightly open and within reach.
The guards board the bus and sit down two rows behind me, on either side of the bus.
I only relax a little when the bus pulls off fifteen minutes later, and we’re on the road, but I
can’t shake this feeling that I’m being watched. I’m sure it’s just nerves because I know Jose’s men are after me, but the hair on my neck prickles.
I try and close my eyes. I’m so tired I don’t know what else to do. I’m restless, though, and it’s
hard to sleep comfortably on a bus at the best of times.
I pull some crisps out of my bag and eat them slowly. Shifting in my seat, I glance around the
bus once more, see nothing suspicious, but then I look again and notice two men sitting at the back. They’re dressed as tourists, but somehow, they don’t belong. Everyone except my guards and I are tourists. It’s a luxury bus with only about twelve passengers, but those two men sitting in the back right corner don’t fit in. They’re too stern, too hard. I wave at the guard near me to bring him over. “I think we’re being followed,” I whisper.
He glances around. “I don’t think so. I think we’re safe. It’s just a bunch of tourists, and no one
followed us from the hotel. It’s impossible. Don’t worry.” But, as I sit there, worrying is all I can do.
Frankie
I climb into the car at the very end of the procession, and we take off in a different direction from the other three. We’re driving the whole way to New York with no stops. I have my phone in my hand, watching it carefully for updates.
I am overwhelmed with worry about Amelia, and I don’t feel relieved when one of her guards
texts me that they made it to the bus without incident because that doesn’t mean anything. Are they watching her carefully enough? Are they keeping an eye out for Jose’s men? Alessandro has sent some of our best men, but I should have sent Dominic.
I wish I had, but Alessandro disagreed.
I look out the window for a moment before I glance back. It seems like regular traffic flowing
in and out of Maryland. No reason to worry. Except there is always a reason to worry, this isn’t a game. This isn’t like the movies where it’s an easy getaway. There is danger around every corner, and you never know when your enemies will strike. It’s a lesson a lot of families have learned the hard way.
I think about Amelia, and a sense of annoyance overcomes me. This is the reason I didn’t want
to be with her again. This marriage was a bad idea. I tried to keep her out of danger, and it was the reason I had broken up with her in the first. There is no place for emotions in our type of family business, and that’s all Amelia gives me. Emotions. I can’t think straight when I’m with her. I can’t even think straight when I’m not. It’s a constant battle to think about anything but her, her lips, her eyes, her hair… everything about her drives me absolutely insane.
I have never really had an interest in dating women aside from her. I am dedicated to the
family, the business, and my brothers. I was taught my place in this world, and it wasn’t to be an emotional wreck because of a woman. Women have no place getting mixed up in family business at all.
All my problems started when I bumped into her at La Club that night. If she had just stayed away, I wouldn’t have gotten involved.
A tiny voice inside me points out that she may have ended up dead if it hadn’t been for me, but that wouldn’t have affected me as much, would it?
Feeling so intensely, I know this is love. I know I want to love and cherish her and protect her from any harm, but how do I do that when I come from one of the biggest crime families in the States? I’ve always had to look over my shoulder, and now, because we’re married, she’ll have to do the same.
But I can’t let her go. I can’t let her go off anywhere because I do love her. I know that now. There can be no doubt in my mind that I want to spend the rest of my life loving Amelia. I want us to become a proper family. I want us to have everything my parents had. My parents made it work. Surely we can as well.
My phone goes off. Rob, my look-alike, has sent a text that they were followed. I breathe a
sigh of relief-at least they’re going for the wrong people. I text him and tell him to be safe at all costs. I don’t want this to cost him his life, though he and I both know it may come to that.
I text Amelia’s guard, Johnny, and ask him how things are going. I wait for his response,
everything is good, and I sigh again.
“Everything okay, boss?” Joel asks from next to me.
I shake my head. “I can’t shake this feeling that something is going to happen.”
Joel looks at me skeptically as I continue, “Rob is being followed. I’m waiting for an update on Heather, and Amelia is safely on the bus.”
Joel takes out his phone. “I’ll phone Caleb and check on Heather.”
I look out the window, and then something just tells me to look back. I turn around in my seat
and look at the cars behind us. I recognize the car positioned two lanes across. It’s been behind us since not long after we left.
“We’re definitely being followed,” I say loudly, turning back. “Black Audi behind us.”
My driver Ricardo looks in the rearview mirror. “I’ll shake them.”
“Don’t do anything to draw attention,” I say sharply, but I could have saved my breath. The Audi cuts across the lanes and drives into the back of us, propelling us forward, so I say, “Change of plan, speed up.”
Ricardo changes lanes and speeds up, diving in and out of traffic, even driving on the wrong side of the road. The Audi keeps up, bumping into us every now and again.
I hear the shots, but they miss the car at first. Luckily, the glass is bulletproof. Before I can be
grateful for that fact, a crack appears where one bullet hits.
“Faster, Ricardo,” I shout, taking out my own gun. I roll down the window and start firing
back, Joel shifting beside me. He opens his window and climbs out of it, sitting half in and half out. He starts firing on the Audi as well, which is not bulletproof.
“Aim for the tires or engine,” I shout, aiming for the front tire.
I move back and forth, dodging bullets and trying to get my own in, when the Audi swerves
hard into us. I shoot the thug in the passenger seat in the back of the head. I then turn my attention to trying to hit the driver, who is the closest to me. He’s got one hand on the steering wheel and one with a gun trying to shoot us, but it’s a toss-up between looking where to shoot and trying not to crash as we both weave in and out of traffic. Cars hoot or stop, and some speed off or pull to the side of the road. I hear a siren start and know the cops are on to us.
Joel slides back into the window as Hank, my guard in the front seat, gets a bullet in the neck and gurgles slowly to death.
I growl, shifting my position. Holding my gun with both hands, I aim and wait for the Audi to
drive closer to us. I fire a shot, hitting the driver in the head and causing his vehicle to swerve to the right and off the road.
We speed off so fast that the cops are having difficulty following us through the traffic, and we
soon lose them. I sit back, staring at the back of Hank’s head with anger.
“They’re going to pay for this,” I say angrily, then realize that both Rob and I were followed, which means that Heather and Amelia may have been followed too.
They had more men available at the hotel than we had suspected, and now we were all in
danger. I search my pockets, but I can’t find my phone.
“What’s wrong?” Joel asks, looking at me frantically, feeling around the floor.
“I need my phone,” I bark. “I need to warn Johnny they may have been followed.”
Joel helps me search for my phone that had fallen under the front seat, and I dial Johnny’s number, but the call doesn’t connect. “Dammit.”
Joel tries to phone Johnny’s partner, Evander. “They must not have a signal.”
“Or they were attacked,” I say, punching the chair in front of me with frustration. I text Amelia
and wait for it to go through, then I look at my phone. “It’s not them who doesn’t have a signal. It’s us.”
I tap Ricardo’s shoulder. “Get us back quickly. I need to call Amelia and make sure she’s
okay.”