Chapter 19: Bound By Temptation: Chapter 18

Liliana

Romero and Luca showed only determination and vigilance as they led us through the house. Eventually we arrived in front of Gianna’s and Matteo’s door. Luca knocked lightly, but I could tell from the thunderous look in his eyes that he’d have loved to take the door down if it weren’t for the risk of getting overheard. Again nobody reacted and I was starting to freak out, when after another louder knock the door finally opened. Matteo appeared in the gap, hair ruffled and only dressed in boxer-shorts; they looked like he might have put them on the wrong way in his hurry and there was a bulge hidden beneath them. I drew my eyes away.

“Didn’t you get the hint that I didn’t want to be interrupted when I didn’t answer your fucking call,” Matteo muttered, then his eyes settled on Romero and me, and he grimaced. “I have a fucking bad feeling.”

Luca shoved Matteo’s shoulder. “For fuck’s sake, Matteo, pick up when I call you. You need to get dressed. We have to leave now.”

“What’s wrong?” Gianna asked, coming up behind Matteo in a satin bathrobe. Her lips were red and swollen. There was really no doubt what they’d been doing before we arrived. Her gaze darted from Aria to me. “Shit, something bad happened, right? Did the asshole hurt you?” She slipped past Matteo despite his and Luca’s protests and hugged me.

“He’s dead,” I whispered.

“Good,” she said without hesitation. She patted Romero’s shoulder. “You did it, didn’t you?”

Romero smiled tightly. “Yeah, which brings us to the reason why we need to hurry.”

“Romero is right. We need to get out of this house before someone realizes that the groom is dead,” Luca said impatiently.

“I’d have bet everything that I’d be the one to start a war between the Outfit and the Famiglia. Kudos to you, Romero, for proving me wrong for once,” Matteo said grinning.

“I would have bet that too,” Romero said.

Luca sighed. “I hate to interrupt your chitchat but we need to get the fuck going.”

Matteo nodded and motioned for Gianna to get into their room. The rest of us followed and waited while Matteo and Gianna got dressed. Every time I heard voices, I jumped, half-expecting Father or Dante to rip open the door and shoot us all on the spot. Romero brushed a few strands that had fallen over my eyes away from my face. The look in his eyes made me realize that it was worth it. Love was worth risking it all. I just wished I hadn’t dragged others into danger with me. Five minutes later, the six of us left the room and continued our journey through the house. The sounds of the party had dwindled further, which meant more people could be walking back to their rooms and potentially cross our paths, but so far we’d been lucky.

We took the second staircase in the back of the house down to the first floor and headed for the door that led to the underground garage. Most houses in this area had them because outside space was limited. There was the sound of steps from the corridor to the left of the door. Romero pulled me to a stop and pointed his gun ahead. Both Matteo and Luca did the same. My pulse pounded in my temples. They had silencers on their barrels but a shooting always made some noise, and I really didn’t want to have more blood on my hands.

Someone turned the corner into our hallway and I clutched at Romero’s arm to stop him from shooting. It was Fabiano. He jerked to a stop with his own gun pointed at us. I didn’t even know he wore a gun, especially to my wedding. He was too young for this. His eyes scanned our small group, his dark brows drawing together in suspicion. He was still in his festive vest and trousers. What was going on here?

Aria put her hand on Luca’s arm with the gun but he didn’t lower it, neither did Matteo despite Gianna’s urgent whispering.

“Don’t hurt him,” I pleaded. Romero didn’t take his eyes off my brother but he lightly squeezed my hand in response.

“What’s going on here?” Fabiano asked firmly, standing even taller than usual and trying to look like a man. With the gun and that serious expression he almost managed to look like more than a teenage boy.

“Put that gun down,” Luca ordered.

Fabiano laughed but it sounded nervous. “No way. I want to know what’s going on.” His eyes moved from Aria to Gianna then to me, and finally settled on Romero’s hand, which was clutching mine.

“Why are you even running around with a gun? Shouldn’t you be in bed?” Aria asked and was about to take a step toward our brother but Luca pulled her back.

“I have guard duties,” Fabiano said with a hint of pride.

“But you aren’t inducted yet,” I said, confused. I would have noticed if he’d started the process, right? Fabi had always told me everything. It had been us against the rest after Gianna and Aria had moved to New York.

“I started the induction process a few weeks ago. This is my first task,” Fabi said. The hand with his gun was shaking slightly. If I noticed it, Romero, Luca and Matteo definitely had. I wasn’t sure it was a good thing because his nervousness made them realize he was still a kid, or a bad thing because it made him an easy target in their eyes.

“Father gave it to you because he thought it would be an easy first job, right? Nothing bad ever happens at weddings,” I tried to joke.

Fabi didn’t even crack a smile, neither did anyone else. I exchanged a look with Aria and Gianna. We had to escape, that much was clear, but we couldn’t risk Fabi getting hurt.

“He gave me the job because he knew I was responsible and capable,” Fabi said, sounding like Father’s personal parrot. My chest tightened. What if Fabi really didn’t let us go? The way he pointed his gun at us, he appeared absolutely determined. Had he changed so much?

“You don’t really think you can kill all three of us, do you?” Matteo asked with a twisted grin.

Gianna shot him a glower. “Shut up, Matteo.”

Fabi shifted on his feet but his face remained hard. When had he learned to wear a poker face like that? “I can try,” Fabi said.

“Fabiano,” Luca said calmly. “They are your sisters. Do you really want to risk them getting hurt?”

“Why is Lily here? Why isn’t she with her husband? I want to know what’s going on. Why are you trying to take her with you? She’s part of the Outfit, not of New York.”

“I can’t stay here, Fabi. Do you remember how you told me I shouldn’t marry Benito? That it wasn’t right?”

“That’s been a long time ago, and you said yes to him today. Where is he anyway?”

I glanced at Romero. Something in my expression must have given it away.

“You killed him, didn’t you?” Fabi accused, his narrowed eyes switching between Matteo, Romero and Luca. “Was this some kind of trick to weaken the Outfit? Father always said you’d stab us in the back one day.” He raised his gun a bit higher.

Aria tried to move toward him again, but Luca practically shoved her behind him.

“He’s my brother!” she hissed.

“He’s a soldier of the Outfit.”

“Fabi,” I said. “The Famiglia didn’t try to weaken the Outfit. This isn’t about power. It’s all my fault. Benito tried to hurt me and I stabbed him. That’s why I need to leave. Father would punish me, maybe even kill me.”

Fabi’s eyes widened, making him look younger at once. “You killed your husband?”

Romero’s hand around mine tightened, but the hand with his gun was steady. He hadn’t moved it at all. It was still pointed straight at Fabi’s head. If he killed my brother…I couldn’t even finish the thought.

“I didn’t know what else to do,” I said. I decided not to mention that Benito had still been very much alive when Romero plunged his knife into his heart. That would have complicated things even further.

“What about you and him?” Fabi nodded toward Romero. “I’m not stupid. There’s something going on between you.”

There was no denying it, and I had a feeling that Fabi would get angry if I tried to lie to him. Matteo had inched closer to Fabi while we’d been talking. I wasn’t sure what he planned to do but knowing Matteo it wouldn’t end well.

“We’ve been together for a while. You know I never wanted to marry Benito but Father didn’t give me a choice.”

“So you want to leave Chicago and the Outfit for New York like Gianna and Aria,” Fabi said.

“I have to,” I said.

“You could come with us,” Aria suggested. Realizing her mistake, she peered up at Luca, who would have to accept Fabi into the Famiglia.

“You could become part of the Famiglia,” he said immediately.

Fabi shook his head. “Father needs me. I’m part of the Outfit. I made an oath.”

“If you’re not fully inducted yet, it’s not as binding,” Matteo said, which was not quite a lie, but really, he’d be treated like a traitor if he ran off anyway and the punishment would be the same.

Fabi glared. “I won’t betray the Outfit.”

“Then you’ll have to stop us from leaving,” Luca said simply. “And we won’t let you. There will be blood, and you will die.”

I stiffened and was about to say something but Romero gave a small shake of his head.

“I’m a good shot,” Fabi said indignantly.

“I believe you. But are you better than all three of us? Do you really want your sister Lily to be punished? If you force her to stay, you sign her death warrant.”

Conflict showed on Fabi’s face. “If I let you leave, and someone finds out, they will kill me too. I could die an honest death if I tried to stop you.”

Luca nodded. “You could, and they would sing your praise, but you’d be dead all the same. Do you want to die today?”

Fabi didn’t say anything but he’d lowered his gun a few inches.

“Nobody has to find out that you let us leave. You could have tried to stop us but we were too many,” Romero said suddenly.

“They will think I was scared and ran away, and that’s why you escaped.”

Luca gave Romero a small nod. “Not if you got wounded. We could shoot you in the arm. This was meant as an easy first job, nobody expects you to be capable of stopping the best fighters of New York. They won’t hold it against you if you got shot.”

“You want to shoot my brother?” Aria asked incredulously.

“What if you injure him seriously?” I added.

“I could hit the zit on his chin if I wanted to, I think I can manage to hit an unproblematic spot on his arm,” Matteo said with his shark-grin. “And we’re taking a risk by not just killing him, so an arm wound is really nothing.”

“So what do you say, Fabiano?” Luca asked quickly before Matteo could say more. None of the men had lowered their guns yet.

Fabi nodded slowly and aimed his weapon at the ground. “Okay. But I will have to call for help. I can’t wait more than a few minutes or they’ll get suspicious.”

“A few minutes should be enough for us to drive away,” Luca said. “They will follow us once they figure out what’s going on but five minutes will bring enough distance between us and them. Dante isn’t someone who likes fighting in the open, so I doubt he’ll send his men on a wild car chase. He’ll attack us later, once he’s figured out the best way to hurt us.”

My stomach tightened. All because of me. How selfish could a person be to let others risk so much for her?

Romero gave me an encouraging smile, but for once it didn’t manage to cheer me up. “War with the Outfit was inevitable. Things have gotten worse by the day.”

Luca looked over to us. “That’s true. If it weren’t for Aria and Gianna, Matteo and I wouldn’t even have come to Chicago for the wedding.”

That might have been the case, but Benito’s death would put fuel into the fire. Things would get very ugly now.

“Let’s do this now,” Matteo urged. “We’re wasting time.”

“I think we should move our shooting to the garage. Maybe that will buy us additional time. People won’t hear your scream as easily,” Romero suggested.

Together we headed for the door and down a flight of stairs into the underground garage. It wasn’t as big as the one I’d seen in New York. Despite our decision to work together, none of the men had put their guns back into their holder yet. When we stopped close to our two rental cars, I slipped out of Romero’s grasp and walked up to Fabi. I didn’t miss the way, Romero tensed and raised his gun, but I trusted Fabi. Maybe he was on his way to becoming a soldier of the Outfit, but he was also my little brother. That wouldn’t change. I hugged him and after a moment he wrapped his arms around me. In the last year, he’d avoided public displays of affection because he’d tried to act cool, but it felt good to have him close, especially since I didn’t know when I’d get another chance to see him.

“I’m sorry for getting you into trouble,” I whispered. “I wished things were different.”

“I never liked Benito,” Fabi said only. “Father shouldn’t have married you off to that guy.”

Suddenly Gianna and Aria were there too, and took their turns embracing us.

“We have to go now,” Luca reminded us.

I pulled away from Fabi and returned to Romero. He motioned for me to get into the car, while Aria and Gianna got into the other. I watched as they tried to figure out the best way to fake a shooting. Eventually Fabi fired two muffled shots, and then it was Romero’s and Matteo’s turn. When Matteo’s bullet, sliced through Fabi’s upper arm, I winced. My brother dropped his gun and fell to his knees, his face scrunched up in pain. Nothing about that was fake. Romero rushed toward our car and slid behind the steering wheel before flooring the gas. Luca pressed the button that made the garage doors slide open. Most guests had parked in the driveway so I worried that the sound would draw attention to our flight even before Fabi started screaming. I doubted anyone had heard the silenced shots through the thick ceiling of the underground garage. Romero steered our car up the slope and down the driveway. Matteo was behind the steering wheel of the other car and close behind us. We raced down the driveway, past a couple of drunk guests who sat on one of the marble benches on the side. My heart stuttered in my chest, but there was no time for worry. I clutched the seat as we drove off the premises at dizzying speed. I glanced through the rearview mirror, but the only car behind us was the one with my sisters and their husbands. “Nobody is following us,” I said.

“Give it a moment. Most of them are drunk and it’ll take a while for them to figure out what’s going on, but someone will be sober enough to chase us,” Romero said.

He looked calm about it. This wasn’t something new to him, even if the circumstances that had led to us being here were, but Romero had been a Made Man for a long time. This wasn’t his first chase and it wouldn’t be his last.

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to come to terms with everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. I’d walked down the aisle toward a husband I hated, a husband the man I loved had killed for me. Romero linked our fingers and my eyes shot open. Despite our speed, he was driving with only one hand. He’d stashed his gun in the compartment between our seats. I gave him a grateful smile. “When we’re back in New York, what happens then?”

“You move in with me.” He paused. “Unless you’d rather stay with one of your sisters.”

I shook my head. “I don’t want to be away from you again.”

Romero brought my hand to his lips and kissed it gently, but then his eyes darted to the side mirror and he tensed. He let go of me and grabbed his gun.

I peered over my shoulder. Three cars were chasing us. I sank deeper into my seat and folded my hands, sending a quick prayer above. I wasn’t particularly religious but it seemed like the only thing I could do. So far not a single shot had been fired from either side and it made me wonder if the Outfit had set a trap somewhere. “Why aren’t they shooting?”

“This is a residential area and Dante doesn’t like to draw attention to the Outfit. I assume he gave orders to wait until we’re out of the city limits, which will be any minute now. We’re crossing over to an industrial area.”

He was right. Once the family homes were replaced by storage facilities, the Outfit cars closed in and started firing. Since Matteo was close behind us with the other rental car, Romero didn’t get a clear shot at our pursuers, but I could see Luca shooting bullet after bullet through the open passenger window. I couldn’t see Aria and Gianna; they were probably crouched on the backseat so they didn’t get hit by bullets.

What if we didn’t get away? What if all of our lives ended here?

One of the bullets tore through the wire of one of our pursuers. The car spun around and stopped. But the other two cars closed in. I couldn’t even see their license tag anymore.

I wasn’t sure how long they chased us but I knew at one point either Matteo or Romero would make a mistake and lose control of their car.

Suddenly both cars slowed and then they did a u-turn.

“Why have they stopped following us?”

“Dante’s orders, I assume. I told you, he is a very cautious man. He’ll wait for a better opportunity to make us pay. This is too risky for his taste,” Romero said.

I exhaled. I knew it was far from over. From what I knew of Dante, Romero was right, but I was simply glad that tonight we’d all get away unscathed. We’d figure out the rest tomorrow. I glanced at Romero again. I couldn’t believe I’d finally be allowed to be with him. Except for two toilet breaks, we didn’t stop on our drive to New York and then we barely spoke. When the skyline of New York finally rose up outside of the car, relief flooded me. For some reason the city already felt like home and I knew we’d be safer here. This was Luca’s city. It wouldn’t be easy for Dante to attack us here.