“I like being here with you,” she said.
Nodding his head, Lorenzo wanted to take it a step further. Did he love being with her? It was starting to feel like it. He nearly told her as much when he opted to hold his tongue and cracked open the back door, ushering her inside before locking the barrier behind him.
“I’ll be in the shower,” she said as they approached the bathroom. She stripped again.
Enzo returned to the front window to do a quick survey. No sign of cars, shadows, or anything else. They were safe, and the steam from the shower was beckoning.
“What took you so long?” came her voice, sated and husky after sex.
In response, he quickly removed his wet clothes and joined her in the small shower. He took her into his arms, his fingers searching her now warm flesh. They gently kissed under the spray of the shower, as they relished just being close. Taking turns with a tiny bar of soap, they washed each other with a quiet reverence.
Finally, the water turned cold, bringing them both out of the moment.
“We’re going to shrivel up in here. Let’s have some more coffee and see what there is for entertainment around here. I think I saw some old board games in the living room,” she said as she finally stepped away after one more kiss.
Enzo watched with pleasure as she stepped out of the shower, dried her hair with a towel and attempted to comb it with her fingers. He had just emerged himself and was dripping wet when Michelle dropped her towel and moved to the bathroom’s tiny, somewhat grimy, window.
“Michelle, what are you—”
“Shhh!”
The sound came out sharp, and he saw her pressed against the window as she beckoned him closer and pointed to the glass.
“I think someone’s out there.”
14
Michelle tensed as Lorenzo wrapped his wet arm around her waist and pulled her away from the window.
“What did you see?” he whispered.
“I thought it was just the wind,” she started. “But now—”
Lorenzo cut her off with one finger to her lips as he pushed her behind him and peered out the window. He saw nothing, only the leaves swaying.
“Am I seeing things?” she whispered.
“Why chance it?”
Clasping her hand in his, Lorenzo eased her back to the bedroom and moved to the bedside table where he had stored his gun. As he pulled out the drawer, his heart turned to ice.
“What is it?” Michelle asked as she grabbed his arm.
“The gun’s gone,” he said. “Someone’s been in the house.”
They should never have left. A safe house was only as good as its name if they abided by the rules. Their eyes locked as he tossed clothes in her direction.
“Get dressed,” he whispered. She did as much as quickly and watched him follow suit.
“Now what?” she asked.
“Come back to the kitchen.”
She held his hand tighter as they moved back toward the stove, and Lorenzo opened another drawer.
“Guess this’ll have to do.”
He armed himself with the first available knife and stepped lightly back to the window.
“Do you see anything now?” she asked.
“Nothing,” he said. “This way.”
Together, they crept toward the door, and Lorenzo appeared ready to strike as he watched the door. Michelle heard footsteps approaching and saw the doorknob start to turn. Lorenzo raised his knife and looked ready to attack. Michelle saw another shadow out of the corner of her eye and grabbed at Lorenzo.
“He’s already in—”
Her words cut off at the sound of a gunshot. She felt Lorenzo pull her to the ground and throw his body on top of hers. The faint glint from the knife met the corner of the eye, but it seemed to dull in power as someone pushed the door open.
“You two lovebirds have a fun swim? The view was nice from where I sat.”
Even as Lorenzo tried to keep her head down, Michelle fought his hold and managed to look up. There she saw a large man in ill-fitting lounge pants with rings on his fingers. He smirked down at the sight of Michelle shuddering in search of a fresh breath. Lorenzo looked over his shoulder to see Joey Lupo entering the house, his eye patch hiding only half of his glare.
“We should have taken them out then, Boss,” Lupo said, his own gun aimed as he ordered Lorenzo to drop the knife.
“Take it easy, Joey,” Fiorenza said as he waddled about the room and lowered himself into the first available chair, his gun still trained on the pair. “Nothing to worry about with this one. Kid’s worlds away from the classroom now. Maybe he was aces at the book learning. But on the streets? Un vero idiota.”
Michelle caught the meaning behind the insult and tensed as Lorenzo started to stand.
“Don’t,” she whispered. “You have nothing to prove to the likes of them.”
Both Fiorenza and Lupo laughed.
“Poor Ivy League,” Fiorenza said. “He had no idea that your Pop fucked up so royally.”
Now Lorenzo tried to keep Michelle quiet, his lips moving to her ear. But she wriggled away from his hold and stared the aging gangster down.
“I’d do it again,” she said, nearly keeping her tone even. “Rodolfo could’ve been killed. I don’t turn on my friends like that.”
“But you’d turn on your father?” Fiorenza challenged.
The question caught her off guard, and Michelle turned her head to see Lorenzo seething as Lupo pressed his gun into his ribs.
“Drop the knife, Parisi,” Lupo sneered. “I’m not going to ask you again.”
Lorenzo’s eyes locked with Michelle’s, and he started to make the move when he suddenly, furiously shook his head.
“You’re going to kill us anyway,” he started. “I don’t see why I should go down without a fight.”
Vacillating between pride in Lorenzo’s show of strength and equally intense worry at his bravado, Michelle shot a quick glance toward the window. Somewhere, out in the Jersey darkness, there had to be Frankie. He was supposed to keep watch, and Michelle imagined him creeping close to the house and catching their current captors by surprise. It was a slim reed to hang onto, but Michelle might be able to buy some time, if she simply kept talking.
“Lorenzo had no part of this,” she started. The man in question gritted his teeth, and Michelle pushed further away from him as she stepped closer to Fiorenza.
“Watch yourself!” Lupo warned, cocking the trigger.
“Don’t even think about—” Enzo snapped.
Lupo wasted no time pistol-whipping Lorenzo for his insolence, and she cried out as he started to fall to the ground. With a dazed look in his eyes, Lorenzo started to reach for her when his arm went limp. He crashed to the ground with a cruel thud, and Michelle’s first thought was to tend to him.
“You stay right where you are,” Fiorenza threatened.
Barely controlling her rage and fear as Lorenzo’s gaze slipped from her line of sight, Michelle counted to ten and slowly turned to face the larger man once more.
“Am I next?” she asked in a voice that trembled far more than she would have liked.
“You did take down one of my guys,” Fiorenza said, examining the rings on his meaty hand. “But the college boy ain’t all he’s cracked up to be. Neither is your father for that matter.”