Know what?
His cousin spoke again. “The shipment will go out in three days from the old warehouse, with or without him. We don’t need this guy.”
There was silence in the room. Amara barely dared to breathe, her hands gripping the side of the doorframe so she didn’t lose her balance. She should go. She really should. But her feet stayed glued to the spot, her one eye looking into the room.
“Let’s send him back with the message,” Lorenzo Maroni nodded, before suddenly pointing the gun at the man’s shoulder and pulling the trigger.
The loud noise ricocheted in the room, startling Amara. A yelp left her before she could stop it. Clapping a hand over her mouth, she stumbled back from the door, hurriedly picking up the laundry and running down the hallway. Her heart hammered in her chest as she heard the door behind her open, and she sprinted down the stairs, her feet going as fast as they could.
One floor down.
Two floors down.
Amara hit the ground level and ran to the kitchen, the area bustling with staff getting everything ready for the party. Shoving the laundry in the hands of one of the surprised servants, she ran down the gallery towards the back entrance.
Only to collide into a brick wall.
Shaking, Amara looked up to see Dante Maroni holding her by the arms, keeping her upright, a look of concern on his face.
“Hey, hey, are you okay?”
Amara looked at him with wide eyes and nodded. Mr. Maroni had said he couldn’t know. She didn’t even know what it was but she couldn’t tell him. What would be the point? What she witnessed in that room wasn’t anything new in this world. She was the one who was having a hard time processing it.
“Yeah, um,” she floundered for words, panting. “I think I left the oven on at home. I just- I just need to check it.”
She started to pull away when his grip on her arms tightened a fraction, not enough to hurt but enough to keep her in place.
“Look at me,” he said in a tone she’d never heard from him before. Commanding her attention. Unwittingly, her eyes went to his dark browns, to see them studying her.
“What the fuck is going on with you?” he demanded, his gaze steady on hers, alert.
Amara straightened her spine, knowing she had to push him off. Nobody could know she’d seen anything, for her and her mother’s safety. “It doesn’t concern you. Will you let go of my arms?”
Dante’s fingers stayed wrapped around her biceps, almost entirely encircling them, his touch burning through the fabric of her top. The tension from earlier built between them again as they stared the other down, one that hadn’t been there in any of their previous interactions. His fingers flexed once, jaw visibly clenching before he released her. Amara swallowed and walked out of the mansion at a fast clip.
Heart still pounding, she looked back to see him still standing at the same spot, watching her leave. She wanted to tell him, but it was nothing compared to what he probably saw every day. And she didn’t even know the man. She had grown up crushing on him but she didn’t know who he was.
It was better she never say anything to anyone.
Amara gulped the secret down, shoving it to the recesses of her mind, and kept walking back to her house.
“Damn, you clean up nice!” Amara exclaimed, looking at Vin as he came out from the store. He looked very dashing in an ironed black button-down shirt tucked into black pants, a simple belt around his narrow waist. At sixteen, he was already filling out like a heartbreaker.
They had come to the city because Vin had needed something more formal for the party, and since he could already drive, he had borrowed his dad’s car and they’d made it a trip. Amara had needed the excursion to get her head right. And buying a beautiful dress had only helped with that.
It was a gorgeous dark green dress with a modest neckline and full sleeves. The color brought out her eyes, the hemline fell to her knees. Amara had seen it and fallen in love.
They had both decided to get ready at the store itself, so they could go straight to the party. Vin had patrolling duty with the other security staff, which was a big deal since boys his age were never allowed that job. And Amara had decided to help her mother out so while she would be at the party, she would be working.
“Yeah, yeah,” her friend tugged at his collar, his tell for when he got uncomfortable, and Amara grinned. Walking to the car through the empty lot, Amara pulled her hair into a high ponytail, so it wouldn’t get in the way.
“Do you think I should try wearing lipstick tonight?” she asked Vin, who groaned at her question.
“You need girlfriends to talk that shit with, ‘Mara,” he told her, pulling the car keys out of his pocket.
Amara linked her arm with his. “But I’ve got you. Will I look pretty with lipstick?” she teased him, and he gave her a droll look.
“You forget I’ve seen you with snot on your face too many times,” he rolled his eyes. “And licking the wall-”
“Hey, that was just one time and I was three!”
“-and you’ll look nice,” he finished over her. “If you want to, wear the damn lipstick.”
Amara laughed, elbowing him in the ribs. “You’re so bad. So, how was training today?”
The evening got colder as they walked closer to the car.
“Good,” Vin replied, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Dante asked me about you today.”
Amara almost tripped over her feet but kept gripping his arm. Trying to aim for nonchalance, she casually asked. “Really? What did he ask?”
“If you and I were a thing,” Vin’s voice had the same cringe she felt. She could see why people would assume that given they were joined at the hip, but neither of them was into each other that way. Ew. “I think he’s into you.”
“Did you correct him?” Amara asked as they came to a stop at the dark sedan they had driven in, ignoring his last sentence.
“I asked him why he wanted to know,” Vin informed her, walking around to the driver’s side with the bag holding their old clothes. “I mean you’re my best friend, and we know the score. But I think he’s weirded out that you don’t pay attention to him anymore. And if thinking you’re with me is any protection for you, let him think whatever.”
And this was why she loved this guy. Her hero.
She gave him a smile over the roof of the car. “You’re a sweetheart, Vinnie.”
“Fuck, will you not call me that out in the open?” he quickly looked around, making Amara laugh.
Her laughter cut off before it was even out.
Before she could say anything, a hand slammed over her mouth, snatching her violently away from the car. A truck came screeching into the parking lot as one man went over to Vin’s side, both of them getting into a hand-to-hand fight before the older, larger guy held Vin down, one putting a hand over his mouth as well.
Amara watched, horrified, as the man slammed him to the hard concrete on his stomach, incapacitating him.
“Take the girl.”
Amara yelled behind her captor’s hand, the smell of raw tobacco drowning in her nostrils as she struggled against him. She brought the heel of her ballet flats down on the man’s toes, enough to make him grunt but not enough to loosen his hold. The man started to drag her back towards the waiting truck and she kicked her feet, one of her flats coming free in the tussle.