While we zoom through the streets, I pull Alexis’ hand into my lap. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Relax,” she says dismissively and tugs her hand back. She lays it over her belly instead. “I was a little worried for the sake of the baby, but I trusted that you had it under control.”
I study her expression, trying to figure out if she’s faking this confidence, but it seems sincere. I’m surprised. I’m also aroused. Alexis has always been sexy, but something about the level of calm she has cultivated over the past few months makes her more attractive than ever. She has never been what I would consider emotionally frivolous, but she has also never reacted with quite as much aplomb to similar situations in the past.
We get back to the house, and I am pleased to find everything is quiet. Alexis leaves to check on Harry, and I meet with Silvano in my office to go over the details of the attack. While we are there, I pour a glass of whiskey for us both, and we toast to my ferocious mob queen.
23
Gabriel
I feel a pair of eyes on me, and I look up from my phone. Silvano quickly averts his gaze, staring out the window instead at the red-brick buildings flashing by the tinted window, though it’s too late. I sigh and deposit my phone in my jacket pocket.
“What is it?” I mutter.
Silvano glances back over. “It’s just—I mean, I just think…” He chews his lip. “You’re being an idiot.”
I frown. “Wanting to support my men on the front lines doesn’t make me an idiot,” I snap. “And watch how you deliver advice. Anyone would think you were trying to insult me.”
He is not cowed, but instead seems to gain a little confidence. For some reason, Silvano has begun to seem more sure of himself when I’m angry.
“It could be a trap,” Silvano points out. “In fact, that’s a very likely possibility. I know the Irish are disorganized and clearly frustrated by the new leadership, but that doesn’t mean they would just hand Lynch over to us on a silver platter.”
“I know,” I reply. “We’ve been over this.”
“Humor me and go over it one more time.” Silvano sits a little straighter, gray eyes flashing. “We haven’t heard anything from Lynch in weeks, and now all of a sudden, we get word that he’s sitting pretty at O’Neill’s like he’s waiting for us?”
“The fact that it could be a trap is obvious,” I reply. “I’m not arguing with you about that.”
“Let’s say the odds are fifty-fifty,” Silvano continues. “Don’t you think it would be better for you to hang back, just in case?”
“No,” I reply flatly. “I don’t think that. I told you, I’m not going to stand back and watch. I will fight this war on the front lines, or I will not fight it at all.”
“You’ll die on the front lines,” he mutters. “Or be captured. Or arrested.”
“Then that will be my fate.” I glare at him. “My father gave orders from behind a silver screen, and because of that, he lost sight of the suffering and the lives of his men. He viewed his own men and his enemies as chess pieces, not as humans. I will not make that same mistake.”
Silvano studies me, takes a long breath, and shakes his head. “You’re a good man, Gabriel. And a good leader. But I do worry that will be your downfall.”
I smirk. “Then so be it.”
David pulls up outside of O’Neill’s, and Silvano rests his hand on the door handle. I stare out the window, my gaze flitting from one pedestrian to the next, and my hand flies out to stop Silvano before he can open the door.
“What is it?” he asks, suddenly alert.
There is a man leaning against the entrance to the bar. He is sloppily dressed, his beard untrimmed, and his shirt buttons askew, but his eyes track up and down the street with razor-sharp focus. A woman walks by talking on her phone, and she stares just a little too long at the car.
“It’s not an ambush,” I breathe. “It’s a sting.” Then I yell to David, “Get us out of here!”
David pulls away just as the man leaning against the door pulls out his gun and yells at us to stop. Sirens blare from somewhere nearby. I swear repeatedly as Silvano gets on the phone to bark orders at Dom and his men, who are in an SUV not far behind.
This is not good. I grab mine and Silvano’s guns and stash them in the compartment under the seat while David tears around a street corner. The number of laws we have broken is relatively low, but if the police catch us, it will only give Ruby Flint the opportunity to make the connection between Bellucci Inc. and the mob. Felicity and Lynch are behind this, and no doubt they have already told Ruby, or at least implied, that my business stretches beyond the scope of the law. My being caught would confirm that, with catastrophic results.
David swings a hard right, and it throws me into the side of the car. Silvano slams into my shoulder and swears.
“I told you that you should have stayed behind!” he grumbles.
“This is not the time, Silvano!”
We careen around another corner, and this time, a cop car skids into the lane behind us, lights flashing.
“David,” Silvano calls to the front. “Dom’s SUV is about to come barreling through that intersection. Wait until the last second and make a hairpin turn.”
David nods in the rear-view, and we zoom toward the traffic lights. I grit my teeth. I have outrun other crime syndicates plenty of times, but so far I’ve never had to outrun the police. Plus, two car chases in as many days has to be a bad sign. I’m just glad Alexis isn’t here for this one, though undoubtedly she could take it.
A dark feeling in my stomach warns that I am witnessing the beginning of the end of my empire. I refuse to listen to it.
Not yet.
We get into the intersection, and David wrenches on the emergency brake, sending us flying around, just in time to miss Dom’s SUV as it runs the lights. The police car brakes hard but still has to steer into a pole on the sidewalk to avoid slamming into the side of the SUV. David waves at Dom and then takes off back the way we came.
“Dom’s going to lead them away now,” Silvano says, staring over his shoulder as the police car reverses. Dom lingers in the intersection just long enough for the police car to get back into the game, and then he’s off like a shot. Sure enough, they follow him now instead. An easier target, I suppose.
“We’re not out of the woods yet,” I mutter, dialing Alexis’ number. “If I know Ruby, she’s not going to let us get away so easily.”
I rush through the front door while David races to stash the car in one of the garages, sending gravel shooting everywhere. Alexis is waiting for me, holding a bundle of clothes. She’s still in her pajamas, a pink tank top and some black leggings.
“What’s that?” I ask.
She lifts the bundle demonstratively. “Sweatpants and a T-shirt,” she says matter-of-factly. “We’ve been at home all morning watching cartoons. Harry’s already set up in the living room; you just need to get changed and mess your hair up a little.” After a beat, Alexis waves her hand at me. “Well? Get undressed.”