Total pages in book: 161
Estimated words: 151410 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 757(@200wpm)___ 606(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151410 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 757(@200wpm)___ 606(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
Mom and I were unarmed. I knew Mom had practiced shooting with Dad but I had never seen her with a gun apart from that, and I had only held one once or twice. There had never been a moment where I’d felt unsafe in Las Vegas. I had never liked the feel of a weapon in my hand and considering the tremor in my body I doubted my aim would have been good in a situation like this.
We hid behind an overturned van. A trail of blood led around it where Dad had dragged away the driver.
In the distance I could see more cars approaching, black limousines. Probably reinforcement for the Famiglia who was attacking us. I still couldn’t wrap my head around it. These men shooting at us were married to my aunts. We had been here for a wedding. How could they do this?
I felt sick as I watched my family fall apart. I hadn’t seen my aunts and cousins in New York very often but since losing my grandmother, the only grandparent I’d ever met, it had been the only extended family I had. Now they would disappear from my life too, if we survived this.
Considering the number of Famiglia cars heading our way, I didn’t have much hope for us. I hadn’t considered dying yet. I’d sometimes worried for Dad’s life when he hadn’t returned in time and Mom’s worry had fueled my own, but I had always felt safe.
What if these were the last minutes of my life?
“Everything’s going to be okay,” Mom whispered. “We’ll be safe either way. They don’t hurt women.” Even as she said it, Mom’s gaze moved to Dad, and fear overtook her face.
Maybe we were safe, or as safe as a woman could be in our world, but Dad and the other men would definitely die.
An image of Nevio flashed in my head. He’d stayed home with the rest of the Unholy Trio, just like Savio and his family, and my brother Davide.
A van barreled toward us and stopped with squealing tires. The sliding doors jerked open, making my body clamp up with trepidation. How many more Famiglia soldiers would ambush us? But it wasn’t an unfamiliar face I saw. Nevio got out of the van. My eyes grew wide with relief, then utter shock when I noticed the woman in his hold. He was pressing a knife against her throat. Even from afar, I immediately recognized my aunt Gianna. She looked scared. I only knew her as a feisty, loud-mouthed woman so seeing her like that really drove the seriousness of the situation home.
I couldn’t believe Nevio was threatening her life, but then again, maybe this was our only chance to get out of here alive.
“Stop!” Matteo roared. The Famiglia stopped firing and so did our side.
“Surprise, motherfuckers,” Nevio shouted with a wide grin. I’d seen several versions of his grin, but tonight, illuminated by several headlights in an eerie way, I got a glimpse of how people felt that were terrified of him. There was something unhinged, wild, and hungry about him. I wasn’t sure if he’d care that Gianna was a woman.
He pulled Gianna along as he walked toward Remo, Nino, Adamo and Dad. She struggled against his hold but it was futile. One look at Remo’s face told me he hadn’t known Nevio was here. Nevio had always been bad at following rules, even when they came from his father, the Capo of the Camorra.
After him, Massimo jumped out, and then Alessio with my cousin Isabella in his grip. Isabella’s already wild mane was all over the place, her glasses were broken and she looked as if she’d cried. I tried to catch her eyes, maybe show her somehow that it was going to be allright, even if I was the last person who had any control over the outcome of tonight, but she never looked my way. The way we were hidden behind the van, she probably couldn’t even see us.
“If you touched a single hair on their heads, I’m going to make you regret the day you were born,” Matteo growled. I only knew him as the funny, easy-going husband of Gianna. I’d always loved his jokes. It was difficult to see him as the enemy all of a sudden.
I still felt pity for him for having to watch Gianna and Isabella being taken, and I felt guilty because part of me was relieved.
Nevio flashed his teeth at Matteo and briefly touched Gianna’s hair. She tried to escape his grip, but he pushed the knife against her throat as a warning once more. “I don’t regret anything yet.”
I’d never seen Nevio or my father in action as Made Men. I only knew their domestic side. It was easy to forget that it was only a small part of them.