Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 80014 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80014 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
Dante stopped kissing his husband’s neck and raised a brow. “Why?”
I pointed at a retro kids’ bike with a long banana seat, which was padlocked to a chain link fence. “I want to steal that and leave the owner some money for it. I don’t think I’m well enough for a long hike, but if the drone gives us a reason to believe we’re in the right place, I can easily bike up to the compound, sneak in, and find Adriano. Then all I need to do is smuggle him out.”
Romy shook his head. “There’s no way. They’ll shoot you, Jack.”
But Dante shrugged and said, “If they caught him sneaking around in that outfit, would they really shoot him? He doesn’t exactly look like a threat. Besides, Vincent and I would obviously go along.”
Romy remained unconvinced. “Then why would Jack go in at all?”
“Because I’m good at breaking into things.” Romy started to argue, but I said, “I know it’s dangerous, but it’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
“Or, here’s a crazy idea,” Romy said. “We call the police, they send in a SWAT team and a hostage negotiator, and this all gets resolved by trained professionals.”
Everyone said, “Nah,” and went to work implementing our plan.
Dante handed me some money, and Charlie led me to the trunk of the other SUV and said, “I packed a few essentials before I flew in. Let’s see if there’s something you can use, not just to steal the bike, but if you end up trying to infiltrate the compound.”
We rifled through his go-bag, and I selected a multitool and a pocket knife. Then I picked up a small leather case with a lopsided cat on it and asked, “Is this what I think it is?”
Charlie grinned at me. “It’s a Hello Kitty lockpick kit. You’re welcome to borrow it, but please be sure to bring it back. It has a lot of sentimental value.” I didn’t ask.
He went with me to steal the bike while everyone else climbed into the pair of SUVs and started the engines. “You doing okay? I heard you got shot,” he said, as he indicated a spot of dried blood on my sleeve.
“I feel like shit, but whatever. I’ll rest once we rescue Adriano.”
He stood guard when we reached the bike, and as I picked the lock he said, “It’s wild—another Dombruso brother. It’s even wilder that he seems to be just like Dante and Vincent. One of the first things Nana told me when I started dating a Dombruso was that I just had to accept the fact that danger seemed to follow them.”
I freed the bike and closed the padlock again as I asked, “Are their younger brothers danger magnets, too?”
“No, those two have always led normal lives. Dante and Vincent made sure of it by becoming the family caretakers after their parents died. They took all the heat that came with being Dombrusos, so their little brothers could stay safe.”
I folded the money Dante had given me—almost three hundred bucks—and stuffed it through the padlock’s shackle as Charlie said, “Um, we need to run.”
“Why?”
“Because a kid gang is about to beat the shit out of us.”
I straightened up and looked down the street. Sure enough, about ten little kids were running toward us, and they looked pissed. Charlie picked up the bike, and he and I booked it across the parking lot as the yells of some very angry kids grew louder. He tossed the bike into the open trunk of one of the SUVs, and then we piled into the back seat and peeled out of the parking lot in a hail of rocks and profanities.
“Wow, those kids had really foul mouths,” Romy muttered from the passenger seat, as he turned to look behind us.
“Hopefully they’ll forgive us when they find the money,” I said, as I gasped for breath.
“Maybe we can put the bike back where we found it when we’re done with it,” Romy suggested, with a hopeful expression.
Dante, who was behind the wheel, grinned at Charlie and me in the rearview mirror and said, “That was fucking hilarious. You should have seen your faces when the pint-sized mafia started closing in.”
Charlie chuckled at that, and I curled up in a ball on the seat and mumbled, “Tell me when we get there. I just need to die for a few minutes.”
That made Romy sigh and mutter, “This is all such a terrible idea.”
18
Adriano
At first, I thought I was hallucinating. I’d been tied to a pillar in an overheated garage for hours, but all of a sudden, there was Jack, barefoot and dressed in a cropped pink top with teddy bears on it. My mouth was so dry that I had trouble mumbling, “Is that really you?”
His soft hands clutched my face, and he kissed me gently before whispering, “Yes, sweetheart. I’m right here.”