Chapter 2

Camila

Miguel stayed omnipresent as I threw random clothes and belongings into a suitcase. Although the men had said we were safe, I couldn’t help noticing the way my bodyguard was on ultra-high alert.

Tension caused my stomach to twist and goose bumps to dot my skin as we left my bedroom. Armed cartel guards stood outside my father’s office door and still others could be seen over the banister down below in the foyer. From the hallway to my room, the roar of angry voices cursing in two languages came from Papá’s office.

Moments before we reached the staircase, the office door flew open. My breath caught with surprise as Dante, Dario Luciano’s brother, appeared. His dark hair lay in waves. A gray t-shirt covered his wide chest. Muscles and tendons showed in his biceps. Instead of the suit he’d worn during Aléjandro’s wedding, his long legs were covered by faded blue jeans. As incredible of a specimen he was to behold, it was his expression that held my attention and increased my unease.

A clenched jaw and pulsating muscles. His dark eyes bore into mine with an intensity I couldn’t understand.

There was no questioning the rage in his countenance.

Appearing as surprised to see us as we were to see him, Dante stopped cold, his dark penetrating stare finally moving—scanning me from my head to my toes. I’d braided my long hair. My oversized sweatshirt hung to midthigh, and I’d changed from my sleeping shorts into a pair of exercise pants. Despite the fact the pants covered my legs to my ankles, by the way he was looking at me, I had the uncomfortable sensation that all my clothes had vanished.

His deep baritone voice sliced through the tension. “Are you hurt?”

Dante’s question seemed foreign, his tone too soft to match his menacing glare. The incongruity between his tone and stare caused my lower stomach to twist. My ability to speak was out of reach as my pulse pounded as I took in the man before me.

Questions came without answers.

Dante wasn’t a stranger, yet why was he in my house after the attack?

“No. She’s safe,” Miguel answered.

I nodded, leaning onto my bodyguard. “Why are you here?”

“I’m here to take you and your mother to Kansas City.”

From everything I’d been told during my upbringing, I should be wary of the man who was now second-in-command in the Kansas City Famiglia. I should be frightened of the Mafia, but I wasn’t. My sister married his brother. His sister married into the cartel. There was a bond that transcended the lifelong distrust, yet questions continued threatening my peace of mind from the fringe.

I peered up at Miguel. “I thought you were coming?”

He nodded. “Sí.”

Dante’s lips curled. “Don’t worry, little girl. Your father wouldn’t allow you to travel with me if he had reason to question my intentions.”

Little girl.

Asshole.

I stood taller and squared my shoulders. “Where’s Mama?” 

“Her room,” Miguel answered.

“Tell her to hurry,” Dante said.

Papá appeared in the frame of his office door. His dark gaze also scanned me, yet it felt fatherly, much different than Dante’s intense stare. Papá lifted his arms. “Camila.”

It was the first time I’d seen him since the invasion. I went forward, wrapping my arms around my father’s torso. The warmth of his hug facilitated an unwanted release of emotions I’d kept at bay. Papá rubbed my back as tears dampened his shirt.

After a moment, he lifted my face. “You’ll be safe, child.” He tilted his chin toward Dante. “Mr. Luciano will take you and your madre to Catalina for a while.”

I knew I didn’t have a choice in the matter. Yet I had to question. “Why isn’t the cartel transporting us?”

“Mr. Luciano was headed back today.”

While I shouldn’t be questioning, I couldn’t seem to stop. My gaze went back and forth between Papá and Dante. “Why is he still here?”

Papá’s forehead furrowed, no doubt growing weary of my insolence. “Mr. Luciano had business after Aléjandro’s wedding.”

I turned to Dante, wiping the tears from my cheeks. “What kind of business?”

An amused smile came to his full lips. “When you’re older, you still won’t be ready to hear the details.”

His comments about my age were wearing on me. I stood taller. “I’m plenty old to understand death.”

Before Dante could respond, Em appeared behind Papá. “Camila, hurry our madre. It’s time for you both to go.”

I had no idea what business Dante would have in San Diego, but by his answer, it was Mafia business. Could it have been against the cartel? If Dante was involved with the invasion, Papá wouldn’t trust him with Mama and me. My mind was filled by a cyclone of disconnected thoughts. Maybe it made sense. Aléjandro’s wedding was on Saturday. It didn’t officially end until Sunday midday. Technically, this was only Monday.

“I’ll check on Mama,” I offered.

The men spoke quietly as I slipped down the hallway to my parents’ wing. Without knocking, I opened the door to my parents’ suite and scanned the large space. “Mama,” I called out.

“In here,” she replied, her voice coming from the bathroom.

Step by step, I approached the partially open door. I pushed it inward enough to see my mother dressed in slacks and a casual blouse. Her bloody nightgown from before was gone. Her long damp hair was pulled back in a low ponytail, indicating she’d taken the time to shower. My gaze went to her hands, the ones that only an hour ago were stained with blood. Her skin was pink from scrubbing, but the blood was gone. By the time I made my way back up to her eyes, I noticed how bloodshot and puffy they were.

“They want us to leave.”

She nodded. “Sì, I’m almost ready.”

Her voice was calm, almost too calm.

I went closer, inhaling the aroma of fresh bodywash, shampoo, and conditioner. It was a stark and welcome contrast to the harsh scent of blood and death. “Are you all right?”

She pressed her lips together and nodded. “We both will be. Your father will see to that.”

“Did you know that Dario’s brother, Dante, is still in California? We’re going to Kansas City with him.”

Her emerald eyes, the color of Catalina’s and mine, opened wider. “I didn’t know.”

“Why would he still be here?”

“I don’t know.” She spoke as she gathered her cosmetics, placing them in a travel case.

I blurted out the question that had been creeping through my thoughts. “Can we trust the famiglia?”

Through the reflection in the mirror, Mama’s stare came to mine. “We must. Think of Cat and their baby.”

“But why didn’t Dante go back to Kansas City with them? What if he had something to do with what happened?”

“You can’t think that way.” She let out a sigh. “If you spend your life questioning the men’s motives or actions, you’ll be consumed. We must trust them.”

It wasn’t exactly the answer I was looking for, yet it was an answer.

Out in their bedroom, Mama carried her cosmetics toward two large suitcases filled with clothes and shoes.

“You packed more than I did.”

Her smile was weary. “If you ask me what I’ve packed, I won’t be able to tell you. I only hope that it’s enough and what I’ll need.”

I lifted my cheeks, trying to ease a bit of the tension. “Yeah, I don’t know what I packed either. Whatever it was fit in one suitcase. I may have to raid Cat’s closet.”

“I’m sure she won’t mind.” Mama’s eyes sparkled. “She would probably like you to. After all, her regular clothes are no longer fitting.”

Yes, my sister was expecting her and Dario’s first child in less than three months. The crowning jewel to the Mafia/cartel alliance. We both turned toward a knock on the door. Miguel stepped into the door frame.

“Señora Ruiz, may I help you with your luggage?”

Mama inhaled. “Thank you, Miguel.”

My chest tightened at the knowledge that it would usually be Luis who helped Mama. That realization brought back the dreadful memories of what we’d endured. That terror was nothing compared to what happened to Luis. He was gone, giving his life for mi madre. “I’m ready to leave.”

“This is our home, Camila. Don’t let the Russians take that from you. If you do, you allow them to win.”

I swallowed. “You’re right. I’m…tired.”

Mama wrapped her arm around my shoulders. “Of course you are. We can rest on the plane.”

We were mostly quiet as Sergio drove the reinforced large SUV. From the third row of seats, I could see the back of everyone’s heads. Dante rode in the front, next to Sergio. Mama and Miguel were in the middle row with me in the rear. Continually, my eyes went to Dante as if he had a magnetic force I couldn’t fight.

If that were the case, it was a one-way fight. He hadn’t said a word to me since making fun of my age. While almost twenty years old wasn’t exactly aged, I wasn’t a little girl either. I was an adult, one who had experienced a traumatic incident. The thought loosened a rogue tear to escape and slide down my cheek.

I turned and wiped the tear away with the back of my hand.

Crying wouldn’t prove my point about my maturity.

Sergio drove the SUV around the airport to the area that housed the private planes. He stopped in front of a white plane with ‘Learjet’ inscribed upon the tail. It wasn’t marked with a name advertising that the plane belonged to the Luciano famiglia.

Mama and I followed Dante up the stairs as Miguel and Sergio secured our suitcases in the luggage hold. Mama stopped at the entrance, staring down the hull of the six-passenger jet.

“Dario and Catalina took the larger plane,” Dante explained. “I wasn’t expecting passengers, but we’ll fit.”

Mama looked at me and walked to the back of the plane. She took the last seat to the right, and I took the last one to the left. From the configuration, we’d have more privacy. The other four seats faced one another.

Dante remained standing, talking to the pilot and co-pilot. The co-pilot came back to our seats. “Mrs. Ruiz, Miss Ruiz, my name is Jeremy. We have limited supplies onboard; however, if you’d like anything to eat or drink, please don’t hesitate to ask. I will do what I can.”

“Thank you,” Mama replied. “Water?”

“I’ll have a bottle of water too,” I said.

Jeremy smiled. “I can do that.” He walked toward the front.

All the time Jeremy was talking and delivering our water, I couldn’t help but notice the way Dante stood silently staring. There was something visceral in his dark gaze that I’d never before experienced.

Mama reached across the aisle and laid her hand on mine. “I’m so happy to spend time with Catalina, with both of my girls.”

Nodding, I laid my head back against the soft leather. If it made my mother feel better to think of this as a vacation, I wouldn’t spoil her fantasy. Closing my eyes, I recalled the pool of blood—Luis’s blood.

The water Jeremy delivered would need to wait. If I drank any now, I could end up in the lavatory, throwing it back up.