He closed his eyes briefly. Unfortunately, he could understand. It was the one argument she had that made sense. The only argument she could give him that he couldn’t say no to. “We’re going to have to move fast. My cousins should be on their way up now. They’ll take Pia and Bianca to a safe house.”
“They’re worried about their mother. She may be super controlling, but they love her, and they know she loves them,” Nicoletta said.
“She’s safe. Stefano has her safe. We’ll make certain they know that. I told the boys to bring you some clothes. I love you in my shirt, but I don’t like other men seeing you like that when I know you aren’t wearing panties.”
She blushed. “I’d hoped you’d forgotten.”
“I’m not likely to forget something like that.” He moved the chairs that were in front of the door and headed out of the bedroom. “Let me make certain Jorge made his run for it. I’ll let the cousins in so we can hurry after Clariss. They’ll clean things up and then get Pia and Bianca out of here.”
It wasn’t as easy as he made it sound, and when his brother found out what he’d done, there was going to be hell to pay at the very least and his career to lose if Stefano deemed him that careless—and he was afraid that might happen. He couldn’t think about that now. He had a purpose, and that was to get her friends to safety while protecting his woman.
He rode a shadow into the living room and found the suite empty. He wasn’t surprised. Jorge had no reason to stick around. Two men had their necks broken, and there was no sign of anyone in the suite. There had been no sound. Just like what had taken place nearly three years earlier, when Nicoletta’s three step-uncles had been found with their necks broken. No one had been seen going into the house or coming out, yet her step-uncles were dead, and Nicoletta was missing. Jorge had made a run for it.
Unexpectedly three men appeared in the room with him. Like Taviano, they were tall and muscular, wearing pinstriped suits that fit perfectly on their very athletic frames. They had dark hair and eyes and strong jaws, and looked both attractive and dangerous.
Taviano greeted them fondly. “Maximino. Remigio. Marzio. Thanks for coming.”
“The others let your boy slip through. Severino is following him at the moment.” Severino was the eldest of the six Ferraro brothers in Los Angeles. Like Taviano, they had only one sister, Velia. She was the youngest, and they adored her and were protective, although, as a rider, she was just as fierce as they were.
“He’ll switch off with Tore.”
Taviano frowned. “You couldn’t ride the shadows here, because you had to take Pia and Bianca out of here for me. That already puts you in jeopardy. You don’t exactly have alibis when they discover the dead bodies of our enemies in this hotel. It isn’t like we can remove them safely.”
“Leave that to us,” Maximino said. “We’ll take care of things. Velia sent your woman clothes.” He handed Taviano a small bundle. “She said to say she wished she could meet your Nicoletta, and she was looking forward to joining you later this week to do just that.”
Taviano nodded, grateful he had the kind of family who would put themselves at risk without hesitation when called. “Have your brothers pull back though. I can get Jorge and his friends to give us their location without compromising your family. We’ve been careful to make certain our family is never where the cops can point their finger at us. This is where you live. If they spot your cars on the street cameras following a gang member and then you’re associated in any way with anything that comes back to this hotel room, it could get nasty. Pull your brothers back and trust that I can handle that side of things.”
Maximino nodded. “I’m on it.”
Taviano couldn’t do more than grip his cousin’s hand, walk into the bedroom and hand the clothes to Nicoletta before returning to the living room to find Maximino and Marzio had already removed Armando’s and Rocko’s bodies from the suite, as if they’d never been. Where they’d taken them and how, he had no idea. He’d only been gone a few moments.
“Cameras?”
“Taken care of,” Remigio assured.
Taviano nodded to Nicoletta as soon as she was dressed. “Have Pia and Bianca join us, tesoro, we have to leave quickly.”
Nicoletta knocked on the door loudly and the two sisters emerged, looking a little frightened. They hugged Nicoletta hard. Taviano took their hands gently and immediately introduced them to his cousins. The three Ferraro brothers were at their most charming and helped the women close their suitcases and talked them into allowing the brothers to put them up at the luxurious Ferraro estate, right on the beach.