The closer I got to the cars I realized my suspicions were correct. Tony Morelli, aka Fat Tony, who was muscular and without an ounce of fat, was running from the building with a box marked with the Apple logo on the side. Behind him were three other men of varying builds, close in height and right on his tail. They ran to the black van, slid the boxes in the back, and then unlocked their cars.
My stomach lurched when I didn’t see Angelo or his best friend, Sonny. His real name was Samuel Bonfiglio, but everyone called him Sonny because his last name meant good son in Italian. I parked next to Tony’s car and hopped out of the Expedition, fueled by nervous energy.
“Where’s Angelo and Sonny?” My voice trembled as I spoke.
Tony shook his head, about to open his car door, when I grabbed his shoulder. “Get out of here, Gia. Drive and never stop. He shouldn’t have let you come.”
My blood ran cold when I heard a gunshot. I turned to run toward the building, but Tony grabbed me by the collar of my shirt, holding me back. I fought him with everything I had, my sneakers scraping along the pavement until the soles burned.
“Let me go, Tony. Get the fuck off me!”
“C’mon, T. We gotta go,” Chase said to Tony over the hood of his car.
Mark Kessler, aka Chase, was Tony’s right-hand man and best friend. Chase had earned the nickname from his crew because of his car boosting skills. None of Angelo’s friends or cousins used their real names. Angelo was one of the few who didn’t care enough to protect his identity. This was because he wanted you to know that a Morelli was behind whatever bad shit happened to you. Angelo’s brothers were no different.
“Wait a second,” Tony said to Chase. “They’ll be out in a minute. We can’t leave Gia by herself. She’s too fucking stubborn to listen.”
He was right. I would have run into the building after Angelo in a heartbeat. The thought of losing him was too much for me to bear.
“We don’t have a minute. Let’s get the fuck out of here. Take her with us.”
Chase was right about not having time. As if on cue, the first police siren sounded in the distance. The silence made it hard to figure out how close they were to the water. If we didn’t move soon, we’d be trapped in the industrial park with nowhere to run. Tony and his crew were there to create a diversion, one we were so close to losing.
Another gunshot echoed, followed by Sonny busting open the door on the loading dock. He jumped off the platform with a white box in his hand and shoved it into the rear of the open truck. Before I could say anything, he hustled back to the landing to take two boxes Angelo had stacked on top of the other. Angelo could hardly see, glancing to the right of the boxes to hand them to Sonny.
Relief washed over me. Angelo was safe, or at least I thought he was okay before I saw a man running down the hallway of the building. He was further back, but still, I had no idea how we would make it out of there without getting caught.
Angelo hopped down to the pavement next to Sonny. He took a box from Sonny, his feet moving faster than I thought possible.
“G, open the trunk,” he called out to me.
Tony released his hold on my collar, and I did as Angelo asked by clicking the button on the key fob and jogging over to the driver’s seat. Tony and his men slid into their cars, revved the engines, and lined up in position, waiting for us.
We’d done this plenty of times before. I knew the routine.
“Nah, babe, let me drive.” Angelo placed the box in the back, shut the trunk, and was at my side. “We don’t have time. Move over.”
Annoyed, but also somewhat relieved, I scooted over to the passenger seat and made room for Angelo. Sonny was in the black van, driving past us, tailed by two of the Mustangs. Tony and Chase hung back for us, the sirens getting closer to us by the second.
A bullet sunk into the bumper. The popping sound ripped a scream from my throat.
“Fuck.” Angelo pushed my head between my legs. “Keep your head down and
don’t move until I tell you.” He put the car in reverse, the wheels burning against the pavement, as he peeled out of the spot. Another bullet hit the back window, shattering the glass.
I screamed again, only louder this time.
“Listen to me, G. Don’t move, okay?” Angelo’s deep voice was like gravel, but it was the only sound that could put me at ease.
He kept his hand on my head as we drove, fisting my curls between his fingers. I did as he said, trying not to cry. This was one of the scariest nights of my life, but unfortunately not one of the worst. Those days had yet to come.
I’d asked Angelo to include me in any of the jobs that weren’t messy. I never should have made him do something he didn’t want me to do when he was already in over his head with his father’s bullshit. The last thing he needed was to worry about me on top of everything else.
Angelo released his grip on my hair and let out a puff of air. “You can look now.”
I sat up straight, studying every feature of his handsome face. Even in the dark, his blue eyes popped against his olive skin.
“Did I hurt you?” he asked through clenched teeth, angry with himself for no reason.