20
Aleksandra
We head away from the compound, the vehicle’s engine humming as we drive away from the city.
I sink into the comfortable leather seat and try to relax. The weather is chilly, the sky a dull gray expanding as far as the eye can see. It feels like snow, bone-chilling cold. Dreary.
Traffic whizzes by us on the highway. The driver is moving at a decent clip, but we’re not leading the parade by any means, either. It’s like he’s trying not to be noticed. That’s probably typical considering he’s mafia. Does he have a dozen arrest warrants out for him, and he’s evading the police?
I don’t exactly know how to get to the apartment, but we’ve been traveling for a while and appear to be heading out of the city. Didn’t Antonio mention it was in New York City?
My stomach bubbles, and I clear my throat, doing my best not to show any sign of fear.
“Where are you taking us?” I ask the driver.
Liam and Sophia are cuddling their stuffed animals, babbling to each other, oblivious to the potential danger that we are in. They are full of smiles and life.
Will the man driving the vehicle snuff the light right out of them?
Antonio told me he was letting us go. Did he give different orders to his colleague?
I shouldn’t have blindly accepted Antonio’s offer to leave. It’s not like I plan to stay at the apartment, but it gives me a place to crash while I find out who is in charge of the bratva compound.
The driver doesn’t answer my question.
I press my lips together, trying to remember the driver’s name. And while I want to reach for the handle to the back door, I can’t open it while we’re traveling at high speeds. That’s assuming the door isn’t child-locked, not to mention the twins.
“Mario,” I say, trying his name out on my tongue.
He glances in the rearview mirror at me. His gaze is cold and harsh, much like his demeanor.
It seems I’ve gotten his attention.
“Antonio mentioned that the apartment was in the city,” I say louder and with a little more force and conviction.
I’m met with silence.
He offers up no excuse, no lame explanation about why he’s taking a different route. He heard me, which means my children and I are in danger.
“Where are you taking us?” I ask, trying again to get an answer from him.
“Shut up!” he snaps and presses his foot harder against the gas pedal. The engine roars, and we whip through traffic, weaving in and out past other vehicles.
“Mommy,” Sophia’s eyes widen and glisten with tears. She wraps her arms around me, trembling in my grasp.
I pull her close and tight, wanting to protect her. Liam’s eyes are bright and wide like a deer, but he doesn’t scoot any closer. It’s like he’s trying to be brave.
Did he learn that from Mikhail or Antonio?
Liam hasn’t been around either man very much. “It’s okay,” I whisper to the twins, doing my best to assure them that nothing is wrong.
Except everything is wrong.
We’re heading far out of the city, and I have no idea where Mario is taking us.
* * *
I don’t recognize the area or the exit that we take after driving for several hours at maximum speeds on the highway.