And walk right into the bare male chest of opportunity. The man grunts, I squeak and we both take a step backwards. Then I look up, to find bright blue eyes smiling down at me, over a blond beard with little braids in it. Viking isn't actually shirtless, but his vest is open and there's nothing underneath. My mind rushes immediately to what that chest felt like under my hands as I raked my nails across it. The red tracks are long since gone, but there's always next time.
God no, focus. There will be no next time, because the two of us standing here is already asking for trouble. If Dario comes back out…
I just need to warn Viking and then get away. He doesn't exactly look ready to let me go, though.
“Alessa,” he says, with just enough husky promise in his voice to make it obvious what he's thinking.
“Not here,” I hiss as quietly as I can before whoever Papa assigned to keep an eye on him catches up. “There's a trap. Not Papa, but someone else. They're going to take you out on your way back.” I straighten up and put an arrogant look on my face. “Do you think you can talk to me?”
An angry frown darkens his face after a flash of confusion. Then, in a loud voice, “Jesus lady, I just wanted to know where the bathroom was.”
“Leave her alone,” one of Papa's bodyguards shouts, coming out of the meeting room. “It's in there.”
“Fuck, was just asking.” He looks at the guard, then right at me. “Thanks.”
I don't risk an answer, just get a last glance at him before he opens the door. The bodyguard, Little Tony, called that because he's anything but, nods at me. “Sorry, Alessa. I should've stayed closer to him.”
With a little dismissive wave, I shake my head. “Don't worry about it. I'm fine.”
Then I get the heck out of there. Viking knows to watch out. Hopefully, that means they'll get home safely. And equally hopefully, Dario doesn't find out that it was me who tipped them off.
I might never be safe enough to tell the guys about the baby, but I can at least make myself feel better about it by saving them. Hopefully. And maybe someday, when little Isabella is older, there'll be an opportunity for her to connect with her dad
Whichever one of them it turns out to be.
5
BEAR
“All right, remember what Alessa said. Keep your eyes open, guys,” grumbles Viking as we prepare to leave.
Eagle-eye throws his leg over his bike and pushes it off the kickstand. “You sure we can trust her?” he asks.
Viking nods. “I believe her.”
“She's a mob girl,” says Blade, resting one hand on the handlebar and the other on the eight inch knife he's always got in his belt. He earned his nickname for a reason. “Maybe she's setting us up for a trap. Trap within the trap, if you read me.”
A moment of doubt flashes over Viking's face and he looks at me. “Bear, what do you think?”
“I think you've got a soft spot for a hot piece of ass, just like me,” I say with a grin. “But I think you're right. We all saw her face when she recognized us. If they're planning on taking us out, she’s not part of it. Besides, putting us on guard doesn't make sense. Too complicated.”
“Or maybe that's what they want us to think,” says Snark. He shrugs.
Ripper rolls his thick shoulders. He's missing a hand, but that doesn't make him any less dangerous. If anything, it leads opponents to underestimate him. “My gut says that it's legit. Bear's right. Too many moving parts otherwise. And does it really hurt to take precautions? If we take the scenic route, all we have to lose is a little time.”
Hawk's eyes have narrowed to dark slits. “They come, we take 'em down.”
Grumbles all around agree.
Eagle-eye fires up his bike, after a suspicious glance at the Giordano Tower. “We ride evasive,” he says, ending the discussion, then nods at the gate. One by one the bikes start up, and we roll. The echo follows us out of the plaza.
Viking waves to Hawk. “Take the lead. You know these streets best.” Hawk acknowledges with a nod.
We ride straight for a single block, King and his boys with Eagle-eye, and Hawk leading our crew. At the first intersection we split off into two groups and Hawk opens the throttle. The roar of eight bikes fills the streets.
A moment later, a small fleet of black SUVs tear out from the route we'd intended to take. They were fucking waiting for us. Our little Mafia angel was good on her word.
I signal forward, and within moments even Hawk up front knows we've got a vicious tail. My urge is to slow down and take them on, but there's too many. Fuck, four cars? Five? It's hard to tell since the street's not wide enough to make room for all of them. It's a sign of how thoroughly they own this part of the city if they're willing to do this in broad daylight.