Once we were out in the street, I was pushed into Trace’s arms and heard the click of a gun. Shit.

Turning, I guarded her with my body and looked into the eyes of our captor.

“You should have stayed in Chicago,” Sergio said, his voice sad. “Why, Nixon, is it that you can’t just leave things alone?”

“But you’re a ghost…” Trace’s voice wavered. “You help us!”

Not to mention the fact that he was blood. Did he have a death wish?

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I spat.

Sergio laughed and scratched his head with the tip of his gun. “You mean other than saving your pathetic life?”

“What?”

“Ten,” Sergio said in a cold voice. “Ten men. All with guns trained on you and your little mafia princess.” He licked his lips and closed his eyes, cursing into the night sky. “It’s bad, Nixon.”

“Bad?” Trace repeated.

“How bad?” came another male voice I recognized as Frank’s. Luca stood next to him, his expression grim.

“Bad enough,” Luca muttered, “that one of our ghosts had to come out and play, I imagine.”

“The footage. From the night Chase and Mil were attacked at the hotel.” Sergio shook his head. “There were marks on the insides of those men’s wrists.”

My head snapped up as every nerve twitched with awareness. “What kind of marks?” I glared at his hand. “And put your damn gun away.”

“Oh, sorry.” Sergio put the gun back into his jacket. “I needed to make it look like I was capturing you guys before you got your heads blown into what I can only assume is the worst techno music to ever be produced.”

“Thanks,” I said through clenched teeth. “The marks?”

Sergio clicked through his cell phone pictures and finally settled on one of the bodies; he expanded it until the fuzzy mark came into focus. It looked familiar, like a face I couldn’t quite place it.

“Think hard,” Sergio said. “I’m sure it will come to you.”

“Let me see.” Luca snatched the phone and then did something I’d never seen him do in my entire life. He showed fear. He handed the phone back to Sergio and looked at me straight in the eyes. “We’re all going to die.”

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Chase

“Hey,” I joked. “These clothes are new. Be careful.” I tried to appear like I didn’t have a clue in hell why we were getting escorted out of the club at gunpoint and into a waiting black Escalade.

“Get in,” the man said gruffly, shoving me against the car before opening the door and pushing both me and Mil inside. I stumbled over her and let out a loud laugh. I figured the more I played the stupid role the easier it would be for me to snap his neck and get Mil the hell away.

“You’ve grown,” came a gravelly feminine voice.

“Tanya?” Mil said surprised. “Was this necessary?”

“Keeping you alive?” Her laugh was evil. It sounded like something out of a horror story, as if someone had crushed her voice box and then played Frankenstein with it, putting it back together but completely tattered. “I believe so.”

I swallowed. Her face was covered in moonlight. She shifted in her seat, and I got a brief glimpse of cold grey eyes and salt-and-pepper hair. The car didn’t move. So clearly we were doing this little meeting on the street as if that was safe.

“This must be Chase?”

“It is.” My teeth ground together.

“Handsome.”

“I’d like to think so.” I smiled tensely.

“And he has a sense of humor.”

I almost lunged for her right then and there.

“My mom’s dead,” Mil said in a cold voice. “So unless you have some helpful information, we’re done.”

Tanya sighed. “It was you who contacted me. Not the other way around. I can only answer what you ask.” She hesitated. “You’ve changed.” Tanya’s voice dripped with sadness. What? The bitch suddenly developed a heart? “I’d always wondered what happened to you after—”

“After?” I asked quickly.

“After she was beaten by her father.”

“You knew?”

Mil lunged across the seat, but I grabbed her, pulling her back into my arms.

“In those days? We all knew the workings of your father, Emiliana. We simply turned the other way when things became too ugly. Not all of us, mind you, but most of us.”

“And my mother?” Mil asked quietly.

“Wrong place, wrong time,” Tanya said sadly. “I was supposed to be in that hotel room as well. Your mother and I were meeting an hour before to order room service and catch up. I walked as far as the elevator and happened to break part of my heel. I bent down to grab the damn thing, looked up, and came face-to-face with three men in suits, nice shoes — Italian, of course — all getting on the same elevator.”

“Why didn’t you call her? Why didn’t you warn her?”

“Because I’m selfish,” Tanya said quickly. “Because one phone call meant both our deaths.” She sniffled. “I walked away. Within fifty minutes, I heard the explosion and knew… I knew he’d gotten to her.”

“He?”

“Aw…” Tanya reached into her purse and pulled out a cigarette. “You mean to tell me you still don’t know?”

“Know what?” Mil shouted.

I gripped her hand. Hard.

“I wonder…” Tanya took a long drag, “…if repressed memories can cause a person to go insane. Chase?” She eyed me coolly. “What do you think? Should I tell her?”

I assessed her from head to toe. “If you don’t, I’ll cut out your tongue and feed it to your favorite bodyguard, so sure, I’d start talking.”

“I like him.” She turned away from me and tilted her head, as if she had nothing but pity for Mil. “My dear, your father marked you.”

“I know.” Mil rubbed her scar and leaned further into me.

“You’ve been on borrowed time since you were fourteen, and he’s finally called up his marker. After all, he paid two million dollars for you, and we all know what happens when a debt hasn’t been paid.”

Mil squirmed in her seat. “But why now?”

“Because now you have what he wants.”

“A husband?”

Tanya’s eyes turned into tiny slits. “No. You have leadership of the De Langes. You’re the boss of the family he’s been wanting to keep quiet for over twenty years. After all, they know all his secrets, and it’s only a matter of time before you do too.” She shrugged. “Besides, you also have three mafia bosses at your fingertips. Tell me, will they come for you? Will little Chase fight your battles? Will Nixon fall all over himself to protect his own family?”

“No.” Mil shook her head. “They couldn’t care less about me. It’s a business arrangement, that’s all.”

“Really?”

Mil nodded.

Tanya lunged for her, but I was quicker. I kneed Tanya in the chest, caught her in the mouth with my elbow, pulled out my gun, and held it to her head.

Blood spewed from her mouth. “Go ahead. He’s just going to kill me anyway.”

I slammed her head back against the seat. Her hand came up and gripped my wrist, and that’s when I saw it.

The exact same mark that was on Mil’s wrist.

“So,” Tanya sputtered, blood caking her teeth from my hit. “Now you know.”

“Chase?” Mil asked.

“We need to go now.” I jerked away from Tanya and grabbed Mil’s hand, pulling her out of the car before we could do anything. I was taking her away. I was running. Because no place in the freaking United States would be safe for her. Not now, not for any of us.

The dry desert air hit me in the face as I jerked Mil toward my body with one arm and shot the bodyguard in the chest. No loose ends.

Mil gasped, probably horrified that I could be so cold, but it didn’t matter. I didn’t even hesitate, because it wasn’t my life hanging in the balance. It was hers, and suddenly, every single puzzle piece finally fused together. My time with Mil, our past, our history, our marriage — it had all led to this. Even things with Trace. Had I met Mil all over again and hadn’t had my heart stomped on, I wouldn’t have treasured her as much as I did now.