My phone started buzzing in my pocket.
Worst timing ever.
The guys knew not to call me right now, which meant it was bad news, bad enough that they’d risk me shooting them for interrupting the best night of my life.
“Shit, I um…” I glanced at my cell. It was Chase. “I have to take this. Hold on.”
“Remember that fan we talked about? And shit hitting it?” Chase chuckled into the cell. “Game over.”
“What?” I barked.
“You planning on meeting with Frank tonight? Because I just got word that two of his armed cars are on their way to your fun little picnic.”
“No. That’s impossible. Not until tomorrow.” I quieted my voice. “Trace was supposed to meet with him tomorrow. It seemed like he was busy tonight and—”
“Busy spying on your sorry ass.” Chase sighed. “Just get back to campus. It could be nothing but—”
“Yeah, but.” I sighed and cursed into the phone then switched to Italian.
“You think he would hurt her?”
“You think he won’t?” Chase countered.
“Lock down. We’ll be there in five minutes. Make sure security at the gate knows, and Chase?”
“Yes, pumpkin?”
“You were right.”
“About?”
“Me being a danger to her.”
“Yeah well… being right doesn’t feel so hot right now. Stay safe.”
“Will do.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
You want me to do what?!
Nixon
“WE HAVE TO GO,” I barked.
“What the heck? No please this time?” Trace teased, lazily picking up her jacket off the ground.
“Not this time.” I dumped everything onto the blanket and quickly stuffed it in the back. “It’s more of an order, as in, get your ass in the car before I do it for you.”
“Wh-what?” Trace’s face went ashen white.
Shit.
“Get. In. The. Damn. Car. Now!” I snapped. My palms started to sweat as I jerked the door open and got in.
Shit.
Sometimes cops were such idiots. Thanks, genius, for just telling everyone within the good ol’ US of A my exact location. Really solid, guy. I should send him a cake or something.
I had two guns with me.
One shotgun under the back seat.
And my trusty old Colt 1911 under my own seat.
“Shit,” I mumbled again. If they trapped us, if we didn’t make it back to campus…
It wasn’t just the Alferos who could be after us, but every other freaking assassin who had a hit out on me or one of my family members. I had enemies — a lot of them. And a lot of them wanted me dead. Most of the time I had protection with me, so this was about to get loads more interesting.
I put the SUV in drive and sped toward campus.
Trace looked out the window, silent, probably confused, pissed. I reached across the console and grabbed her hand.
“Hey…” I squeezed and maintained a calm voice. “…I’m sorry about…” I released her hand and hit the steering wheel. Why couldn’t anything be normal? I’d wanted to be a normal guy for her. Take her on a normal date. Have a normal make-out session where visions of guns and blood didn’t dance through my head. “Damn, I’m just sorry I freaked out. But we needed to get out of there.” Yeah, that wasn’t vague as hell.
“But it’s your property,” she argued in a shaky voice.
“Which the cop had no problem explaining to his other little friends who were out patrolling tonight.” Little friends who worked for other families, who carried out tasks for my enemies, and who would stop at nothing to shoot at me if I was alone.
“Whatever,” Trace grumbled, biting her lip and crossing her arms. “I don’t even know why that matters. Why would you care? It’s not as if they were going to come watch us make out too!”
Her blush was freaking adorable.
I burst out laughing. “I wasn’t worried about them, Trace.” I couldn’t care less if I stripped naked in front of strangers — as long as she was in my arms. I seriously had no shame. I was a Mafia boss. Embarrassment wasn’t an emotion I practiced.
“I don’t understand.”
“Protecting,” I said honestly. “I promised to protect you, right?”
She finally looked at me and nodded.
“So trust me. What I’m doing right now? This is me trying my damnedest to protect you. Okay?”
“Yelling at me and ordering me around is protecting me?”
Well, when she put it that way, I sounded like some grouchy old bastard.
“I said…” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “…I said I was sorry. You’re right. I shouldn’t have been so rude, but we needed to get out of there, like fast.”