Fire Bound (Sea Haven Sisters)(118)

Giacinta. He shook his head and wished for another drink. This wasn’t a limousine. He’d had the interior of the car changed to suit him. He liked having a glass panel to separate him from the driver. He’d also had the car fitted with bulletproof glass. The doors had been reinforced as well. He knew when he took over the Porcelli family there would be many who wouldn’t like him bringing both territories together, so he’d prepared, but he should have added in a bar. He needed a drink… badly.



He looked through the glass partition to the back of Tomasso’s head. He was in his car, driving to the place he thought of as home. Not the house he shared with Angeline and their sons, but the home he’d made for Giacinta. How was it that he’d brought three boys into the world, male children, and none of them had his traits, but Giacinta, a product of his brother and his wife, was everything she should be?



He pressed his fingertips to his temples. He had to quit thinking about her. She had to die. He had no choice. She was too intelligent. He’d sent her to the United States when she was eighteen because he knew she was too smart to stay at home by the sea while he disappeared for weeks at a time – necessary to maintain his life with Angeline and the boys. Once she knew he had a wife, and who his wife was, she would start putting the pieces of the puzzle together and figure it out. She would know what he’d done.



Luigi nearly groaned aloud. That would almost be worse than killing her. He never wanted her to know the truth. He’d made the right decision, but damn, it hurt. Now he had to rebuild, find good soldiers, men who could be loyal and smart, men he could count on. He looked at Tomasso again. He needed more like him. Men who wouldn’t hesitate to pull a trigger. Men who were hungry to have a family.



He’d told Alberto to make it fast. To make certain she didn’t suffer. To bury her on the property where Luigi would care for her. Alberto had disappeared like he would after he took care of business, but when he returned, Luigi was going to ask a lot of questions, make certain he had carried out his orders to the letter. He didn’t want to think Giacinta had suffered.



The car jerked hard, pulling to the right. He gripped the door handle and glared through the glass at Tomasso. Tomasso overcorrected, fighting the car. Obviously something was wrong. Something seemed to have gone wrong with the steering. The car jerked again toward the right. Luigi’s heart accelerated as Tomasso fought that pull. Fought to keep them on the narrow, winding road above the cliff.



The jerk came again, this one much more pronounced, and Luigi’s seat belt tightened almost to the point of pain, cutting into his flesh. Then there was the sound of squealing brakes, the car fishtailed and then slid. More sliding… The sensation was terrible. Slow motion. Off the road. Into the air. Soaring.



Luigi saw the sea rushing at them and had time enough to grip the door. His mind had gone momentarily numb. He couldn’t think what to do, but he knew they were going to impact with the wide extensive turquoise blue surface.



The car hit the water hard, jarring him. It began to slowly sink beneath the surface. He gasped, his mind finally kicking into gear, realizing he was going to drown if he didn’t get out of the car. The accident had happened so fast. One moment he was thinking of her – his beautiful niece – and the next he was fighting for his life.



He couldn’t get the seat belt to loosen. He fought it, but there was no give. The woven strip was so tight he couldn’t get to his knife, just inside his jacket. He looked through the pane of glass to Tomasso. The man was alive, and already on the move. He’d rolled down his window and was making his way out. Luigi could see his legs as they slipped through the car to the water outside.



Relief swept through him. Tomasso would get him out. He tried the seat belt again, but it refused to loosen. The car was filling with water as it sank. Already, the roof was underwater, the car sinking to the bottom as the sea tried to claim them. He had to get out. Soon the interior would be completely filled. Where was Tomasso?

He looked out his window when he caught a glimpse of movement. He froze. Shocked. Tomasso was there. Treading water. Holding on to the side of the car with his gloved hands. Gloved hands. Even as he watched the man, Tomasso reached up and tore off his hair and face. He stuffed both inside a bag he held.



Luigi’s heart nearly stopped. He could hardly believe the evidence of his own eyes. Tomasso had been in his home a month. Over a month. Nearly two. And this? An assassin. There were rumors of course. There always were in his line of business. Even among hit men there were some considered the elite. Luigi knew he was looking at one of those men. Tomasso – or whoever he was – made no move to rise to the surface or swim away. He just stayed there, suspended outside of the car, watching dispassionately as it filled. Making certain of the kill.