I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed Bat’s number, keeping my gun pointed at Gino. He answered on the first ring.

“What’s up, Dante?”

“I’ve got a situation here at the clubhouse. I need you guys to get out here soon as possible.”

“What’s going on?”

“One of the Godz is tied up in my living room. Pretty sure where there’s smoke, there’s fire, you know what I’m saying? Gotta be more on the way.”

“Yeah, alright. I’ll call the guys.”

“You find out anything?” I asked.

“Word on the street is that Loprinzi’s freaking out. Apparently, he’s been in hiding because the Feds are after him. Donny said he was wanted for questioning in a murder, but nobody knows where he is. They’ve been looking for him for weeks, and now that his daughter is missing, he’s come out of hiding. Mickey Two Suits told Fat Paulie’s cousin, you know that blonde bitch, Crazy Linda? Well, she told my sister Kathy that Loprinzi don’t trust any of his guys to find his daughter, so he’s looking for her himself. I don’t know. Looks serious, though. He ain’t fuckin’ around, Dante.”

“Yeah, I hear ya,” I replied. “Call the guys. Get here as fast as you can.”

“Will do,” he said.

“What did he say?” Gabby asked.

“Nothing surprising. Your dad’s out looking for you.”

“You think you can hide out here? People talk. The Godz are coming for you. The mob’s coming for you,” Gino sneered, his ugly face even uglier when he talked. “Even the cops are —,” Gabby stuffed a kitchen towel in his mouth and I raised an eyebrow at her in surprise.

Once again, I was impressed with her. She was tough.

“I can’t listen to him! What else did Bat’s say?”

“That’s all, babe,” I pulled her into my arms. “We already knew everyone was looking for us. Everything’s going to be okay.” She was shaking and I pulled her close, inhaling the scent of her hair, feeling the warmth of her body next to mine. I looked over at the asshole tied to the chair and wished like hell he wasn’t here, because more than anything I wanted to take her back to bed once again, to make her forget, to make myself forget.

“What do we do now?” she whispered, looking up at me with her big green eyes. My heart sank that I didn’t have a better answer for her. I knew she wanted a plan. A way out.

“We wait.”

“Fuck,” she whispered. I pulled her closer, comforting her the only way I knew how - physically.

As soon as the guys got here and updated me on what was going on out there, I’d know what steps to take. Gio’s Ma had a cabin in upstate New York we could go to if we needed to get farther away. Judging by the dude tied up in my living room, I’d say that was a big possibility. I wasn’t so naive to think there weren’t more following him. In fact, they could be right outside this very minute, just waiting by the door for me to slip up, to be weak, to hesitate.

I wasn’t about to lose my focus. Not when it came to Gabby’s safety.

The faint sound of an approaching bike made my heart skip a beat. It could be more Iron Godz or it could be one of my guys, fifty/fifty.

“Go in the bedroom,” I said to Gabby, pushing her behind me and taking the safety off my gun.

The bike was close now, just around the bend by my judgment. Gabby hesitated, but she walked into the bedroom and closed the door. I took a deep breath and walked towards the front door.

When I saw Romeo round the corner, with someone on the back of his bike, I exhaled with relief and put my gun away.

He pulled up beside me, cutting his engine and taking off his helmet as he waited for the person behind him to get off. When her helmet came off, her long black hair falling around her shoulders, I gasped. She looked a lot like Gabby.

“Who’s this?” I asked. She raked her gaze across my body quickly, then scanned the area around her in one fell swoop of her big brown eyes.

“Where is she?” she demanded, her Brooklyn accent was unmistakeable.

“Who the fuck is this Romeo?” I asked, irritated that I had to ask twice.

“Gabby’s roommate, Bella. She was asking questions. A lot of questions - back at Otto’s.”

“Why’d you bring her here?” I asked.

“Where the fuck is Gabby? Gabby!” she yelled at the top of her lungs, her high-pitched scream piercing my ears.

“Shut the fuck up!” Romeo barked.

“We got a situation,” I said, gesturing towards the cabin. “Inside.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah. Gonna need your help with that.”

“Gaaaaabbbbby!” Bella yelled even louder this time. Romeo grabbed her arm, and pulled her close, whispering in her ear.

“I said, shut the fuck up!”

“Just fucking take me to Gabby. That’s what you said you’d do!” she seethed, straining to get out of his grip.

“Dante, man, I didn’t know she was such a fuckin’ firecracker. You want me to take her back? I thought maybe she could help us, but I guess I was wrong.”

“Help you do what, you asshole? Kidnap my friend?” she cried.

“We didn’t kidnap your friend!” Romeo said. “She’s fucking fine!”

“I don’t fucking believe you!” she spat. “Gaabbbbbbbbbbriellllllaaaa!!” she screamed, much louder this time.

“What do you want me to do Dante?” Romeo asked.

“Bring her inside,” I said, shaking my head. “But you!” I pointed at her. “Be quiet! We aren’t the fucking bad guys.”

We turned to walk into the cabin and Gabby was standing at the door, her mouth open in shock, her eyes wide with disbelief!

“Bella!” she cried, running into the girl’s arms.