You sure about this?” asks Gino.

My little brother is riding shotgun and we’re parked outside a restaurant on the west end of the city called Camillo’s. I got the call from one of my guys that Ana was seen going inside just half an hour ago.

It was only three days ago that she walked out of Enzo’s house and turned her back on me for her father. I’d never hold that against her. Family is family. But it doesn’t mean I’m going to roll over and let her cut things off. I know that’s not what she wants, even if she’s confused.

“Yes,” I say. “I saw the look on her face when he made her go with him. That wasn’t love. She’s afraid of him.”

Gino winces a little. “Kind of a big assumption, man. Most kids are afraid of their parents sometimes. Doesn’t mean they don’t love them.”

I grunt in annoyance. “I’m going to see her. End of story.”

“Fair enough. You want me to come in with you?”

“No. Stay out here and make sure no Torretti guys follow me in.” There haven’t been any openly admitted acts of hostility between the families in years. But a few weeks back, Trenton, one of my guys, disappeared a day before he was set to sign a contract to open up a wing of businesses in a kind of neutral zone between our territory and the Torretti territory. His disappearance didn’t stop the deal from happening, but it sent a message, even if the Torretti weren’t going to own up to it.

They felt threatened by the move, and they wanted us to know they still had teeth.

Of course, my response was to bring in four of their guys and hammer all of their knuckles. My guys wore masks and were told not to say shit, but our message was clear too. We know it was you, and you’d better watch yourselves.

I could’ve ordered one of the men to be killed. Hell, I could’ve done it myself. There might have been a time when I was younger that I wouldn’t have even hesitated. I believed my own bullshit back then. We all lived by a kind of code. Everybody who got into this lifestyle. You knew the risks. You knew the price. I was ready to pay it, so why should I be afraid to collect the fee if somebody needed to disappear?

The memory of gunfire echoes in my head. I see the bright muzzle flash and remember the smell of gunsmoke and the metallic scent of blood that clung to me for what felt like days. Most of all, I remember the emptiness that clawed at my insides after that night and never seemed to stop, like some all-consuming virus that was dissolving me piece by piece until I’d be nothing but a shell of who I was.

All those pieces I thought I’d lost… All the parts of me I thought were long gone like so much dust… I can feel them even now, stirring back to life. I know it’s because of Ana. She’s giving me something to fight for that I care about. A purpose. At least, a purpose beyond the cold, empty thirst for revenge against the Torretti’s I’ve let fuel me all this time.

“Lone wolf,” says Gino, nodding. He pulls out a package of mixed nuts from his back pocket and starts popping them in his mouth with a bored look on his face.

“Didn’t you just eat before we left?” I ask incredulously.

“What, are you worried I’m going to ruin my figure?”

I shake my head in annoyance before getting out of the car and heading inside. The restaurant is dimly lit and cramped with a single rectangular dining room. A young hostess greets me.

“How many in your party, sir?”

“Just one.”

She walks me toward the back of the dining area, bringing me past a table where Ana sits with the two beefheads I saw following her back at the coffee shop before I took her to the movies a few days ago.

I only catch a glimpse of her, but a few days apart makes her look all the more irresistible. She’s sadly prodding at her plate of spaghetti when her big eyes lift to take me in. She does a double take when she realizes it’s me.

“Where’s the bathroom?” I ask the hostess loudly enough for Ana to hear as we pass.

“It’s just back here,” she says.

She seats me in the back corner, explains the specials, and then she waits a little bit, watching me with a hopeful expression.

“Yes?” I ask.

The hostess pulls at her fingertips and laughs nervously. “You know, I get off in an hour. I just thought since you didn’t have anyone to eat with that maybe you—”

“Sorry,” I say. “I’m here for someone.”

She looks embarrassed, then hurries off. I immediately stand to head toward the restrooms.

I wait outside for a while until Ana comes around the corner, looking confused. “What are you doing?” she whispers. “I only have a few minutes before they get suspicious.”

“They follow you all day?” I ask.

“What?” she asks, then she seems to understand why I’m asking and frowns in thought. “Not when I’m at class. I have Philosophy, Psychology, and Sociology all in the same building from four to seven thirty every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. But—”

“Perfect,” I say.

“No. It’s not perfect.” She takes a quick look around the corner and then focuses on me again, looking irritated. “I have an idea of what you’re thinking, and no. I can’t just ditch my classes. I have tests to study for, grades to worry about, and my future to think of. Besides, my—” she swallows, looking away suddenly and clearing her throat. “Look. It would be better if you just left. For both of us.”

I grit my teeth. “No,” I say in as measured a voice as I can. “No, it wouldn’t. And you know it.”

Tears well in her eyes as she shakes her head. “Do you know what he’ll do? Do you even have any idea? He said he’d gun down every last Luciani in cold blood if we kept this up. He’ll start a war over this. I know my father well enough to know he means it. He’ll do it, Angelo.”

“There’s no cost too high,” I say.

“You don’t mean that. Your brothers. Your friends. Your sister-in-law. They’d all be at risk. And for what? Love? Is that even the end-game here? Or is this just about lust and—and fucking?” The tears are sliding down her cheeks now, dripping to the carpet below.

“It’s more than fucking, Ana. I care about you. I—”

I hear two sets of heavy footsteps approaching. “Anabella?” asks a deep voice. “You fall in?”

“Forget about me,” she says quickly, dashing away her tears. “Please. Just forget you ever knew me.”

Without giving me a chance to respond, she walks around the corner, leaving me standing there with clenched fists and the taste of acid in my mouth.

“Sorry,” she says lightly from just around the corner. “You two are so paranoid.”

“You would be too if you worked for your father,” says one of the men.

I lean my forehead against the wall and close my eyes. No matter what I said, she’s right. I can’t risk the lives of everyone I care about for my own selfish desires to be with her. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself, no matter how badly I want her. I can’t even kill Rosiano Torretti to solve my problems, because I’d be killing Ana’s father.

Fuck.

I run a hand through my hair, trying desperately to think of a way out of this and coming up completely short. I refuse to believe it ends here, but for the moment, I don’t have any ideas.