By Fate I Conquer (Sins of the Fathers #4)(57)

I trusted Nino’s judgment on principal but what he suggested was so horrible I couldn’t, I didn’t want to believe it to be true.

A soft beep drew my attention back into my room. I moved to my nightstand where I’d left my cell, my eyes growing in surprise when I saw a message from an unknown number.

I clicked on it.

Leave the hotel now, Greta.

My heart sank and I whirled around, rushing back into the living area. Without Nino’s words, I might have thought this was Amo trying to meet me in secret, but I knew this was a very different message. It was from Amo, but he was trying to warn me. My instinct left no other conclusion.

Dad took a look at my face and strode over to me. I handed him the phone. “Get every gun! Wake everyone!”

Dad stormed into his and Mom’s bedroom, rousing her. Seconds later, he dragged her out only in her nightgown. A minute later, we were rushing down the staircase to the underground garage. Dad refused to take the elevator.

When we reached the garage, the lights went out.

“Damn it!” Dad snarled, his grip on my arm tightening. In the dark, we stumbled toward our cars. Mom, I and Kiara huddled in the backseat with Dad and Nino in the front. Fabiano and Adamo were in the other car with Aurora, Leona and Dinara. The car’s engine roared to live and we jerked forward. Dad held toward the rolling gate with full speed. “Down!” Nino ordered, and we ducked our heads. Mom wrapped her arms around my body, shielding me. An ear-splitting bang sounded as we crashed through the gate. I whimpered, my heartbeat fluttering in my chest.

Soon gunshots rang out and Mom’s arms around me tightened even more. Kiara shielded me from the other side, not letting me get up. I didn’t want them to risk their lives for me. Several bumps and turns threw us around on the backseat until I lost every sense of up and down.

Suddenly we began spinning and the car jolted to the side, then crashed against something that made a metallic sound. My head collided with Kiara’s and everything turned black.




Gunshots woke me. I opened my eyes, despite the sharp pain in my head. I was still on the backseat. But Mom was no longer beside me. Only Kiara was cradling her head, blood covering her face. My own skin was slick with blood as well.

“Damn it!” Mom whispered, hitting the steering wheel.

“It’s too damaged,” Kiara said in a quiet voice.

Mom looked over her back, at me, then at something behind us. Fear filled her face. She turned the keys again and the car let out a stutter. “We have to run to the other car. It’s not too far.”

I straightened and looked through the rear window, and found Dad, Nino, Adamo and Fabiano in a shooting match with Amo, his father and several other Famiglia men.

My heart slammed against my ribcage as I climbed out of the car.

“Greta!” Kiara shouted, but I didn’t listen.

I stepped out behind the car.

Amo spotted me first and froze. He and the other Famiglia men were shielded by two cars, while my family hid behind an overturned van.

All this because of us? Because we shared a bond that could not be?

The expressions on the face on both sides didn’t give me hope. Only death for the other side was the goal. Maybe torture first.

We were in an industrial harbor area, with the black water of the Hudson to our right. In the distance I could see more cars approaching, black limousines. Probably reinforcement.

“Get back in the car,” Dad shouted.

I only looked at Amo.

“Amo!” His father snarled. Amo’s expression was hard.

Nobody shot at me. Mom grabbed my arm and tugged me away behind a container that our car had rammed.

Soon the Famiglia would outnumber us. Good God. What could I do? Amo would protect me but he’d kill my family. Maybe if I begged him he’d spare them? I felt sick and cold sweat broke on my skin. My head pounded with a fierce headache and my pulse raced too fast, making me dizzy.

A Van barreled toward us and stopped with squealing tires. The sliding doors jerked open and Nevio got out, a woman in his hold and a knife at her throat.

“Stop!” Matteo roared. The Famiglia stopped firing and so did my family. Dad’s expression told me he hadn’t known Nevio was here.

“Surprise, motherfuckers,” Nevio shouted with a wide grin, dragging the woman along as he walked toward Dad, Nino, Fabiano and Adamo. After him, Massimo jumped out, and then Alessio, a teenage girl in his hold. I recognized them as Matteo’s wife and daughter from the wedding today.

“If you touched a single hair on their heads, I’m going to make you regret the day you were born,” Matteo growled.

Nevio flashed his teeth at him and provocatively pressed his palm to the woman’s red hair. She tried to escape his grip but he pushed the knife against her throat as a warning once more. “I don’t regret anything yet.”

“Isabella, Gianna, are you okay?” Amo called.

Gianna was in Nevio’s hold and she had a bruise on her cheek.

Matteo stormed forward but Luca caught him by the arm and jerked him back. “The fucker hit you!”

“I’m afraid that’s not true,” Nevio said as he stopped beside Dad, who glanced between Gianna and Nevio with a hint of excitement. Nevio shrugged, grinning at Dad. “Sorry, Dad. I disobeyed, but I simply couldn’t resist ruining a wedding. If I’d known it would come to this…” He chuckled and exchanged a look with Massimo and Alessio, looking like this was the greatest night of his life.