Page 81 of Savage Claim

Cristian winced, but still, he reiterated that he couldn’t help. “Why did you come to me?” he demanded. “Out of all the people you could have turned to.”

“Because you’re the only one who understands,” I said. “You were born into the Cosa Nostra, but you also gotout. You’ve seen life on both sides; you have to understand how jarring it is to be shoved into this life.”

Cristian sighed and nodded. “It’s a lot for anyone to handle,” he agreed.

“It’s like tripping into a minefield,” I pushed. “You’re never really sure that something isn’t going to blow up in your face. I’m adjusting to that feeling, but Gemma never will. She’s too soft; she won’t survive.”

Cristian was quiet for a moment. It seemed to stretch on for years. “You’re asking me to betray my brother.”

“I know,” I said, pleading with him. “Believe me, if I thought I could do this on my own, I would. I know what helping me would cost you, but Icannotdo this on my own, so I’m asking you to help me save my sister.”

If he said no, I would have to find a way to get Gemma out of the house on my own. That would mean telling her what was goingon before leaving, and I wasn’t sure if she was self-aware enough to be quiet and do what I said. My heart started to race, and that set the baby off. He squirmed and wiggled, unhappy with the adrenaline spiking through both of us.

“Maybe I could talk to Lorenzo,” Cristian offered. “He listens to me.”

If this were any other situation, I would agree with him. Lorenzo respected Cristian’s opinions more than anyone; if Cristian gave his older brother explicit advice on something, he’d usually listen. But not about this.

This kind of betrayal wasn’t something easily forgiven or forgotten.

What am I thinking?I shouldn’t have come up here. I shouldn’t have put Cristian in an impossible situation. “I’m sorry,” I told him. “I’m sorry. I should have never?—”

“I’ll help.”

I jerked. “Cristian.” My heart kicked hard against my ribs. “You will? Really?” I felt like I could cry all over again.

He nodded, and then swallowing hard, looked behind him. “Luce mia.”

I heard someone moving behind him, and my heart beat became deafening in my own ears. My stomach dropped to my knees. “Cristian, who—?” Gemma appeared in the gap behind him.

Gemma smacked him, over and over. “You had tothinkabout whether to save my life or not?” she asked through gritted teeth. “After what I just let you do? I thought you were a good guy!” Her voice rose, and it echoed around us, and everything inside of me froze.

CHAPTER 53

Isabella

Cristian clapped his hand over Gemma’s mouth. She stared at him, wide-eyed, and he brought his free finger up to his lips in a “shh” gesture. He looked at me, and I thought about punching him. “She’s like a child, huh?” I hissed at him.

His eyes were pained. “It just happened,” he tried to explain.

Gemma said something behind his hand, but neither of us paid attention to her. “Did thisjusthappen? Or has it been happening for a while?” Guilt morphed his features, and I didn’t need to know the answer. Lorenzo had been spot-on when he called them out in the kitchen: even if they hadn’t started having sex then, it wasn’t much longer beyond that when they did. “Never mind,” I said. “What do we do now?”

He took his hand away from Gemma’s mouth, and while she looked like she had swallowed a bug, she didn’t say anything. “I have some money,” he said. “I’ll grab it.” His eyes met mine. “Do you think you can grab a burner phone? He has one in the go-bag in your closet.”

I nodded. “Then what?”

“I’ll get her out to the garage; meet us there.” I nodded, but before I could get moving, Cristian caught my arm. “Move fast and as quietly as possible. If Lorenzo suspects anything…”

He didn’t need to fill in that blank. Lorenzo told me himself what would happen.

We separated, and I walked as quickly as I could back to the second floor. Walking past Lorenzo’s office, I held my breath, listening for any sounds. I could hear him on the phone with someone.

I rushed down the hall and into our bedroom. Cristian said that Lorenzo had a go-bag in our closet, and while I had never seen it, it wasn’t hard to find. The duffel was tucked in the very back; it was filled with clothes, some cash, a gun, and at the very bottom, a burner phone and a small, round, metal disk. It looked a little like an air tag. I stared at it for far too long until I shook myself: I needed to get moving.

Going back into the hallway, my breath caught in my chest again. I glanced down the way, towards Lorenzo’s closed office door, and my heart clenched.I’m sorry, I thought, picturing how angry he was going to be when he realized what I’d done.But I can’t let you hurt her.

Grand Central Station was teeming with people, all rushing this way and that to catch their trains. I pushed my way to the ticketing desk for the Metro-North Railroad while Gemma andCristian grabbed some coffee from a stand nearby. I bought tickets for the first train headed out of the state of New York.

Cristian handed me a cup of tea. “I put two sugars in it.”

---