Page 97 of Claiming the Mafia Queen

But I have to.

More than he’s already been hurt.

I cock my arm back and nail him in the face. “I said let’s go!”

I chuck him up and onto my shoulder. “I’ll carry you like a baby if I have to!”

There’s not a clear path to escape, but I have to get him out of here. If not for him, and the rest of those assholes, then for Aria…

“Fire!!” I hear men yell out just on the other side of the beams, and I wonder if they’ve just come to. Because,no shit there’s fire…

A violent whoosh roars down the hall. It’s spreading. It’s growing.

“Shit!”

I hold onto him tightly as he lays unconscious again over my shoulder.

I need to get him to safety.

Outside…

And then I have to come back for Aria

I have to get her out.

“Lu!” I scream out, climbing over the beams. “Help me get him out of here!”

A lot of the men are fine. They’re retreating. All a little worse for wear, but most of them alive…

I would venture to say almost all of them…

Luigi and Frankie both hold their arms up, trying to avoid the flaming debris falling from the ceiling, and rush toward us. I maneuver through beams and glass, climbing with the unconscious man over my shoulder. He’s solid. A lot more solid than he looks.

My foot slips on the beam and I crash down against it, roughly. I feel the sharp metal gash at my leg. “Goddammit!” My other hand stays latched under my arm, hoisting Alessandro to his feet. “Just keep moving!” I shout, as he nods awake. “Get over to them!”

“Look out!” Alessandro screams, shoving me over, as another explosion sounds.

What the hell keeps going off?!

This one was smaller, but I’m not sure how many more we can live through.

Alessandro’s hand extends to me, and I grab it. He’s pulling me up and I look, breathlessly at Luigi who’s clutching Alessandro’s shoulder. “We have to go…”

“I’m not leaving without my mom!” He screams.

“You’re getting out of here!” I command.

He shakes his head again. “I’m not leaving without my mom!”

“You have to think about the rest of the family, too!” Luigi snaps, pulling Alessandro to look him in the face. “You’re not the Boss yet, but you will be one day and this is your family! All of them! Not just her!”

He stares at him for a moment. I can tell he has a heavy heart. I can tell he’s confused. It’s hard to put yourself in that mentality. It’s hard to look at all of them as your family when you’re a kid and you’ve been through what he has.

“She’s this way…” I yell out to Frankie as Luigi pulls Alessandro away from the beams. “I have to go back…”

He nods, his face covered in sweat and blood. “You’re sure?”

“I’m sure,” I say, completely over exerted. “I just lost her in the chaos…”

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