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My dad nods, licking his bloody lip. “I hear you, Mister Lucrazi.”

“Good. C’mon,Groundhog, let’s go. Give this piece of shit room to breathe for his last hours. Hah.” There’s rage in his laugh. “You better get my brother back walking the street, Rocco.” Sonny turns at our front door with his hand on the knob. “Or I’m going to be the last thing you see.”

Chapter 2

Cipriana

Once the Lucrazis leave our house, I run over to triple lock the door, then sprint to my dad still wiping his mouth free of blood.

“You okay?” my voice tremors. “What’d they do to you?”

He swallows hard. “Water, hunnie.”

I rush into the kitchen to fill a glass and yank a roll of paper towels with me before rushing back to Dad. “Drink.” Holding the cup up to his swollen mouth scares me. I’ve never seen him so vulnerable. He’s quick on his feet though, I have to say. “Dad. That appeals shtick.” I shake my head.

He nods. “I knew I raised a smart girl. It was to buy us time, at least to get you somewhere safe.”

I hug him around his big belly. “I’m not going anywhere without you. You’re all I have.”

“Capri…”

“Don’t give me that.” I wipe up the blood on his face.

“Listen very carefully. The five families only protect their own. I’m not a made man or anything like that. I’m just an outside constituent.”

“Who’s kept more guilty jerkoffs out of jail than I can count.”

“And who’s been made a rich man because of it. It’s business, hunnie.” He coughs again. “Now, here’s what I’m going to do. Out of all my cases, there was one I had to work a particular type of miracle. Stanzo DeMatteo.” He swallows more blood.

I remember that case – the man was facing multiple life sentences for drowning over twenty organized crime affiliates. But the jackass FBI attorney confiscated private invasivesurveillance – sound and all – without the express consent of the property owner. So… guess who figured out where to find that owner and have a nice conversation with him? My scheming father.

“Get my phone. He’s our only shot.”

“The dude is like eighty now, Dad. And not the godfather type eighty. He’s an old hitman. What’s he going to do, throw his dentures at them? Seriously, think about who just came after us. That Groundhog guy is freakin’ terrifying.”

“He’s sixty-eight.” Dad laughs in disbelief. “Where’s your manners for the elderly?”

“I’m trying to stayalive,Dad. Why don’t we call the don? He can fix this up.”

He shakes his head. “No family is going to go to war over me. But maybe… it’s a longshot, but maybe I can appeal to this mobster’s honor.”

“That sounds like an oxymoron. How about, let’s not and say we did?” I rub his back. “Let’s dump your pretty Porsche, buy a Toyota, and drive across the country.”

He stares at me with sadness in his eyes. “Now that we’re targeted, Capri, it’s over. There’s probably a car across the street waiting for us to try. And anywhere we go, Sonny will follow. Because as he sees it – his brother is in jail because of me.”

My hands ball into fists. How could everything have fallen apart so fast? How did this even happen? He’s supposed to be the best criminal lawyer there is.

“The clock’s ticking, hun.”

My lips fold into a line as I get up to grab his phone. “Stanzo… Stanzo…” I scroll the ‘S’ section in his contacts, then through the ‘D’s.

“He’s under G for Glove.” Dad holds a paper towel and ice over his lip as he starts waddling around.

“I don’t even want to know.” I wrinkle my nose and put the phone on speaker. If I were Stanzo, I wouldn’t even pick up Dad’s call. He’s radioactive in the mafia world now. He has to be. National TV, social media, this case is going to be everywhere.

“Hello?”a deep voice picks up.“Never been called by a ghost before.”

That line sends a shiver down my back.