Page 86 of A Madness of Crows

Amie closes her eyes. Nods. “She’s here. She is safe.”

I stumble back from her. Land on my ass, my hands moving to my face.

She’s here.

She is safe.

Caterina’s daughter.Dante’sdaughter.

Three months of selling my soul, all for this moment.

The air moves beside me, and I glance to Amie. Her face is tight. Drawn. “You’re going to get her out. Right?”

I only nod, my throat tight. “I made a promise that I would.”

I promised Caterina that I would bring her daughter home.

And I failed her.

Icrawledafter that car, crawled to try and reach Alessia even after the miles stretched out between us. And when Gio patched me up, I waited only until my insides weren’t on the verge of falling out to come here. To stroll in, a smile on my lips, as if Matteo hadn’t left me to die on the side of the road. As if it was all an entertaininggame.

Luciano Morelli, the playboy. Here for a good time, not a long time.

For three months, I’ve shredded my soul to pieces almost every fucking night just to watch as Matteo’s eyes slowly shifted from suspicious to entertained at my antics.

The man whore, the one that every girl here fights over.

He has no idea that it’s because I feed them, listen to them and let them sleep, instead of beating them and fucking them like Matteo and his friends.

And now… I finally have a chance at redemption.

“How? How will you get her out?” She grips me, urgency in her eyes.

I run through the questions I’ve been saving for this moment. “Who takes care of her?”

She offers me the saddest smile I’ve ever seen. “I do. She’s fine, Luc. I swear it. He hasn’t touched her. He doesn’t bother with her at all, really.”

So much pain on her face. As if maybe Alessia is the one good thing she has.

We take up our places on the end of the bed, our whispers almost silent as we discuss the best way to get her out.

Matteo will not just let me walk out with Alessia in my arms. There are soldiers watching the stairs, the entrance. Three months, just to getupstairs.

Amie picks at a loose thread of cotton on the bed. “There is a tunnel. Cat and I used to play in it, when we were young. It runs from the main suite to the kitchen. I doubt Matteo even knows it’s there.”

I think it over. “That could work. The kitchen staff?”

She shakes her head. “Most of them are gone. Dead, or they ran. Only Fernandez and a few of the maids are still around. Fernandez – I think he may be loyal to Cat. He’s the one who arranges what I need for Alessia.”

So many loose ends. So much that could go wrong.

“His birthday.” Amie keeps picking, dragging that thread loose until the bedding begins to unravel beneath her shaking fingers. “He’ll be too drunk to notice. You can take her then, if you can get to the kitchen. I’ll bring her to you. They have their own exit, but you’ll need to make sure the way is clear.”

A week from today. One week, until I can bring her home.

Amie stills when I grasp her hand. I dip my head, making sure she can see my face. “You’re coming with us.”

A shadow across her face. “Cat will not want to see me. My father betrayed Joseph. Betrayed the Cosa Nostra.”