Luca
The house is quiet after Elisa leaves. My sister-in-law couldn’t be more different from my wife. Where Fiorella’s hard as iron, Elisa’s soft and pliant with a really good sense of humor. I can tell they’re extremely close too. Fiorella was constantly lingering protectively close to her sister, which I thought was very interesting, considering she won’t let me do the same for her.
But as night comes and we retreat up to my room for bed, she doesn’t act like she’s going anywhere else. She takes her things into my bathroom, closes the door, and locks it, but at least she’s not hiding out in the guest space. I’m guessing she saw some reason in what I said earlier.
Or she saw something else. Something darker and much less reasonable. Something we should both be trying to avoid.
But before I can find out what she’s thinking, my phone starts ringing. Enzo’s name is on the screen, and if it were anyone else, I’d send them straight to voicemail. “What’s going on?” I say, stepping out of the room and into the hall.
“We’ve got a problem. I got an SOS call from one of our ghost drivers five minutes ago. Davide’s tracking his location now.”
My jaw tightens. Ourghost driversare the less-than-legal employees. “How bad?”
“Can’t say exactly. Only got the SOS message and nothing else.” He quiets for a second. “Shit, just got the text from Davide. Looks like the truck’s about an hour outside of the city.”
“Still moving?”
“Looks like it’s not anymore. Either that or the GPS was ripped out and tossed.”
“Where are you? I’ll pick you up.”
“I’m heading to the depot. Meet me there. We’ll grab some gear and head out.”
“You call the others?”
“Stefano and Leo are already on the way.”
“Good man. See you soon.”
I hang up the phone. The shower’s running in the bathroom. A sick part of me wants to kick that door down and claim my wife’s beautiful little body. Adrenaline’s rushing through me, and I know that’s just the excitement talking.
But, god, she’s a temptation.
Maybe asking her to sleep in the same bed was a mistake. Maybe keeping doors and halls and space between us was smart. That way, it won’t be easy to completely ruin this tenuous little marriage we’ve got going before it even really starts.
No time for that now. With a frustrated snarl, I grab my gun, tuck it into my waistband, and get the hell out of there.
“Tracking saysit should be straight ahead.” Enzo frowns into the darkness. We’re in my pickup. Stefano and Leo are following close behind in another truck. “But where the fuck are we?”
“Middle of nowhere.” I squint at all the trees bordering the dark road. We’re out past the city, down past the suburbs, right across the Maryland border. Somewhere rural with more cows than people.
“What was he doing, coming down this way?”
“He was headed to Atlanta.” I glance at Enzo, trying to suppress a smile. “Thought you were a master of our routes?”
“Well, someone’s got me doing double duty right now.”
“Great excuse.”
“Fuck off. We both know I run the whole place. Without me—” He trails off as we come around a corner and top a rise. “God damn it.”
Up ahead, the truck is tipped on its side and burning brightly against the deep black night.
I slam on the brakes and jump out. Enzo’s behind me, calling for me to wait, but I’m already running toward the fire, my gun out. I’m not even thinking about danger. All I can see is a problem, and I’m the kind of man that immediately wants to find a solution.
“Slow down, you suicidal bastard,” he says, catching up. He clutches my shoulder, pulling me back.
“Our product’s in there,” I snarl at him. “The driver might be too.”
