Saved Mafia Bride by Mae Doyle

Gavin

Ithrow the lock on the door and then turn and run back into the house, pulling my gun from my hip as I do. The sound came from the back of the house, which means that the person isn’t in my bedroom yet.

Probably.

Even if they were, I doubt that they’d be able to figure out that that’s where I have Clara stashed. The closet is a great hiding place and the locks on it ensure that nobody will be able to break in and get her out.

Turning into the hall, I slow down, my heart slamming in my chest as I lower into a crouch. I wish that my brothers were here to help out with this but it’s not like I can press pause and call them. No, I have to figure this out on my own and kill whoever thought that it was a good fucking idea to break into my house.

Someone’s in the guest room up ahead of me. I can hear them moving around in there, obviously trying to be quiet, but failing. Quickly, I step into a doorway and press myself up against the frame. It’s so quiet right now that my ears hurt from straining in the silence but I don’t move.

Whoever is in that room will come out eventually and I’m going to be standing right here waiting for them. There’s no way in hell that I’m going to let them get across the hall and to my bedroom.

A shadow falls in the hall from the guest room door and I raise my gun, making sure that I’m as hidden as possible. The person is being careful, moving so slowly that I wouldn’t be able to them it if I didn’t have my eyes locked on them.

I see the toe of a shoe, then they pause.

A bit more of their legs. Pause.

Now their torso.

Pause.

I know what they’re doing because it’s the same thing that I am—trying their best to move quietly into the hall so that they can keep an ear out for where I am. I’m sure that they’re wondering why the woman at the door isn’t talking any longer. They want to know if I’m in the house or if I’m outside.

Then they make their big mistake.

It’s such a smooth movement that I don’t react at first, but then I realize what’s happening and I pull the trigger.

I swear, it sounds like someone set a bomb off in the house. The person drops immediately, the gun in their hand flying across the wood floor and disappearing in my bedroom.

I want to run to them and flip them over so I can look at them, but I don’t move. I’ve never heard of this Peter asshole before, but I sincerely doubt that he’d be the one to show up here at my house. I also doubt that there’s just one man in my house looking for Clara.

There’s probably more. If not in the house, then surrounding it.

Silently, I pull my phone from my pocket and fire off a text to my brothers. We all have certain ones texts in our phones so that we can reach out to each other and get help when we need it without having to fumble with the keypad. They don’t respond, but they don’t have to.

I know that they’re on their way.

Seconds click by but I still don’t move. Those seconds morph into minutes but I’m as still as I can possibly be, not wanting to make a wrong move and draw attention to myself.

By now, my brothers should be here. They’ll have parked at the property behind my house and come in through the woods. They’ll be circling the property, looking for anything that might be out of the ordinary or might be a threat.

I don’t move. My muscles scream for me to relax but I can’t. Not until I hear from them and know that everything is clear. Not until I know for sure that the asshole I shot was the only person who made it into the house.

Even as I stand silent, though, all I can think about is Clara.

She might have heard the shot. I don’t know if she would have, since I had that room specially designed for moments like this, but if she was really quiet and if she was sitting really still then there’s a possibility that she heard it.

Which means that she’s probably freaking out.

“Clear!” Freddys’ voice rips through my thoughts and I move, slipping my gun back into my holster and running down the hall. I pass the body on the floor, right now not caring who it is. All I care about it making sure that Clara is okay.

My fingers fumbled with the key but I unlock the door and throw it open. “Clara?” When she doesn’t answer, I grab a flashlight from my beside table and click it on, entering the closet to look for her.

She’s easy to find, even though it’s not like there are many hiding places here for her to curl up in. She’s on the floor, hugging her knees to her chest, rocking back and forth a little bit.

“Clara.” Dropping down next to her, I reach out and touch her head, making her gasp and look up at me. Her face is streaked with tears and her eyes are red and puffy like she’s been crying for a while. “Are you hurt?”

Shaking her head, she reaches for me and I pull her up, wrapping my arms around her. She whimpers a little bit and I have my answer about whether or not she could hear a gunshot from inside the closet.

“Hey, you’re okay,” I tell her, kissing her on the forehead and stepping back a little bit so that I can look at her. I need to get her out of the closet and into my bedroom so I can really check her over and make sure that she didn’t get hurt in there, but I really think that she’s just scared.

“There was a shot,” she finally manages. She’s gulping down air like she’s unable to get enough to breathe and I lead her out of the closet into my room. “Someone got shot.”

“It wasn’t me,” I tell her. “It was someone who was going to take you back to Nick.”

Her eyes widen and she shakes her head. “No,” she whispers. “You can’t let them take me back to him, okay? Gavin, I’m serious, I can’t go back to him.”

She’s suddenly terrified and I scoop her up, holding her tight against my chest as I carry her to the kitchen. She has her face buried in my shoulder and doesn’t look down when we pass Sean and Freddy in the hall. Freddy’s already on the phone with the cleanup crew, but Sean follows me into the kitchen.

“She okay?” He asks, gesturing at Clara. She’s leaning on the counter, her arms crossed on her stomach, her eyes unfocused as she stares at me.

“She will be.” I put a kettle of water on for tea and then pull her to me, holding her tight so that I can comfort her while talking to my brother. “Was it Peter?”

“Nope. Probably just a little shithead of his who wanted to run around and play army with the big guys. He had a phone with him, though, and Freddy’s going to go through it and find out anything that will help us.” He pauses and I know that he’s going to tell me something I already know, but he’s just preparing himself to do it.

So I beat him to the punch. “We can’t stay here,” I say, and he exhales, nodding. “I have to get her out of here so that I can keep her safe. How’s the safe house coming?”

We never really saw the need for a safe house until we started working with the Bonanno and the Accardi men. Only after seeing how they pissed everyone off and how that anger could flow back to us did we decide that making a safe house was a good idea. Of course, it’s a recent idea, which is why I’m not surprised with Sean’s answer.

“It’s not done yet.”

“Okay. I’m assuming that staying with you is out.” Sean would do anything for me, I know that, but there’s one line that we can’t cross, one line that I wouldn’t ask him to. If I stepped foot in his house right now with Clara in tow then I’d be bringing a hell of a lot of unwanted attention on him.

Unwanted attention means unwanted visitors, and they often come bearing bullets as gifts.

“You know that I’ll help out however I can, but my house is off-limits for shit like this.”

“You have to think of Sara. Don’t worry, I get it.” Sean does a really great job keeping his personal and work lives separate, and there’s one reason why he has to.

She’s blonde, with big blue eyes, and has him wrapped around his little finger. None of us ever expected Sean to be a dad, but four years ago he showed up with a baby in his arms and told us not to ask questions. So we haven’t, but we all love and protect Sara like she belongs to us.

Which is why I can’t take Clara to her house.

The kettle sings and I make Clara a mug of tea, pressing it into her hands. “Drink this,” I tell her, but I don’t let it go until she closes her hands around it and lifts it to her face to breathe in the warm air.

“Where will you go?” Sean asks me, but before I can answer, Freddy does, his voice carrying down the hall.

“He’s coming to my house, obviously. Well, not my house, because I don’t want you two fucking in it, but you can do that shit in the guest house, I guess.” He appears and grins at me, looking happier than someone should look after dealing with a dead body.

“You don’t have to let us move in,” I say, but he flaps his hand at me like he’s waving away my words. “Seriously, Freddy. They’re after Clara and there’s no reason why you should put yourself at risk, too.”

“You mean besides the fact that you’re my brother and you’re head over heels for this girl?” He glances at Clara like he’s trying to convince himself of what he’s saying. “Trust me, I’ve done crazier things before. I’m happy to let you two move in if that means that we can keep you both alive.”

Clara hasn’t said a word this entire time. She’s drinking her tea like I told her to, her eyes flicking back and forth between Freddy and me. It isn’t until I nod an agreement with him that she seems to exhale, her entire body deflating a little bit.