By Any Other Name (33 page)

"Don't mention it," Gavin said, waving him off. "That's what family's for, right?"

Matty smiled. "Right."

"Nope… definitely not… no way… ugh, what the fuck is that?"

Genna shifted through the clothes in her closet, shoving hangers aside. A black duffel bag sat on the floor by her bare feet, completely empty. She was supposed to be packing but had no idea what to take. It would help if she knew where they were going, but Matty had given her no clue.

Sighing, Genna kicked the bag aside, discarding it in the corner.
Fuck it
.
Who needs things, anyway
? Slipping on a pair of shoes, she headed back into her bedroom and glanced at the clock.

A few minutes past eight.

Adrenaline, fueled by anticipation, scorched through her veins. She was nothing more than a tangled ball of nerves, so wound tight and jumbled up that she couldn't settle down. Giving up, she strode out of the room and headed downstairs, taking the stairs slowly as she headed toward the dining room. Primo sat in his usual spot at the head of the table, the food in front of him completely untouched. Four empty place settings surrounded him, a sight that made Genna pause to take in.

"Joining me tonight?" Primo asked, his voice emotionless as he picked up his glass of wine and took a sip. "You haven't come down for dinner in days."

"Yeah, I, uh… I thought…" What
was
she thinking? Guilt nagged at her chest, twisting her stomach and taking away the last shred of hunger she had even felt. "Just thought it would be nice to eat together again… you know… like old times."

Unshed tears stung her eyes as she stammered through those words.
Ugh, fucking hormones
. The fact that it could very well be the last time she saw her father—the last time she sat at this table, at this dinner, inside of this house—stirred up a bitter pang of longing inside of her.

"Sit," Primo said, motioning toward her chair before calling for the staff to bring her dinner. They set a plate of pork roast in front of Genna before disappearing back into the kitchen, preparing to leave for the night.

As soon as her plate was in front of her, Primo held his hand out toward her. Carefully, she took it, his strong hand dwarfing hers as he squeezed it, bowing his head to pray. "Forgive us, Father, for our sins," he said. "We thank you for our many blessings."

Genna pulled her hand back away as soon as he let go and grabbed her fork, poking at the food on her plate. It was quiet, neither of them eating. It was bittersweet, as Genna's gaze kept shifting to the spot directly across from her, the chair Dante had sat in every day. She had avoided it all weekend, had avoided the reality, but there it was, staring her in the face… the tangible truth, a glaring reminder that he was gone.

Unable to stop it, a tear rolled down Genna's cheek. She tried to brush it away, to hide the evidence of her distress before her father saw, but nothing escaped his notice. Without even looking at her, he let out a deep sigh. "Your brother loved you."

"I know he did," she whispered.

"It won't be the same without him."

"It won't," she agreed.

Nothing would ever again be the same.

Dinner was silent after that, neither one seeming to have any more to say. Genna's gaze kept bouncing toward the clock, counting down the minutes as it slowly approached nine o'clock. The silence was so thick, permeating every corner of the dining room that Genna startled when a phone ringing shattered it. Dropping her fork, she grasped her chest as Primo snatched up the emergency line, barking the word "talk" into the phone.

Strained seconds passed.

"He's there?" Primo asked, his voice void of all sentiment. "Do it now."

He hung up the phone then, glancing at Genna again just as she wiped away another wayward tear.

"Don't fret," he said. "They won't get away with it."

Genna cut her eyes at her father suspiciously. "What?"

"They'll get what's coming to them."

"They already have." She shook her head exasperatedly. Was he so blinded by his hatred that he couldn't see the fact that
both
families had already paid with blood? Young blood—
innocent
blood—that had been underhandedly drawn into the rivalry. "They lost a son."

"I lost
two
."

Those words hitting Genna was like an ice bucket of water being dumped over her head. Unable to stop herself, she violently shivered.

The phone rang again. Primo snatched it up to answer, ignoring the worried look that his daughter cast him. "Talk."

More icy silence.

"It's set?" Primo asked. "Good."

"Is
what
set?" Genna asked when he hung up the phone. "What are you up to?"

Primo cut his eyes at her. There, in the deep brown of his gaze, Genna saw the hatred. She saw the bitterness, the anger, and the need for vengeance. But nowhere, in the look he offered her, did she see any compassion. No understanding. No regard for the fact that she was in love with one of them, no regard for what they may be going through.

The Barsantis called her father callous. For the first time in her life, Genna saw it.

"What did you do?" Her voice shook, a terrified whisper. "Tell me."

"An eye for an eye," he replied. "A life for a life."

"A son for a son," she whispered.

"A car for a car." Primo let out a short laugh, his attention on his glass of wine. "The sky in Little Italy will be lit up once again."

Genna's stomach sunk, the breath knocked from her lungs at those words.

The Lotus
.

Shoving her chair back, Genna was on her feet without another word. Terror propelled her, pushing her toward the door as she ignored her father calling after her. She snatched her keys from the ring by the door before bounding out onto the porch, glancing around in frenzy, debating what to do as she pulled out her phone. She dialed Matty's number as she set out through the yard, straight toward where her car had been parked for the past two months, not driven.

The phone rang… and rang… and rang.

No answer.

Panicked, she jumped into the car and sped away from the house, distractedly weaving through traffic as she headed into Manhattan and toward Little Italy, dialing Matty's number again and again, hanging up as soon as she reached his voicemail before dialing it yet again. She refused to think it was too late… that she was too late. It couldn't be.

It fucking couldn't be.

She sped through the streets, passing cars illegally, not caring who she ran off the road. Anxiously, she ran straight through a red light, smashing the gas in an attempt to get through unscathed, the close blaring of a horn distracting her. She glanced back, terrified, and saw the car narrowly missing her rear end.

Genna breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short-lived. The moment she turned back around, she saw the glow of a pair of taillights right in front of her. Cursing, she slammed the brakes, but she hadn't been fast enough. The phone dropped from her hand, hitting the floor of her car, as she braced herself for impact.

Her body lurched, and she winced, slamming into the steering wheel as she skidded right into the back end of a car, nearly knocking it into an intersection. Heart hammering in her chest, she flung the door open to climb out, dizziness overwhelming her momentarily. The driver of the other car started to get out, but Genna was already gone.

She ran.

She ran until her legs burned and her chest felt like it was going to burst. She ran faster than she had ever run before, along streets she vaguely knew, past the music store and the old movie theater, Italian flags flapping in the night breeze above her head.

She ran, and she ran, and she ran some more.

But she didn't run fast enough.

The moment she turned the corner off Mulberry Street, a flash of shiny red caught her eye. The Lotus was parked just down from her favorite small café. Genna's breath hitched, her feet taking a few hurried steps that direction before she was brutally knocked backward by the blast.

BOOM

She felt it before she saw it, the vibration ripping through her before the loud bang tore through the neighborhood. The air was knocked straight from her lungs as she stumbled, the fireball shooting straight up in the air. The car exploded, disappearing in a mass of smoke and flames, metal flying as debris scattered, windows shattering in the vicinity.

The heat was so intense Genna's skin felt like it was ablaze half a block away. Inhaling sharply, excruciatingly, she let out a shriek of agony, the sound resonating deep down in her soul, unable to be contained within her body. She screamed his name, her voice painfully cracking, as the explosion consumed the car and ignited others surrounding it.

The streets erupted in chaos, the world around her in fast-forward while she was stricken by slow motion. Crying, tears coating her face, she dropped to her knees on the sidewalk and clutched onto her hair, eyes peeled on the blazing inferno where Matty's car used to be. People ran past her, knocking into her, moving around her as if she weren't even there. But Genna couldn't move. She couldn't speak. She couldn't breathe.

All she could do was stare.

Suddenly, abruptly, as a crowd descended upon the scene, Genna was grabbed from behind. Arms snaked around her waist, violently yanking her to her feet. Startled, her voice cracked as she shrieked and fought them away, but their grip was strong.

Breath tickled the back of her neck as their voice trembled, whispering to her. "Calm down, princess."

The voice washed through her, simultaneously sustaining her, while stealing away the last bit of her strength. Her body went limp, her head dropping as her hands clutched tightly to the arms around her. Her knuckles, bright white with strain, stood out strikingly compared to the dark ink coloring his forearms. "Matty."

He dragged her down the street, away from the madness, and straight into the café. The windows had been blown out, the restaurant deserted except for the two of them. As soon as they were inside, he let go of her. Genna turned, blinking rapidly as she took in the sight of his face, marked only by the remnants of past trouble. Hurriedly, frantically, she grasped him, feeling on his chest, assessing him to make sure he wasn't hurt. "You… you're here… you're okay! How? I saw it… the Lotus… I just saw it…" She frantically shook her head, so wildly her vision blurred. "I
saw
it!"

"Genna." His voice was strong as his hands firmly grasped her cheeks, holding her there, forcing her to look at him. "Calm down."

She stared at him, her thoughts frantically racing. "But… how?"

"Remote start," he said, raising his eyebrows. "Remember?"

Remote start
. She'd picked on him about how unnecessary it was, having a button on his keys to start his car from far away.
Pretentious bastard and his flashy gadgets
. "Thank fuck you're so goddamn lazy."

Before he could respond, she threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around him. He hugged her back, holding her tightly and smoothing her hair. "My best friend died from turning a key in an ignition. I try to do that as little as possible."

Tears streamed down Genna's cheeks as he held her. "You're okay."

"Well… I'm
alive
."

She let out a shaky breath. "That'll do."

The adrenaline inside of her, shielding her from the pain, keeping her in shock, slowly started to wane. Every muscle in her body was tense, strained, her stomach cramping.

"We need to get out of here," Matty said quietly, letting go of her. "First we need to find a car and head for Jersey… then we'll take it from there."

Genna took a step back, wincing as her stomach clenched. Her alarm spiked again. "Wait, I have to tell you something."

"Can't it wait?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I don't think so. You should know. Before we do this… you should know."

"What is it?"

"I'm, uh…" She inhaled sharply, eyes wide. "I'm pregnant."

She wasn't sure how he would react, especially now—especially
then
—but she certainly didn't expect stone-cold silence. He stood there, a mere few feet in front of her, his expression blank, and said not a single word in response.