“No.”
The driver door opened on one of the parked cars, the passenger door opened next. Two men exited the vehicles. One of the men was as tall as Giovanni and the other was slender and of medium height. He appeared to be younger. It was their style of dress and the hard stare they gave them from the distance that sent a chill through her. Giovanni. She knew it as sure as she knew her own name. How did he do it, and why now? They’d been so careful.
“Hold on!” Kei said ready to throw the car in reverse and speed away.
Mira grabbed his arm. “Don’t!” she shouted. Her raised voice stopped him.
“I know where to take you. We can get there before they catch us.”
“No. Not with Eve in the car.”
“Are you crazy? Those men want to kill you.” he said trying to shift the car into reverse.
“No! It’s not Angelo’s men. Look. It’s him. Giovanni.”
Kei’s gaze switched back to the men who now stepped into the street glaring at them.
“We can’t run from him now that he knows I’m alive. I won’t get in a car chase with Eve in the backseat. Just pull into the drive.”
Kei stared at her for a long moment. “Mira?”
“Please, Kei. Trust me. We talked about this. If he was to ever find out I’m alive you’d let me handle him.”
Kei sucked in a breath. They sat in silence for what felt like an eternity until Eve started to whine for attention. He glanced back at the baby and shook his head. “We can’t take this risk with Eve. You go in there and it gets bad, what then? I don’t even have my gun. Shit. Shit. Shit!” he pounded his fist on the steering wheel. “I let my guard down. This is my fault sweetheart.”
“It won’t go bad. I never ran from him because I was afraid of him. I was afraid of his lifestyle. I can talk to him. I have to now, Kei.”
He glanced at her with shock on his face. “Did you know he was coming? Did you contact him?”
“No. Of course not.”
“Then why are you sitting there so calm?”
Mira struggled to hide the truth. Part of her knew he would, some day. She was a fucking hypocrite.
“Fuck it!” Kei put the car in drive. Mira touched his hand. She leaned over and kissed the side of his mouth. “Don’t talk to him, okay?” she whispered in his ear. “Let me do the explaining. Whatever I decide you agree to it. Do you understand me?”
“Whatever you decide? Are you saying you’re going to tell him about Eve?”
“I can’t keep it a secret now can I? I don’t know what is going to happen. Just please don’t intervene. He won’t like it. Trust me, okay?”
Kei released a tight breath that almost sounded like a whistle. He drove slowly down the street, wheeled the car past the parked ones in front of their cottage. Mira reached for the door handle, grabbing her arm he stopped her. “I’m with you. Right beside you.”
“Okay.” Mira said, summoning courage she exited the car and went for Eve. Her daughter was bundled up in a pink jumper with a hood. She sucked harder on her pacifier blinking at her mother. Mira knew Eve was excited to get out of her car seat. Eve’s arms immediately went around her mother’s neck when Mira lifted her out of the back of the car. Mira held her close. Kei stood near his open car door glaring at the men watching them. One of them she recognized. She believed his name was Carlo. He smoked a cigarillo, flicked it into the snow before opening his trench and showing the gun to the front of his pants. He winked at Kei exhaling a thick plume of smoke from his flared nostrils.
“Let’s go,” Mira said.
Kei continued to glare at Carlo. She saw his jaw twitch and his eyes narrow dangerously. Was he seriously going to challenge a man with a gun?
“Let’s go!” Mira said again with bass in her voice.