Brianna had a kink in her neck, but she was warm and still so very tired she wanted to keep ignoring it. Instead, she shifted and blinked, surprised by the early-morning sunshine. She blinked a few more times, and it wasn’t until they drove past an old-fashioned horse and buggy that she woke up fully.
“What the fuck?” Brianna looked out the window, seeing nothing but farmland, miles of it, broken up with the occasional house, barn, or silo. “Where are we?”
“Good morning, starshine,” Carina said in response as she took a sip of coffee out of a Styrofoam cup. “Lancaster, PA. Quaint, right?”
“We’re in Pennsylvania?” Brianna gaped at her for one long moment before she asked, “Why?”
“I figured distance might be good.”
“Distance?” Brianna repeated as she gestured to another barn. “No shit, distance. When did you plan on stopping?”
Carina shrugged noncommittally, which sent up a million red flags. As if she sensed the suspicion, she took another sip of coffee and said, “It’s merda. This coffee. You wanna try and find breakfast?”
Brianna ran a hand over her face and winced at the sting in her cheek. She pulled down the visor to stare at herself in the mirror. She couldn’t help but grimace at what she saw. “I look like merda.”
“Mmm,” Carina hummed in agreement. “Like a drowned rat. A little ginger rat who has very bad taste in vegetables.”
Brianna just arched an eyebrow at her, deciding that only a true friend would be that honest. “Did you sweep the car when you stopped for coffee?”
“Yes, I did. Thanks to our taxpayer dollars, I found not one, not two, but three bugs. That never stops being annoying. That’s why I let Tony do it. He’s so sweet. He lies to me every time, and he does it so believably. Enforcers are, by far, the best liars in the Borgata.”
“No kidding,” Brianna said sullenly, wishing she wasn’t stuck on thoughts of Tino. “Why are we in PA? Where are we going, Carina?”
“Are you gonna tell me what happened?” Carina countered.
Brianna pulled up the jacket that had somehow found its way over her, and snuggled into the seat that was nice and warm thanks to Carina’s fine taste in luxury vehicles. “Did you sweep my side?”
“Yes, I did.”
“How did I not hear you?” Brianna asked in surprise. “How did I sleep all the way to PA?”
“Overworked, overstressed. Who knows? I was starting to worry you had a concussion.” Carina took another sip of coffee. “Maybe a part of you knew I’d get you somewhere safe.”
“Ominous,” Brianna whispered, though she was afraid she already knew the reason they were heading west through Amish country. “Did you know your nonno told David to marry me?”
Carina whipped her head around so fast the car swerved. “What?”
Brianna stared at her for a long time. Carina was as good an actress as just about anyone, but that was a genuine reaction. Brianna wasn’t sure what was worse, thinking her friend had somehow been involved with the attempted assignation or having to break the news that Brianna probably had a price on her head thanks to Carina’s family.
“When David was choking me, he told me your grandfather had him marry me to keep me and Tino apart,” Brianna explained simply. “I’m pretty sure he was telling the truth.”
Carina shook her head. “No. Bri—”
“Carina.” She cut her off. “Your grandfather’s guys were waiting for me in the lobby. I recognized one. They were coming up to either finish the job or to make sure I was dead and hide my body. Maybe take pictures and text them in typical fucked-up Cosa Nostra fashion. It has to do with Tino. Have you talked to him?”
“Yeah, he’s”—Carina held up her hand to the windshield—“living the good life in Bumfuck. He was in Miami for his friend’s wedding. He’s fine. He’s outta trouble. David’s gotta be full of shit.”
Brianna could hear the denial in Carina’s voice, because her grandfather spoiled her rotten. She was willing to overlook a lot of things for her nonno, but the facts were pretty hard to deny.
So Brianna told her everything. In detail. When she got to the part where she was describing the hit men in the lobby, Carina pulled into a gas station and got out without another word.
The car rattled with the force Carina used to slam the door.
Brianna watched her best friend storm across the parking lot. The sound of high-heeled boots clicking against the pavement echoed until Carina jerked open the door to the convenience store so hard she probably had the poor guy behind the counter scared to death of the five-foot-nothing ball of Italian fury that had invaded his store.
She reappeared a few minutes later, furiously pulling the wrapper off a pack of cigarettes.