Page 44 of Mafia’s Final Play

“You’re good,” Matteo said absently, his eyes back on the screen.

The figure, clearly visible in the bright moonlight, stood up, and actually looked at the camera before they looked away. Anton backed the video up and hit pause.

“Fuck,” Matteo said with heat in his voice. Anton was right, he couldn’t believe who it was.

“What? Who is she?” Marie asked as she stared at the face. It was mostly covered with a hood and a strip of cloth that went over the mouth and nose, but the eyes were clear to see. “Matteo, say something!”

“It’s my cousin, Fiona. She’s a bit… on the fringe of the family. I haven’t seen her in years. I’d heard she’d become an assassin, but I didn’t believe it.” He ran his fingers through his hair and stared at Anton glacially. “I think we know what this means.”

“Celeste.” Anton agreed with a nod of his head.

“Has to be. If Petey can get more proof, I’ll nail her ass to a wall and leave her there to rot.” Matteo stood up, too angry to stay still. His own cousin had set fire to the place where he was living? Had shot him? Fuck, what the hell was wrong with his family?

“She’s your cousin?” Marie asked softly, her face wreathed in disbelief. “I know my family is shitty as hell, but that’s your cousin?”

“I know, hard to believe isn’t it?” He sat back down, took her hand, and looked at her intently. “I’ll keep you safe from her, I promise. Somehow, I’ll do it. If I have to die to protect you, I will.”

“Please don’t say that,” Marie answered in a rush, her eyes full of tears. “Don’t tell me you’ll die to protect me, I couldn’t stand it.”

“It’s the truth, baby. Always.”

“Still, try not to, alright?” She leaned over to kiss his cheek and then looked at Anton. “That goes for you too, buddy. Don’t die for me. I couldn’t take it if that happened. I just couldn’t.”

“Nobody’s going to die, okay? I’ll make sure of it.” Anton said, his voice tight as he looked away from her tears.

Matteo had no idea how either of them would keep their promises, but he knew one thing, he meant to keep his. Even if she didn’t want him to.

20

A year had passed since she first set eyes on Matteo. A year since her mother died. A year since they’d married. A year since she’d first noticed a tremor in her right hand. A few months since she was first attacked. A few weeks since their first anniversary. A few days since she’d noticed a tremor in her left hand. A few days since the fire. A few days since they were shot at and Matteo was grazed with a bullet.

A few days since she’d crossed her first international border, she thought as they pulled up to the border patrol on the American side this time. Matteo handed over their passports and the guard, one of those military-looking guys with hard eyes and thin lips, checked each passport carefully, did something with them, asked them a few questions, and then waved them on.

When Matteo handed the passports over to Marie to put back in the glovebox she was a little disappointed to see there was no stamp. She didn’t understand the ins and outs of border control, but she thought there’d be stamps when she went in and left a country. She still had an empty passport, free of foreign ink. Oh well, she thought, she’d been at least. Even if her passport didn’t say so.

He drove on, his gaze on the road. The sun glanced off the windshield and made it a little hard to see so he put the visor down. It was still early morning and their plans had changed a little. They were going to a small airfield in Idaho where Anton had arranged for them to meet a private plane. They’d take the plane down to Brownsville, Texas, stay the night there, then pick up an RV that Anton had rented with another credit card that Matteo gave to him. They’d leave as soon as they picked the vehicle up the next morning, headed for Mexico so it didn’t matter if anyone picked up that they were in an RV in Texas.

They’d talked about this, driving around like gypsies in an RV or a tour bus, living on the road, free and wild. But they were being hunted, by a woman that was a trained assassin it would seem. Marie wondered if Celeste had anything to do with the woman’s training, had she orchestrated that woman’s life as she had Matteo’s?

She drew a frowning face in the condensation of her window and then swiped it away. The honeymoon phase wasn’t over, it had just taken a turn for the… adventurous, that was the right word, she decided.

“Uh, boss, it seems we’re wanted for questioning,” Anton piped up from the backseat. “I’m taking care of it though.”

“What the fuck are you talking about now?” Matteo snapped, but when Marie’s head snapped around to glare at him for being mean to the other man, she saw his eyes close as he took a deep breath. He glanced at her, a look of apology on his face. “Sorry, Anton, what’s up?”

“The authorities want to question us about the fire at the cabin. I got an email from the owner. He’s happy with his compensation but says the police want to talk to us. I’ve sent them the footage of Fiona setting the fire, and shooting at us. It’s harder to see her when she’s shooting, but she came up close enough to continue firing that the camera caught it before the fire destroyed the equipment in the attic. That should settle that.”

“Good. I did not want to go back to Montana, not for that.” He relaxed a little and she put her hand on his leg. He had so much on his shoulders right now. “I’m okay, babe. We’ll be at the airfield in another ten minutes or so, okay?”

“Alright. Can we stop and get something to eat first? I’m hungry.” They’d left the motel without eating, they’d just packed up their stuff, checked out, and left. Her stomach was a twisting growling knot in her abdomen now.

“Sure, my love. Anton, you want anything?” he asked as he pulled up to the first fast-food place they came across. He ordered them all meals with coffee and she sorted his coffee out and unwrapped his sausage biscuit for him to eat while he drove. She ate her biscuits, with an obscene amount of sausage gravy slathered over it, quickly.

It was food, and she needed food, she said to herself as she ate the unhealthy meal. Normally, she tried to stay on the healthy side, but she made exceptions. It was comfort food for her more than anything, and when she was done, she put all of her guilty feelings away. Her stomach was happy now and that was what mattered.

Matteo followed Anton’s directions to the airfield and she saw a shiny jet sitting beside a hangar, ready to go. They quickly parked the car, which would be retrieved at a later date by the owner, with repair costs already put on yet another credit card, and they boarded the plane.

The pilot was already in place and they took their seats as someone closed the door and locked it in place.