Elaina woke up the next morning, wrapped in a red quilt. She yawned, blinking, as she sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

It took her a moment to realize that she wasn't in her own bed. Eyes widening, Elaina glanced quickly around the room, trying to figure out where she was.

Why am I in a strange place? What happened?

Then it came back to her: the garage shooting, Victor showing up at her home, Tony's wish to kill her, their escape to the safe house. Elaina sighed, willing herself to relax slightly before taking a more measured glance around.

Her gun lay on the nightstand, right where she had left it. Unwrapping herself from the quilt, she slid her legs out of bed and stretched. Victor had lent her an old T-shirt to wear to bed instead of her work clothes, which she had been very grateful for. Her shirt and skirt were not meant to be slept in.

Changing rapidly back into her work clothes, Elaina straightened the quilt on the bed and padded into the living room. Victor was still asleep, stretched out on the couch with a green blanket covering him. His pistol rested on the ground near his head, cushioned in between his shoes.

Elaina smiled down at him, silently thankful. If it wasn't for him, I'd be dead, she thought. Because of Victor, I'm alive right now.

Turning, Elaina headed into the kitchen, intent on showing her appreciation. Let's see what I can scrounge up for breakfast.

It didn't take her long to familiarize herself with the kitchen. Soon, she had coffee brewing in the coffee maker, bread browning in the toaster, and was scrambling eggs on the stove.

Victor sat up on the couch, reaching down for his gun. "What's going on?" he called, furrowing his brow. Then he saw Elaina and relaxed, setting his gun back down again. "What are you doing?"

"Making breakfast," Elaina replied, giving him a smile as he stood, tossing the blanket back onto the couch. "It's the least I can do, after you saved my life."

Victor walked into the kitchen, glancing at the pot of scrambled eggs and the toast that had just shot up in the machine. "Man, this looks good," he commented. "Thank you."

Elaina smiled up at him. "You're welcome."

After Elaina scraped the eggs onto two plates, Victor buttering the pieces of toast, she poured the coffee and they headed over to the small table to eat. The food tasted really good, despite Elaina not normally being too fond of scrambled eggs. She put it down to her close scrape with death the night before. I suppose that makes you look at everything a little differently, even scrambled eggs.

"So what's the plan?" Elaina asked as they finished up eating, lifting her coffee mug to her lips. Victor swallowed his last bite of egg and toast and thought for a moment.

"I'm going to head out, see what I can hear," he said. "I want to see how successful my father and Tony's plan was, how many of my employees are dead. We'll figure out how to proceed from there."

"Getting out of the Mafia is going to be hard, isn't it?" Elaina queried, the thought hitting her that she was caught up in all this now, too. Going back to her normal life was no longer an option.

Victor nodded. "Extremely. Don't worry, I've got an idea. But first I got to see what's been going on." He took a gulp of his coffee. "You stay here. I don't want you in any more danger."

Elaina's eyes widened. "You mean stay here by myself?"

"Yeah," Victor affirmed. "But don't worry, nobody knows I have this apartment. No one will come looking for you. Besides, you still have your gun. You can still defend yourself."

"You sure this is a good idea?" Elaina asked, furrowing her brow.

"Yes, I'm sure," Victor said. "I know it's not ideal, but you'll be in more danger if you come with me. I promise I'll be back soon, safe and sound."

"Okay," Elaina said as they stood, depositing their plates in the sink. Victor headed toward the couch, shoving his feet into his shoes and picking up his gun. Tugging his jacket on, Victor placed his gun in the pocket and smiled reassuringly at Elaina.

"Keep your gun close. I'll be back soon. When I return, I'll knock on the door three times before opening it, okay? So you'll know it's me."

Elaina nodded as Victor headed to the door, unlocking it and stepping outside. She hurried into the bedroom, picking up her pistol and turning to glance back at the door. Now what?

****

It was midmorning when Elaina figured out something she could do to help. Snapping to her feet, she grabbed her coat and her heels, putting them on before taking some spare cash from one of the kitchen drawers. She stepped out of the apartment, checking she had her key before she shut and locked the door.

This might just work.

Elaina took the elevator down to the ground floor, hurrying out to the sidewalk and raising her hand. "Taxi!"

A yellow taxi cab pulled over by the sidewalk and Elaina opened the door, sliding inside. "The district attorney's office," she requested. "And hurry!"

As the taxi pulled back out into traffic, Elaina settled back against the seat and bit her lip. Victor may have his own plan for how to handle this, but Elaina's life was in just as much danger now, too, and she wasn't even involved in the Mafia. Maybe she could get herself and Victor a deal with the district attorney by turning Tony and Marco Andrisano in.

I can at least tell the DA about Tony's attempt to murder me. If Tony has to hide from the police, he can't spend as much time trying to kill Victor and I.

As the taxi pulled up outside the courthouse, Elaina sighed, paid her fare, and stepped out of the taxi cab. She stared up at the imposing building. Maybe this isn't such a good idea, after all. I should have just waited for Victor.

Well, I can still do this for him. If Tony is arrested, it helps us, doesn't it?

Elaina started up the steps, asking directions to the district attorney's office once she entered the building. She hurried down the corridors, heels clicking on the tile.

Okay. I can do this.

"I'm here to see the district attorney?" Elaina told the secretary as she reached the office. "I have information on a crime."

The secretary peered up at her. "Why didn't you go to the police?"

"I wasn't able to," Elaina said, hesitating. "May I please speak to the district attorney? My life's in danger."

The secretary studied her for a moment, then stood and opened the door to the inner office. "Sir, there's a woman here who claims she has knowledge of a crime."

"Let her in," the reply returned, and the secretary gestured Elaina into the inner office.

"Hello," the DA greeted, standing up from behind his desk. He had dark blonde, curly hair and had a broad build. "I'm Eric Smith, New York City's district attorney. How can I help you?"

"I'm Elaina Rossi," Elaina told him, shaking his hand. "Someone tried to murder me last night."

Smith frowned. "Murder you?" When Elaina nodded, he added, "Why didn't you go to the police?"

"I didn't feel safe," Elaina said vaguely. "This person who's after me...he's got connections. I don't know how far they extend. I felt safer coming here."

As Elaina spoke, a terrible thought occurred to her. What if the Andrisanos had people working in the attorney's office? Her life could be in danger right now, she could even be talking to someone on the inside! Oh, I should have stayed in the apartment! I'm such an idiot!

Smith frowned, eyeing her in concern. "Are you all right, Miss Rossi? You just went deathly pale."

"I made a mistake," Elaina murmured, standing up. In her haste, she dropped the small amount of cash in her hand and she bent down to retrieve it.

That moment saved her life.

The glass window behind the desk shattered as gunfire erupted and Elaina screamed as bullets streaked into the office.

/**/

Well, that was quite the chapter ending.

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope everyone has a good holiday! And thank you so much for reading this book!

Skylar Wittenborn