quietly, then dragged on the cigarette again. “Not for long. She said my eyes scared the shit out of her. Yet here you are. Looking at me. Unmoving.”
“Maybe she was smarter than I am,” I offered.
“Maybe. Or maybe you're stronger than you think.” She broke the gaze and then stubbed out the cig. “I will help you. Tell me what you need.”
“I need to switch cars every few hundred miles in case we're being followed. I need help to plot a route from here to the Hamptons, and I need two places to stay on the road. They don't have to be fancy, and I have enough cash for us to survive on,” I reeled off, each thought flowing into my mind. “And someone inside. If you can get someone that can help us get in, that would be amazing.”
“Consider it done.” She pulled a second cigarette out of the box and held it between two fingers, unlit, as she rested her elbow on the arm of the chair. “Eli!” she yelled.
“Yes, ma'am?” Eli appeared as if by magic.
“Make a note of this,” she demanded before focusing back on me. “I'll arrange for you to have a credit card so you don't exhaust your cash reserves in the case of an emergency. You can pay us back when your father is dead.” Her lips twitched on one side. “Cars will be set up for collection approximately every three hundred miles, and I will have you a room booked in motels close to service stations. You shouldn't need more than two overnight stops.” She nodded at Eli, and he disappeared as quickly as he just entered the room. “Give me three hours and you'll have everything you need, including hopefully, word from Darien.”
“Thank you,” I said quietly. “This means a lot.”
“I know.” She put down the unlit cigarette and stood.
I took that as our cue, and prodded a half-asleep Hunter. He jerked to attention and stood with me. I stopped myself from rolling my eyes, mostly because I knew he was tired. If he really didn't sleep much last night after he woke up, then he must have been exhausted.
Gemma lead us through the house to the front door, and once there, stopped, and rested her hands on my shoulders. Her eyes met mine, and in them, I saw a glimmer of fondness. “I miss your mom very much, Adriana. And as much as I hate your father, he's a ruthless man, and he won't stop until he gets what he wants. If he wants you dead, this is a huge undertaking for you. I hope you know what you're doing.”
I was starting to wonder if I did.
“I do,” I said, much more confidently than I felt. “Mamma would hate this.”
“She would.” Gemma kissed my cheek. “Come back right after lunch and you'll be ready to go.”
I nodded slowly. “Thank you.”
***
“How do you know you can trust her?”
I dipped a fry into some ketchup. I wasn't hungry, so I was more playing with the food than actually eating it. I just needed to do something with my hands to keep me busy. Time was moving too slowly, and it was starting to wind me up. I just wanted it to be at least one o'clock so we could go back to the Gardarelli house, get what we needed, and get on the road.
“Addy.”
“Hm?” I looked up from my aimless dipping of the fry.
His silver eyes were full of concern, and he reached across the table. His fingers brushed the back of my hand as he forced the potato strip from my grasp and dropped it onto the greasy packaging. “What's wrong?”
“I'm just worried,” I said quietly. “If I can't trust Gemma, then I've just walked us into my father's trap, haven't I? And if I can... Well, then, this is really happening, and I'm walking straight to him. And even if I get what I want, is Darien going to be there to see it? Will he come back to New York? What if Enzio gets me first? What if he knows we're coming and is ready? What if this doesn't work, Hunter?”
“That's a lot of 'what ifs.'“
“What if Darien isn't even alive anymore?” I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat at that thought, yet again. No matter how determined I was to believe that he was alive, I wasn't naive enough to believe I knew it for sure.
I wasn't afraid to admit that I needed him to help