“The amulet didn’t exactly get left behind.”
“You brought it with you?” Betsy gasped. “What were you thinking?”
“I was thinking we may want to make a few more soldiers,” Desmond explained. “It takes an Alpha to fight an Alpha, does it not?”
Gabriel nodded. “It does,” he agreed. “Rico, you know where to go.”
CHAPTER EIGHTTEEN
They were only halfway to their destination when they saw the black sedan behind them. Desmond and Rico cast each other a look of alarm, which Betsy and Gabriel registered by sitting up rather abruptly in their seats.
“What is it?” asked Gabriel as he turned to look.
“Trouble,” Rico said. “But don’t worry, I can lose ʼem.”
“Don’t let them follow us to the stash,” said Gabriel worriedly.
“Assuming they don’t already know where it is,” Rico interjected, earning a scowl from everyone else. Then he floored it. A cop car spotted them, flipping on his siren and beginning to chase them down, with the black sedan hot on the trail right behind them.
“Do not stop this car,” Gabriel growled. “Those cops may not know there’s probably hit men in the car behind them, but we do. You might have to take things off the road, my friend.”
“Way ahead of you, boss,” Rico agreed as he plowed right between a couple of trees and drove out into a field. The ride became very bumpy as a result, but Rico never let up on the gas even for a moment. Both of the other cars continued their pursuit.
Suddenly, Rico made a hard left. The rear of the car fishtailed just a bit before he straightened out onto a dirt road. The cop car didn’t make the turn and flew over the edge, down into a ravine. It flipped onto the driver’s side, leaving it up to the officer on the passenger’s side to get them out, as Rico and the driver of the black sedan left them far behind.
Up ahead was an old, red barn. Betsy blinked, realizing they must have left the city and gone out into the countryside. She was completely unprepared when Rico slammed on the brakes as they reached the place, turning around so their car faced their pursuers.
“What the hell are you doing?” Betsy gasped as he revved the engine.
“Don’t worry, Betsy, I know what I’m doing,” he told her.
Just as the other car roared past them and tried to stop without hitting the building, Rico squealed the tires and took off again in the other direction. The other driver wasn’t fast enough to stop the sedan from hitting the barn door, breaking it off its hinges. The door fell on the windshield, blocking the man’s view as he attempted to turn around again. It flew off and careened into the side of the building.
“Did you lose them?” asked Gabriel.
“Not unless we ditch this car and hide,” Rico stated as he slammed the brakes again. “This way.”
The four of them ran as fast as they could into the back of the old grocery store about two miles from where they’d left the Alphas. Inside, they scrambled into a delivery truck and Rico hot-wired it to start. The driver had left his hat on the front seat, so Rico put it on while he was at it.
“All of you get down,” he instructed. “Make it look like I’m the only one in here, and haven’t got a clue.”
Without hesitation, the other three piled onto the floor. The fact there was no second front seat made this much easier to accomplish. Betsy was crushed to the side of the driver’s seat, with Gabriel pressed beside her, while Desmond was plastered to the passenger door.
Rico drove calmly out of the cargo bay entrance and out onto the road. He headed back the way they’d come and sure enough went right past the sedan, even grabbing the edge of his hat and pulling it downward in a pretend greeting that conveniently hid his face. The Alpha driver cast him a polite smile and continued on his way.
“Well, if nothing else we’ve got plenty of snack cakes to eat while we make a run for the border,” he joked once he was sure they were safe. “I’ve sent my man to scope out the stash situation and bring us some money if he can manage to do it. In the meantime, we’ve got a full tank of gas so I suggest we use it. Maybe you three should go sit in the back, though. It would be a lot less obvious and you’d be a lot more comfortable.”
“We’d be sitting ducks,” Desmond pointed out.
“There is that,” Rico agreed. “But you’d best stay where you are for now if you remain up front. I don’t want to take the chance on any of you being seen.”
Rico arranged for his contact to meet them with a different car just inside the state border as they headed south. They knew they would never be able to take a commercial plane to leave the country, as they’d be far too easily tracked, so they were going to head down to Florida and catch a boat ride instead. One of the boats he employed for smuggling goods would have to smuggle them as well, taking them to some far off, exotic destination or other.
They reached the rendezvous point around three that afternoon, driving the fourth car they’d stolen that day. Ledo, the man they were to meet there, was acting very nervous, but Rico got the money from him anyway before about ten Alphas showed up. The two men made a break for it and dove into the car.
“They were waiting for me at the stash, Rico,” Ledo explained. “They told me if I didn’t meet you, they’d kill me on the spot. Sorry but I figured I could use the help getting them off of me.”
“Ready for another ride, boys?” Rico called out as he floored the gas pedal. The old station wagon was not nearly as fast as he would have liked. “Soon as we lose these guys I’m finding a race car!”
“Go, Rico! They’re gaining on us!” Ledo shouted desperately. “You want I should drive? You know I could get more speed out of a motor home than you’re getting with this thing.”
“You want to get out and walk then?” Rico asked pointedly.
“Yeah, I might,” he countered. “This jalopy could use a good push.”
“Would you please stop heckling the man who is about to save our asses and put on a seat-belt?” Betsy practically shouted at their newest passenger.
“Sure, sure, lady, don’t get your panties in a bunch.”
“I’d appreciate it if you did not discussing my wife’s panties, bunched or otherwise,” Gabriel told him.
“You must be Gabriel,” said Ledo, offering him a hand as soon as he was done clicking in his seat-belt “Rico talks about you all the time.”
“Nice to meet you,” he said. “Let’s hope we’re not about to die together while we’re at it.”
“You know Rico better than that,” the man scoffed.
Sure enough, Rico lost the seven cars that were on his tail without even breaking a sweat. He raced on into the night, knowing that speed would be his best ally at this point. Betsy, Gabriel and the others dozed off to the view of the setting sun, and awakened to see the light of the waning moon shining through the windshield instead.
*
Betsy was completely exhausted, but in a good kind of way. She looked over at Gabriel and the tiny bundle he was rocking. Their baby boy had quite a set of lungs, but the girl had him beat hands down. Betsy smiled as she heard her from the crib, and she turned to pick her up as well.
“Oh, hush now, Maria, you don’t see Mario crying like that, do you?”
“Mario was being held, whereas Maria was not, Mama,” Gabriel pointed out.
Esmerelda, the nanny, stepped in to see how things were going, and Betsy gratefully let her hold her fussy daughter. Gabriel chuckled at this.
“Esmerelda, please take the children out for a walk,” he told the woman with a smile.
“Yes, Senior Russo,” she said.
Since they were just south of the equator, it was always a bit sunny outside, so Esmerelda pulled the hood over the children before she stepped out the door and wheeled them away.
“Brazil was a good choice,” Betsy had to admit as she laid back in her bed with a sigh. “The sun and the surf have really helped me to recover from that horrid pregnancy.”
�
�Ma bella, how could it be so horrid? It gave us two very beautiful children,” said Gabriel with a lazy smile as he came to join her and stole the pillow before she even had it under her head.
“Hey, that’s my pillow!” Betsy grumbled.
“Which makes it all the more comfortable for me,” he smirked. When she tried to steal it back, he caught her by the wrists and pulled her on top of him.
Betsy giggled as she beat her hands upon his chest. “Stop manhandling me, you brute!”
“You like it,” he teased her right back.
“I like you,” she told him as she leaned down to kiss his enticing lips. They split into a grin, so she took the opportunity to taste his tongue as well.
“Do you?” he chuckled. “Well how do you like this?”
Betsy gasped as Gabriel rolled them over so that he was straddling her legs. With a saucy grin she wrapped her legs around his knees and drew him tighter against her. “Very much,” she informed him. “Enough to wonder how long of a walk that’s likely to be.”
Gabriel laughed. “Well, ma bella, if that is the way of it, perhaps we’d best get to it before they return too soon.”
His hand slid down to caress her breast, and Betsy moaned softly, enjoying the touch. Her own hands were not idle as they sought and found areas of interest on her husband’s anatomy as well—strong shoulders, toned abs, and his rock-hard cock. This last area proved to be a great deal more interesting than the other two, judging by the fact she lingered there much longer.
Gabriel untied the little bow between her breasts, now much larger since she’d been nursing her children, and one hand slipped inside. His fingers toyed with her nipple, making Betsy moan. She tightened her legs again, pulling his erection against the spot where she wanted it to go.
“If we’re not ready for more additions to this family we’d better do something about that as well,” Gabriel reminded her. Betsy groaned. She had recently discovered that condoms, while useful for their intended purpose, were not especially as pleasing as total contact, but she didn’t stop Gabriel when he opened a nearby drawer and put one on.
They made very good use of the thing before they were done, and then they lay together on the bed, wrapped in each other’s arms. For a few minutes anyway, they were blissfully happy.
“You know we can’t stay here long,” Gabriel sighed. “Lupo and his men are still gunning for us. Sure, the first boat we took to Cuba threw him off the scent, and then we stayed in Argentina for a while, but it won’t take him long to figure out where we are.”
“But the children—”
“Will be much safer with Desmond as we discussed,” said Gabriel with a heavy sigh. “Think, Betsy. Lupo didn’t know about your pregnancy when he tried to have us killed. He doesn’t know about our children now. They’re not looking for anyone but you and me. We should leave this continent completely, buy ourselves some time until we can think of a way out of this. Perhaps we should join Rico over in Egypt, and help him with his research.”
“Egypt is so very far away,” Betsy said. “Must we be so far away from them?”
“It will only be for a little while, ma bella,” Gabriel insisted. “Just until we can convince Lupo to leave us alone. You know I wish to return to the orchard one day.”
“But what happens if he won’t be convinced?” Betsy wanted to know. “What happens if instead he finds us and kills us? What would happen to our children then?”
“Desmond would raise them,” Gabriel sighed. “I am certain of this.”
“Well, I suppose Brazil is a decent enough place for kids to live—especially in a place like this.”
“He won’t keep them here, Betsy,” Gabriel said. “He will have to take them somewhere else, where you and I have never been. We might be traced to this place, which means they could never be safe here. You must see that?”
“I see only sorrow,” she answered through her tears. “Our little family torn in half. But I know that you are right.”
“We will speak to Desmond at dinner tonight, tell them we are preparing to leave within a couple days,” said Gabriel then. “There’s a boat moored that is bound for Australia. Once we are there, Rico has said he will come to meet us, and take us to the site where the artifacts might be buried. Everything will be all right, ma bella. You’ll see.”
Betsy sighed with resignation and drifted off to sleep.
Epilogue
The ship sailed two days later, and Betsy and Gabriel were on it. Desmond took the babies and Esmerelda that same day and disappeared into the jungle. He did not leave any forwarding address, nor any evidence that he had ever stayed six months at the hotel.
“It’ll be all right, my little ones,” he told the babies. “Your mom and dad have set off on a grand adventure. And now, so have we.”
THE END
FIND OUT HOW IT ALL ENDS...
THE REAL ITALIAN ALPHAS – RETURN
Gabriel & Betsy Russo are desperate to keep their birth of their beautiful twins a secret as this could complicate matters even more.
Crime boss Lupo has put a bounty on the head of the couple and he wants them back, dead or alive. If he were to discover the couple now have children then things would get even more dangerous.
Gabriel knows the only way to be free of Lupo is kill him. But how do you kill someone who can not be killed?
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The Real Italian Alphas Page 13
