Free For Cam (Chicago Syndicate Book 4) by Soraya Naomi Page A

and scratch my brow.
    He narrows his eyes at me and eats up the distance, coming way too close. “Why are you suddenly helping me?”
    “Because you helped me, and you don’t deserve to be locked up in here.”
    We’re face-to-face, and abruptly, he cradles my head and I’m afraid he’s going to kiss me, but he murmurs, “Just get us outside, and I’ll take care of the rest.”
    I press my hands to his chest. “How? It won’t be easy, Santino. I don’t have any funds, and I don’t have any contacts out there. And these guys know where I live.”
    He looks pained as he studies me closely. Then he seizes my hand and pulls me forward to the door.
    I dig in my heels because I need him to confess to something before he opens the door. “No! Santino, I’m not risking my life without knowing if we even stand a chance.”
    “We stand a chance. Come on.”
    “How?” I plead.
    He glances back at me over his shoulder with his hand on the lever. “Because I have contacts with the FBI.”
    He pushes down the handle, and I yank my hand loose as the door is smashed open. Luca darkens the doorway and punches Santino in his nose, causing him to stammer back, but he holds his footing.
    “That’s all we needed to know,” Luca expresses.
    All of a sudden, Santino jumps forward, hitting Luca in the stomach and hurling him against the wall, and Luca grunts from the blow.
    Hurriedly, I take the cuffs from the bed as Luca blocks a punch from Santino and manages to switch positions with him, slamming Santino’s head against the wall with a thunderous growl.
    “Cam, cuffs.” Luca’s out of breath.
    I click the metal around Santino’s wrist, and Luca grabs a fistful of his shirt, shoving him onto the bed and securing the other end to the bedrail again.
    Santino’s spitting fire at us as Luca stands back, brushing a hand through his hair.
    “You fucking set me up!” Santino bellows.
    I pay him no attention and exit with Luca on my trail.
    “I’ll have Wade investigate who he is exactly in the FBI.” Luca falls into step beside me.
    “He must be undercover, because he worked for Sal for a long time. Perhaps he’s presumed dead?”
    “No, not without a body. They’re looking for him, or maybe they wanted him inside here?” Luca suggests.
    “Either way, this is not good.”
    “Well, at least we’ve gotten more information within five minutes than we’ve obtained in the last three months,” he declares.
    “I wonder if Adriano will see it that way.”
    “Are you afraid of him, Cam?” Luca teases.
    “Aren’t you?”
    “Nah. I’ve known him since I was seventeen. He’s defied my orders in the past as well when I was his superior. We’ll be fine as long as one of us tells him about our little stunt. I can handle him.”
    “Well, I can’t handle him lately,” I admit.
    Luca stops and turns to me. “He’s just busy, Cam. Don’t forget that he has a lot of responsibilities now, much more than when he was a Capo . What he needs is for you to keep supporting him.”
    “I’m trying to do that.”
    ***
    “W ell done, Cam,” Wade toasts, clinking his glass with Luca’s and mine in the closed dance club.
    I toss back my shot, followed by a gulp of water to soothe my burning throat. “What the hell is this?”
    Luca grimaces as well.
    Wade grabs the green bottle and eyes the label. “Some Polish drink. It’s disgusting.”
    “It’s chemical,” I add.
    Abruptly, the mood changes, and Luca sets his glass on the table when I hear from behind me, “Well, what are we celebrating?”
    I freeze, then with infinite slowness, I crane my neck to be met with Adriano’s dark and stormy eyes.
    He tilts his head to the side.
    “ Amico ,” Luca starts, but Adriano holds up his hand while scowling at me.
    “Let me guess. Toasting to Santino?” Adriano speaks in a low voice, and then he marches toward the grand staircase across the club. “Luca, Cam, my office. Now!”
    This does not bode well.

CHAPTER