Free Dante: A Mafia Bad Boy Romance (Sinsations Book 2) by Jessi Talbot

Chapter 1: Dante
     
Then…
    “Dante!”
    The scream was high-pitched and shrill, like that of a little girl. I’d be sure to pick on him mercilessly about that later. Only ten-years old and Alyosha was already determined to be a man in all things. As his older brother, it was my job to tease him when he failed, although I’d punch anyone else in the face if they got the idea to pick on him.
    But there was no worry of anyone picking on him now because he wasn’t the only one screaming. An army of strangers in black suits had invaded our home, their guns filling the air with acrid smoke that burned our nostrils. Many people were screaming. Many people were dying. I didn’t know if our parents were among the dead.
    We ran into our bedroom, slamming the door shut behind us. I ran to the window without slowing down, only releasing my brother’s hand long enough to slide the window open and step out onto the tree branch outside our second-story window. I held out my hand. “Come, Alyosha. We have to go.”
    He stepped to the window, looking at me with wide nervous eyes. We had used this tree to escape the watchful eyes of our parents and bodyguards numerous times, but those times had been quieter, calmer. Even through the closed door, I could hear footsteps storming up to the second floor. We were the third door down the hall. They’d be here within minutes.
    “Alyosha!” I opened and closed my fingers, silently pleading for him to take my hand. I didn’t know who the strange men were but I had heard stories. We had been warned by our parents. They would either kidnap us and sell us back to our parents, kidnap us and sell us to someone else, or they’d simply kill us. None of those sounded like fun to me.
    My brother narrowed his eyes. “You don’t tell anyone I was scared. Not ever.”
    I sighed. It was valuable information he was demanding I give up. Papa would be proud. I nodded. “Deal.”
    Alyosha wrapped his tiny hand in mine and stepped out next to me on the branch. We ducked down as the bedroom door slammed open, banging against the wall. “Go,” I whispered. He nodded and ran down the branch. It connected to the tree at almost a perfect 45-degree angle. I learned about that kind of stuff in school. I didn’t know at the time what that kind of information would be useful for, but right now thinking about it helped keep me from worrying that me and my brother might die.
    We hopped from the branch to a lower one, and then jumped the remaining distance to the ground. I glanced up at the window. Nobody was there. “Run,” I said to Alyosha as I took his hand, running towards the driveway, half-dragging him behind me. We had always been taught to get to the cars if anything happened, that a bodyguard would take us away from danger. But two of the cars were on fire and more of those black-suited men were patrolling the area. There was no safety there.
    I spun and headed towards the gardenia bushes along the edge of the house, letting go of Alyosha’s hand and pushing some of the branches to the side, lifting them up. “Crawl under.”
    “Bugs,” Alyosha said, frowning.
    “Bullets,” I replied.
    He pressed his lips together. After a couple of seconds, he nodded, falling to his knees and crawling into the tiny space I had created. I moved more branches back, being careful not to break them, and joined my brother, kneeling down beside him.
    The guns weren’t going off as much. I guessed that meant anyone who was able to fight was already dead.
    “Remember your promise,” Alyosha said.
    I nodded. “Quiet,” I whispered. “I will.”
    “Look there,” he said, pointing towards the far corner of the garage.
    I whispered one of the few swear words I knew and snatched his hand down, hoping nobody had seen. One of our soldiers, the one who usually watched our mother when she went shopping, came staggering around the garage, his white shirt mostly red now. He raised his gun and fired as one of the