His heart slammed hard in his chest. He could feel her every emotion. Fear was uppermost, but there was relief, not commendation. Mostly, she was confused. Disoriented. In shock. Very, very painful.

“She’s a rider,” Taviano whispered aloud.

She was a rider, a woman capable of riding shadows, of bearing children who could ride shadows.

“It changes everything,” Stefano said. The plan had been to leave without her ever seeing him. She would call the social worker and the family’s responsibility in the matter would be over.

“We can’t leave her behind.” Taviano’s voice was firm. Absolute.

Stefano frowned at him. “Damn it, what the hell are we going to do with her?”

“She has to come with us. We have to make certain they can never find her.”

Nicoletta began to inch toward the door, back flat against the wall. She made herself as small as possible, as if by pressing against the wall they wouldn’t be able to see her. Had they not been riders, they might not have. The move on her part was instinctive. She’d become part of the shadows.

Taviano stepped in front of her, blocking her path. “We’ll get you out of here, angioletto,” he said softly. Talking as if she was a wild animal, trapped in a corner and about to bolt—and maybe she was. “Benito and his crew are close by. Just give us a minute and we’ll have you safe.”

She shook her head but she halted, clearly terrified.

There was no leaving her. Staring at her, Stefano pulled out the burner phone and punched a number. “She’s one of us. Hurt. We’re bringing her home. L and A will take her in. Make the arrangements tonight.” He made it an order, no room for arguments. “Doc. Counselor. They’ll need money for her needs. Arrange that as well. I’ll take responsibility for her.”

Nicoletta shook her head, her tongue touching her swollen lip to ease the ache. “Not for me. I’ve got to go before the others come.” She took a step back, away from Taviano as Stefano put his phone away.

“We’re not going to hurt you,” Taviano said softly. “We were sent to get you away from them.” He indicated the bodies.

She drew in air and shook her head. “They belong to a gang. They’ll never stop looking for either of you . . . or me.”

“They won’t find any of us,” Stefano assured her.

No one could be brought into the tube unless they were a rider. Nicoletta didn’t need to know how to ride, not if one of them was carrying her, but she couldn’t be aware. She wasn’t a Ferraro. No one had claimed her. He was doing something completely unprecedented, but it didn’t matter. She had to be saved. Somewhere in the back of his head, he had known, unless they got her all the way out, her uncles’ gang members would track her down and kill her. To save her life, this was the only way.

He signaled to Taviano and moved to check the window. He’d known they were in trouble all along. Benito was making his move. He flung the whiskey bottle against the side of the house and stood up, staring at the Gomez house, the others standing immediately to join him.

“They’re coming, Tav,” he announced.

“I know you don’t know me,” Taviano said softly, stepping close to Nicoletta. “But I also know you’re capable of feeling the truth when you hear it. If you stay here, even contacting your social worker to relocate you, you’re going to die. If she helps you to try to disappear, she and her family are going to die. That’s a fact. You know it and I know it. You have one chance and in taking that chance, you’ll be giving your social worker a chance at life as well. She contacted us to help you. This is me helping you.”

Tears ran down Nicoletta’s face, but Stefano was fairly certain she wasn’t aware of the fact that she was weeping. She just kept shaking her head. Still, she didn’t take her eyes off of Taviano.

“We can’t take you with us without your consent, but if you want to live, say the word and we’ll get you out of here. They’ll never find you—or us. You’ll have a new life with a wonderful couple who will treat you like a princess. My family will watch over you and protect you for the rest of your life. But you have to choose now. Right this minute. I can hear your uncles’ friends coming up the front steps to the porch.”

Her face visibly paled. She jammed her fist into her mouth, her gaze darting from the bodies to his face and then to Stefano’s. She nodded. Barely. The movement almost imperceptible. Taviano moved fast, not waiting for her to have second thoughts. She had to be terrified. Stefano had just killed three people in front of her. They were total strangers. Still, they had to look like a better bet than her uncles’ friends. He had the syringe all of the riders carried in the event they had to cope with an innocent civilian to get them out of their way. He had the needle in her neck in seconds, his arm around her waist to keep her from falling as the drug hit her system.