A Madness of Crows: Mafia University #3

43. Day 100 – Dante

Our phones flash at the same time.

Everybody sits up as Gio and I grab for them, staring down at the message he sent to us.

Go.

The word swims in front of my eyes, blurring.

“What?” Rocco demands. “What did he say? Did he get her?”

Nothing comes out when I open my mouth, as I look up at the hellhole in front of us.

“Go.” Gio’s voice, steel and fury. “It’s a go.”

He got her out.

“Dante.” Gio grips my shoulder, searching my face. “You ready?”

“Yeah,” I say hoarsely.

We crawl down the road leading to the estate, lights completely off. A few hundred meters away, I turn off the engine. “Ready?”

“Rocco’s been excited for this bit all week,” Johnno mutters.

Around us, others are exiting their own vehicles, as silent as more than two hundred soldiers can be. Guns slide into holsters, men checking their weapon stocks as Gio and I help Rocco and Johnno lift out the kit and they grab what they need.

Rocco purses his lips. “Kiss for luck, Fusco? Since we’re bosom buddies now and all.”

“Fuck off.” The edge of amusement in Gio’s voice dies off as I nod.

They take off, moving across the dark, open ground in front of the tall wall separating us from the main house.

I glance at Gio. Stoic and calm, he stares at the house as if mapping an exact route to Caterina in his head. He meets my look with one of his own. “Whatever happens – she comes out of there tonight.”

Even if the cost is one of us, or both.

“Agreed.” My hand wraps around the photo in my pocket.

We say no farewells, waiting in silence. No point in tempting fate. She’s fucked around with us enough as it is.

Vito, Marco and Vincent move up to stand beside us, surveying the estate for themselves.

“Been a while since the Cosa Nostra came together like this,” Marco murmurs. Vito nods silently in agreement.

“Any sign of the Morelli men?”

Marco shakes his head at my question. “You sure they’re coming?”

“They’ll be here.” I have no doubts when it comes to Luciano Morelli and his loyalty. Not anymore.

I scan the grounds for a sign of our enforcers, but Rocco and Johnno have vanished into the darkness.

Gio bounces lightly on his feet, stretching. Then he pauses. “They’re coming.”

Sprinting, in fact. They race toward us, heads down as they put as much distance between themselves and the wall as possible.

“Down.” Rocco bellows it, waving his arms at the men behind us. “Get down!”

We hit the ground a split second before the explosives go off, and I shove my hands against my ears. They ring as deep holes appear in the wall with flares of light, sections collapsing slowly to the ground. Shouting and several screams begin to fill the air as the scent of motor oil floats across the space between us.

I don’t wait for it to clear before I’m up, roaring orders at the men behind me, telling them to go.

Gio is next to me as we race for the massive holes blown through the walls of the Asante estate.

Already, they’re rallying. A small army of black-clad men pours from those holes as they lift their weapons.

I lift my own gun, aim it at one of the closest soldiers. The sound of gunfire echoes over the smoke.

He drops.

One down.

Hundreds more to go.