Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
Gideon
The office was trashed, that was for sure. The cops were well aware of who I was, but the ones present weren’t on my payroll. I’d shot a text to the chief, who was on my dime, and told him to handle this.
Rita spent an hour going through paper work, noting all that was taken while Dean, Danny, Alex, and I did our best to clean up. People would be arriving in the morning, many in need of help, and they didn’t need to see any of this.
“Seems like nothing too vital was taken.” Rita closed a file drawer. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say they made more of a mess rather than rob me.”
“Likely it was Lorcan; stay vigilant.” Danny tied up a garbage bag and tossed it by the door. “The fact that this wasn’t a robbery and they wanted us out of the house—my guess is that after the cops leave, it can get really ugly.”
Alex moved toward the windows, surveying the street, Rita was finishing up with the police, and Dean was sweeping up glass. I just stood there, a niggling feeling poking at the back of my mind. Even the hairs on my arm were standing up.
My phone vibrating in my pocket pulled me from my worry, briefly, because the text that came through validated my fear.
Unc Gid, it’s Matteo. There’s bad men. Help!
“We gotta go, now!” I shouted.
I’m coming.
The cops jerked their heads at me, but everyone else didn’t question a thing. I raced out of the office, carelessly probably, but I didn’t give a shit.
“What’s going on?” Dean asked as soon as we were in the SUV.
“We need to get home.”
“Boss?” Alex looked at me through the rearview.
“The plan was to get as many of us out of the house as possible, but not to ambush us here.”
“Oh, my God!” Rita gasped. “The kids.”
“Faster, Alex,” I urged.
What normally only took about fifteen minutes felt like hours. As we got closer to the house, cold dread crept over my body. The gate was open, and I could see two of my men on the ground.
“Shit,” Danny muttered. “None of the men are checking in.”
“I had the place surrounded. How’d they get on the property?”
“We’ll figure it out. Gid, right now we need to get in there and make sure our kids are okay.” Dean gripped my hand.
“You and Rita need to stay in the car.”
“What?” Rita shrieked.
“Alex, drive to the side of the house, stay as out of sight as you can.”
“Gideon!” Rita smacked my arm. “Matteo’s in there, I’m going.”
“I’m going to find him, and Olivia and Owen, and get them to you. I need you here so they have someone to go to. Please.”
“Hon, he has a point. When they get here, we need to keep them safe.” Dean wrapped his arm around her.
Tears filled her eyes. “You bring those kids out here, Gideon!”
“I will.”
Once Alex had the SUV off to the side, Danny handed Dean one of his guns, and the three of us got out.
Everything was quiet…too quiet. I made out another dead body by the front entry and another to the side. My guys were good; Lorcan had to have overpowered them. I didn’t see one of Lorcan’s guys dead, and that didn’t bode well for what was inside.
Alex moved to the back of the house—there was a sliding door that would be the best way to get into the house.
There was no need to punch the security code in to open it because the system was dead. I’d assumed from the rain, which had let up, but as we drove up the street no other houses were dark. That storm had worked well in Lorcan’s favor.
We walked through the house, hugging the wall, listening for any sound. As much as I wanted to storm in, my babies were in there, Matteo…Penn.
A sudden scream followed by a thud snapped us out of stealth mode, and we raced toward the living area. Sheets and pillows were tossed, one man was unconscious by the foot of the stairs but it was the other man, the one holding a gun to Penn’s head while he covered Owen with his large frame.
“One down, three to go. I’ll just take you out of the equation.” I didn’t give him the chance to do a damn thing—I shot him in the leg, and he fell as Alex and Danny tackled him.
Penn looked up, not a flicker of fear in his eyes, just determination. He was once again willing to die for my son.
Owen was shaking and once he saw me, he launched into my arms. “Daddy,” he cried.
“I told them to hide. He got scared when this dickhead threatened to shoot me. As soon as he jumped out, I didn’t think, I just—”
“Protected him.”
Once Danny and Alex had him subdued, they dragged the other guy over and tied him up. “How many are there?” Alex asked Penn.
“I don’t know, I just saw these two.”
“No way two men took out all your security.” Danny smacked the conscious man in the head. “How many?”
“Fuck you.”
While Danny dealt with him, I faced Penn. “Where are Olivia and Matteo?”
“Livy?” he called out, and she slid from under the couch, tears pouring from her eyes.
“Oh, baby.” I opened my other arm, and she came running.
“Matteo is upstairs. I gave him my phone, told him to text you and hide in your closet.”
“Alex, please get Olivia and Owen to Rita and Dean. We’ll wait here. Won’t move.”
He nodded. Reluctantly, the twins went with him. I glared at the man who was awake. “You will talk.”
He chuckled. “You can try.” His gaze shifted to Penn. “Lorcan is going to kill you slowly.”
“He sure as shit can try,” Penn snapped back, fearless.
When Alex returned, I ordered him to go get Matteo from my office. A minute later, my nephew was rushing down the stairs and didn’t stop until his arms were wrapped around Penn.
“I did it. I did exactly what you said.”
Penn sat on the sofa, taking Matteo with him. “Yeah, you did. You were so brave.”
“Like you.”
I smiled. In the midst of this clusterfuck, I reveled in the moment.
“Matteo,” I interrupted. “Alex is going to take you to your mom and dad. Owen and Livy are with them. We’ll be with you shortly, promise.”
He glanced at Penn briefly, then got up and went with Alex.
“We need to do a sweep of the house. After that, we can deal with this garbage.” I sneered at Lorcan’s men.
Penn rose and kneeled in front of the guy who’d held a gun to his head. “Maybe a game of one, two, three…what do you say?”
I wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but the murderous expression the man shot Penn told me that whatever it was, it would be the perfect game to play.