Francesca #2
I aimed the shotgun and fired, hitting him right in the chest. I cocked the gun to drop the next bullet into the barrel. I wanted to roar in ferocity and terror, but I kept my shot and focused, waiting for the next asshole to come through.
I was trapped, but the way through the debris was narrow, so they were trapped too.
Another one came into the gap with a handgun and shot at me.
I felt my entire body shift backward when the bullet hit my vest, the momentum as powerful as a shove from a man twice my size. But I kept my balance with my foot planted behind me like my father had taught me, and I hit him right in the chest.
He dropped like the first.
I didn’t have time to reload, so I grabbed the AK-47 next and sprayed the two men who rushed me afterward.
They’d probably underestimated just how much ammunition I had in here.
“They’re on their way,” a man shouted from the other side. “Get the bitch and let’s go.”
So they were here for me.
I gripped the rifle hard with both hands. “Good fucking luck with that.”
“She’s packing in there,” another said.
It was quiet, and then there were more thuds. Some had crawled forward and were moving the furniture aside to clear the doorway so others could get inside. I sprayed both of the dressers until they stopped moving, but then my magazine was empty.
I quickly reached for the desk behind me to grab another clip, but a guy rushed through with a gun pointed at my head. “She’s out.” He put his gun in the back of his jeans as he came for me.
My hand trembled, and I missed the slot to shove in the magazine.
He was twice my size, and he snatched the gun from my hands and then hit me in the face with the butt of the weapon, making me fly back to the floor. “We’re gonna make you pay for that, bitch.”
I reached for the knife on my thigh and then stabbed it right into his calf, making him roar like a wounded bear before he dropped to the floor, unable to stand because I’d cut him exactly where Wolfe said the tendon was.
I crawled over him and grabbed the handgun from the back of his jeans, just when another guy swarmed me.
I popped a couple right into his face, and he collapsed, blood spraying all over me.
There was another guy already there to replace him, and I squeezed the trigger, but all I heard were clicks because it was empty.
The guy gave me a terrifying sneer before he punched me in the face and made blood explode from my nose.
My knife was still in reach, so I grabbed it and slipped it between his ribs, twisting it exactly like Wolfe had told me to. I shoved the guy off me and then slammed the butt of the gun into his face, breaking his fucking nose.
Then I heard the most terrifying and reassuring scream. It sounded like it came from an animal more than a man, a promise of fiery wrath, of torture, of merciless executions to everyone who was stupid enough to come here.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
Tears pooled in my eyes. “Wolfe…”
“Francesca!”
It was him. “He’s coming.” I gripped my knife and got to my feet.
“I’m coming for you!”
I was covered in blood, but most of it wasn’t my own. My dress was soaked red from the spray of my bullets. My hands were coated from the slashes and stabs I’d made with my knife. I could feel it all over my cheeks. I started to cry, not out of fear or adrenaline, but fucking relief.
Another man had come into the room to take me, but he stopped when he heard what I said.
“He’s coming,” I said as I stayed against the desk on the floor. “And he’s going to cut your fucking head off.”
The guy decided to save his own ass instead of finishing the mission. He ran back into the hallway and disappeared, probably trying to find a way out before Wolfe got there. A couple seconds later, I heard a man scream, not in ferocity, but in unmistakable death.
“Francesca!”
The sound of his voice so close somehow made me lose mine. I gripped the desk to try to bring myself to my feet, but once the adrenaline had passed, my body suddenly turned weak. My legs were so tired I felt like I’d lifted a car. “I’m—I’m here.”
“Don’t you fucking run from me!”
I stilled against the desk, and then I saw a fucking grizzly bear run past the doors across the hall.
I heard a man plead for his life. “No, no, no—ahhhhhhh!” I heard other noises too, like the crack of bones and a weird gurgle. I didn’t want to imagine what that was. Footsteps sounded again and became louder as they approached the door.
Then I saw him, his demeanor so furious I almost didn’t recognize him, all the veins in his body popping like they were about to snap free of the skin. Even when he looked at me, that rage didn’t diminish, but when he saw me covered in blood, he rushed to me. “Baby.”
My cries turned to sobs. “I—I’m not hurt.”
He immediately kneeled down and pressed his hands all over me, checking for wounds. “You’re covered in blood.”
“It’s—it’s not mine…”
His eyes found mine again, and they stared there, his entire body still like he wasn’t even breathing, just staring at me in awe and disbelief and wonder.
Then he looked at the bloody knife on the floor and the pile of men in the office before he looked at me again.
“You killed all these guys by yourself?”
I couldn’t bring myself to speak, so I nodded instead.
He stared at me again, long and hard, and he slightly shook his head. Both of his hands cupped my face, and he kissed me, kissed me hard, kissed me like I wasn’t covered in the blood of my enemies.
It was the only thing that calmed me down. The only thing that stopped the tears.
He pulled away and looked at me again, his hands still on my cheeks. “My baby is a tough fucking bitch.”
“I—I was so scared—”
“Tough. Fucking. Bitch.”
“I knew you were coming.”
“You were made for me, Francesca Mancini,” he said with his hands still on my cheeks. “You’re the only woman I want for—”
“Francesca?” My father’s voice came from down the hallway.
Wolfe’s gaze had been locked on mine with affection and awe, but it quickly turned furious at the interruption.
He looked like he wanted to curse before he pulled his hands away from my face.
He stood up, pulled out his gun, and shot one of the guys on the floor five times in the face before he threw the gun across the room in his rage.
I got to my feet and held on to the desk, afraid of Wolfe, when I was the last person in the world who should be scared of him.
My father rounded the corner, and his eyes locked on mine. “Cristo—”
“She’s not hurt,” Wolfe said quickly. “She killed all these motherfuckers by herself, Don. You raised her right.”
My dad came to me and immediately wiped the blood from my face with his clean palm. “Sweetheart, you’re alright?”
I nodded. “Yeah…I’m okay.”
My brother appeared, and his eyes flashed when he looked at me.
“How many more are there?” Wolfe asked.
“The last of them are near the warehouse. The shootout’s still going.”
Wolfe stepped into the hallway. “Let me clean house. Round up any survivors, and I’ll eat them for fucking dessert.”
Leo looked around at the sea of dead bodies as he slowly approached Dad and me.
Dad held me to him, resting his chin on my head in a way he hadn’t since I was a kid. His hand rubbed my back, and he took a deep breath and let it out slowly, showing the most emotion I’d seen him display for a long time. “I’ve never been so scared, Frankie.”
“I’m—I’m okay.” I closed my eyes as I treasured being held by my father, but I still wished he were Wolfe instead. “I’m just shaken up… It all happened so fast.”
“Roman said you were picking them off from the window with a scope,” my father said.
“In the beginning, yeah.”
Leo continued to stare at me, quiet and humble, like he didn’t know what to say.
I was the one to pull away from my father.
I cleared my throat and tried to appear calmer than I felt.
All I wanted to do was run to Wolfe. To stand in the hot shower with him and let the blood wash off me.
To break down in front of him because he was the only person who was allowed to see all of me. “What happened?”
“Lombardi’s brother,” Dad said. “He wants revenge for what happened to Luigi and the business. He must have paid someone in our ranks to let him know when we were gone. You were the target—eye for an eye.”
I nodded in understanding. I would be a lot more scared at that revelation if I didn’t know Wolfe was going to kill every single person involved in this plan.
He wouldn’t leave a single person alive.
Would go into the fucking Congo if that’s where one of them went to hide. “How many people did we lose?”
“A lot,” Dad said. “But they lost a hell of a lot more.” He rubbed my back again before he walked out. “Let’s finish this. Frankie, you’re sure you’re okay?” He stopped by the door and looked at me once more.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just want to get cleaned up.” I tugged the Velcro straps and loosened the vest before I set it on the desk beside me.
Dad left, so it was just Leo in the room with me.
“Want me to stay with you?” my brother asked. “I can take you home.”
“No, I’m okay. I don’t want to leave until I know everyone is dead and the vineyard is secure.”
He moved to the desk beside me and leaned against it, arms crossed over his chest.
I waited for him to leave, but he stayed.
I stared ahead, and for the first time in my life, I felt awkward with my own brother.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” he finally said.
“I’m glad you guys are okay too.”
He stared at the destroyed doorway for a long time. “Thought I’d seen Wolfe mad before, but I’ve never seen him like this.”
My heart dropped into my stomach, and then a whole new wave of adrenaline washed over me.
Thankfully, I was still covered in blood, so it was easy to hide my emotions behind the gore.
And if he thought I reacted in a way I shouldn’t, I could remind him I’d just survived a fucking shootout. “He’s loyal.”
“I was gonna say crazy.” He pushed off the desk with his hips and started to walk away. “But loyal works too.”