49. Alessia
Chapter forty-nine
Alessia
A pparently the Morozov’s are letting us land on their airstrip and will be waiting for us there.
The Morozovs are another Russian family allied with the Abramovs. They agreed to lend us some of their men to help us, but it isn’t their fight, so it won’t be much. The Abramovs lent us a group of their soldiers as well, which is much more generous than most.
Vladimir Morozov was the one to meet us when we landed, giving us safe passage, and vehicles, asking for only one thing in return. We leave Sergei Petrov alive. We weren’t in the position to say no seeing as we’re on their turf and they’re helping us. Getting Massimo back is our sole priority anyways.
“Tullio?” I ask once we’re settled into the provided vehicles and on the move. He turns his head to me. “Can I please please please shoot the minigun?” I even flatten my palms together under my chin. “Please?”
He sighs and rolls his eyes. “Maybe.”
“Yes.” I bounce a little in my seat. I’ve always wanted to unload with a machine gun, and the minigun mounted to the top of the vehicle is calling my name.
“I said maybe.”
“Good enough for me.” I grin.
“Little psycho.” He shakes his head smiling.
“This is nice.”
“What? Charging into Russia with an army to save your boyfriend?”
“My fiancé, and I meant the part of being a part of the team.” Okay, so Massimo’s life being in grave danger has fast-tracked the forgiving process. I didn’t think I even had it in me.
“You’ve always been a part of the team.”
“Not like this.”
“We haven’t done anything like this in a long time, Alessia. Last time we did anything close to this you were still a teenager. Of course, you weren’t included.”
“If I were a few years older, would you have included me?” I arch one eyebrow.
“Probably not,” he admits. “I know I’m starting to sound like a broken record, but I only want to keep you safe. All of us. Babbo did too. Your capabilities never escaped his notice, piccolina , but to him, you would always be his little girl.”
His way of putting it recasts everything in a new light. The different treatment I resented wasn’t rooted in gender bias, but out of love. I wasn’t limited for being a female, I’ve been cherished.
“Tullio?”
“Yes, piccolina ?”
An apology hangs on the tip of my tongue, but I’m still me. Stubborn bitch and all. “I love you,” I say instead.
“Don’t get all soft on me now.” He bumps his shoulder into me. “Now, is not the time.”
I smile and nod my head. “Right. I’ll save that for when we get De Luca back.”
The next hour or so is one big blur. Adrenaline at its peak, especially since I got to use the fucking minigun. Literally razing their soldiers surrounding the abandoned building.
Next thing I know, Armando and I have some Russian motherfucker held with my knife against his throat demanding the exact location of my betrothed. As soon as he pisses his pants and spits the words out, I slice his throat and move forward.
“ Cazzo . Alessia, you are savage,” Armando says, shaking his head with a faint smile.
“Let’s go.”
With my ears ringing, we rush up to the corner, and Armando quickly peeks around. “Go.” He motions for the soldiers to go first. They rush around the corner and start popping off right away. Armando and I go in behind them, guns raised, and shoot our way through the hall and to the stairwell the guy told us to look for. Our men cover us, and we send two ahead of us downstairs to clear the way.
Descending the stairs, we aren’t met with anyone right away. Not until we reach the bottom and turn to the left like instructed. We unload, and one of our guys goes down, but we have to keep moving. We manage to shoot our way through again, and I begin peeking in through each little window on the closed doors. It’s not until the third one that I see Massimo.
“In here,” I bark out.
“Go. I’ll cover you.”
There’s a big metal latch on the outside that I crank, and the heavy door makes a loud screeching sound as I open it. Massimo is tied to a chair in the middle of the empty room, his head limply dangling down. “Give me a minute,” I say to Armando, and I close the door on his face as he starts shouting at me.
“Damnit, Alessia! You have one fucking minute!”
Yeah, yeah …
Walking swiftly over to Massimo, I can’t help the smirk that stretches my lips wide. To see Massimo being the one restrained for once. I’m tempted to pull my phone out and snap a picture of him.
“So, this is what Massimo De Luca looks like tied up,” I muse.
He gradually lifts his head, and my stomach churns when we lock eyes and gape in sheer horror. I rush to close the gap and brush his hair out of his face to get a better look at him. The bruising and swelling aren’t what tears my gut up in anguish and agony. It’s the fact that his lips have been sewn shut. Seeing me, his chest heaves with growing tension.
“Oh, baby,” I whisper and move his hair back again. I used two hair ties to hold my ponytail in case one broke, so I remove one to tie half of his hair back to stay out of his face for me, and I get a better look at his face. I hold back a grimace as I gently sit in his lap and cup his face with just as much caution. “And I was so looking forward to stringing this out.” I give him a sad smile and reach for one of my knives tucked inside my boot. “Okay.” I take a deep breath in and out to help steady my hand. “Stay completely still for me, baby.”
As delicately as possible, not to nick his lips, I cut through the thread and he gasps for air. My forehead falls to his and my breathing begins to match his. Letting my nerves surface. My poor baby.
“ Baciami ,” he hoarsely rasps.
My eyes fly open as I pull back slightly. Instantly, I’m hesitant. Not because of my pride, but because I don’t want to hurt him. But anything can happen once we leave the safe confines of this room. I could soon lose him, or he could lose me.
Pressing my lips gently to his, he growls and jerks his head forward to deepen it. He tastes like blood, his tongue is coarse most likely from dehydration, but I don’t care. It still tastes like him, and it’s been years since I’ve felt this complete. It’s so familiar and yet as exhilarating as experiencing something for the first time.
“Are you two almost done in there?!” Armando calls out from the other side of the door as gunfire continues in the background.
“Almost!” I call back and slide off Massimo’s lap. “So, I got to use the minigun,” I brag with a big grin as I cut his limbs loose.
He chuckles roughly and shakes his head. “I’m sorry I missed that.” He stands up and rolls his head around on his shoulders.
“I’ll let you pick.” I hold up my Glock and the heavy gun. He reaches for the Glock and I have a hard time parting with it. It’s my favorite. He eyes me and I pout right before letting it go. “You be good to her.” I turn and pound the door twice with my fist. “Done!”
Armando opens the door. “About time,” he grumbles then acknowledges Massimo with a head nod.
Stepping one foot out of the door, Massimo pulls me back. “Don’t even think about it, Massimo,” I warn him with a murderous look.
His nostrils flare and he takes a soothing breath. There’s no doubt in my mind we was planning on locking me in here until it was safe. “I love you,” he says instead.
I grin then raise my gun. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”