Chapter 27
CHAPTER 27
MEREDITH
T hrough the panic room's security feeds, I watched Leo move like this was all second nature, each motion precise and deadly as he checked the rooms with my brother, clearing them. Now I understood why people whispered his name with fear – he was beautiful in his violence, terrible in his efficiency. I imagined every shot found its mark, every movement had purpose.
His violence should have terrified me, his nature, how this was as normal as breathing. Instead, I found myself praying he'd eliminate every threat, destroy anyone who dared come after us.
Since when had I begun wishing for such things?
My Le-Le.
"Looks like it's limited to outside," Sofia whispered beside me, her fingers digging into my arm. The way Gray had looked at her before Leo had closed the door had made me wonder, but now wasn't the time. "Gray's not... he's not like Leo."
"I know." My brother wasn't a killer, wasn't built for this kind of violence. Not that Sof knew that minute detail. Right now, it didn't seem important.
I surveyed all the screens highlighting the yard outside, seeing men crawling across it, gunfire blasting. "How many are there?"
Sofia's eyes darted between screens as she worried her lip. "They're outnumbered from what I can tell. Most of Leo's security team haven't arrived yet – there's only the one team outside. Why aren't they here? Did they not think this could happen?" Her voice hitched as she leaned forward to inspect one screen lighting up with gunfire.
Clearly not, considering the facts. Both Gray and Leo had thought this place safe, and Roman had a team outside.
Roman.
I searched the screens, relief sweeping through me when I caught the familiar sight of him, taking cover behind a parked vehicle.
My heart stopped as I spotted movement inside the villa on another screen – intruders had breached the building.
"Fuck." Sof's breath caught as she followed my gaze.
I watched, helpless, as Leo and Gray engaged them, working in sync despite their different styles. Leo moved like this was who he was born to be, each shot deliberate and fatal. Gray was less graceful but just as effective. Thank God.
I'd been right in believing Leo's shots always found their mark though from this viewing, although it did little to ease the erratic pounding of my heart, my stomach in tight knots.
Then they split up, Gray heading down the hall while Leo began rechecking rooms.
"No," I whispered, scanning the feeds frantically. "Stay together."
A shadow moved behind Leo as he moved through one room, and my scream died in my throat. But Gray appeared from the doorway, his shot dropping the attacker instantly.
"Thanks," Leo's voice came through the speakers as another wave of relief hit me.
This was crazy, watching the two men I loved try to stay alive. Why hadn't they just stayed with us here, where they were safe? This was why Leo had a security detail he paid top dollar for. This was their job, not his, and especially not Gray's.
I gritted my teeth, hating how I trembled right now out of fear for them. I was useless here, unable to do a thing to protect them.
Sofia's hand found mine, squeezing tight as we watched the men I loved fight for their lives.
My eyes tracked them through the various screens, and I vacantly wondered where half these cameras were. I'd seen some of them in the villa, but there were a lot of screens in here.
My gaze honed in on my brother, in yet another room away from Leo as he checked beyond the windows. The office I'd been in with Leo earlier, where Gray had now gunned down two men who'd gotten in.
The crack of a gunshot, followed by Gray's cry of pain as he went down, was my unravelling.
"No!" Without thinking, I hit the panic room release, ignoring Sofia's protests as I tore into the study room. I headed right out, knowing the room was just down the hall, needing to get to my brother.
My blood thumped in my ears, drowning out the gunfire in the rest of the house.
I couldn't lose Gray, not after everything. Not when we'd just patched things up. I needed him.
I paused at the doorway, holding my breath as I glanced around the corner, half-expecting to find someone waiting with a gun at the ready.
Instead, a fallen intruder lay in the hallway, his gun on the floor by him. Just what I needed right now. Not giving myself time to worry about all the risks, I lurched for it. As I grabbed it, memories flooded back – Leo's hands guiding mine at the lake that summer, teaching me proper stance, how to account for recoil. "Just in case," he'd said. I doubt he'd ever have thought I'd wind up in this situation.
I kept low as I moved down the hall quickly, pausing and glancing inside the office my brother had gone down in. Had one of those shots after been his death blow? Had he shot his attacker? Was he already dead and his attacker going to be there to bring about my end as well?
Fuck no.
If anyone was there, they'd die for what they'd done. I moved around the corner, dropping low as I held the gun out before me with both hands, ready to fire.
No one greeted me, just three bodies strewn across the room.
"Gray?" My voice broke as I glanced over the bodies, a shaky breath escaping me when I realized none of them were him.
"Here, fuck, Mer, what are you doing?" His voice was strained as I moved to the heavy wooden desk he was tucked behind. The chair Leo had been in earlier was tossed on its side closer to the window.
I crouched down, taking in how he was clutching his shoulder. Blood seeped between his fingers, but his eyes were alert as he glanced past me. Not that we could see the doorway from this angle.
"You got shot… I…" I swallowed as his gaze softened and he nodded knowingly.
"Amazing what you do in the moment, huh?" he noted quietly, nodding at my gun, but winced. His shoulder didn't look good at all. I bobbed my head as I glanced back around the corner of the table. Just in time to see a man creeping to the edge of the desk on the other side.
Time seemed to slow as I acted. The gun felt heavy but steady in my hands as I raised it. The shot was deafening in the enclosed space, but my aim was true. The man crumpled, a perfect hole in the side of his head.
"Fuck, Mer." Gray tugged me back behind the desk for cover.
"He was coming for you…" I breathed shakily, forcing my mind to focus despite having glimpsed the bloody hole in the man's head. "We need to get back to the panic room," I said, my voice turning steady as I grabbed his good arm. Maybe it was adrenaline, who knew. "Sofia can patch you up. I'm sure there's first-aid supplies in there."
"Mer—" His face was pale—his dominant arm had taken the hit, meaning his aim was not going to be great now.
"It's fine, I'm fine. We need to get you to Sof, she can fix you up," I assured him, helping him to his feet once I was sure the room was clear. "Keep pressure on the wound." I glanced back at him, noticing how he was glancing down at his dropped weapon. "Gray, focus on not bleeding out, I'll cover us."
"I don't know how I feel about that," he muttered, but he continued holding the bullet wound in his shoulder.
We'd barely made it three steps when another shot rang out as someone stepped into the doorway. I pushed Gray away, ducking and raising my weapon on pure instinct. My second kill of the night fell just as easily as the first.
The girl who'd been afraid of violence was gone. In her place stood a woman who'd do anything to protect her family.
I stared at the body in the doorway as Gray nudged my arm.
"Good shot," he said softly as I drew in another calming breath.
I wasn't sure how I felt about my perfect aim so far. Maybe it was beginner's luck, but I hoped to God it didn't run out just yet. I moved forward, Gray right behind me, and checked the hallway.
Empty. Maybe luck was on my side tonight.
I stepped out into the hall, hugging the wall as we both kept low, my gun at the ready. Gunshots sounded off throughout the villa, and each one made my stomach flip as I wondered if one would be for me. They sounded close and yet distant, and all around me.
Breathe, focus. Stay alive.
We moved slowly, and I paused at each room, glancing inside before continuing on. We still had to pass the living area to reach the study with the panic room. And something told me that was where we were going to run into issues.
We'd not even fully reached the edge of the hall to the living area when everything took a turn.
The impact came from nowhere – a blood-covered man slamming into me with savage force as he rounded the corner. My gun skittered across the floor as we fell, his eyes wild and unfocused as he attacked. His hands found my throat, squeezing with desperate strength.
Gray was there like an avenging angel, tackling him off me. They rolled across the floor, trading blows as I scrambled to my feet.
"Don't move." The voice behind me froze my blood. Cold metal pressed against my spine as the man leaned close. "Having a Donati love you was always going to be a death sentence."
Gray looked up from his struggle, where he was currently pinned, horror dawning on his face. A gunshot cracked through the air, and I trembled, waiting for the pain to hit after the shock and adrenaline drained. Instead, the pressure at my back disappeared, a body thudding to the floor beside me.
Leo materialized from the living area just as Gray shoved his attacker away. In one fluid motion, Leo buried a knife in the man's throat, the blade glinting in the dim light before he turned to me. I watched Gray's attacker collapse, gasping and fumbling at the blade in his neck, but I forced myself to look at Leo instead, beyond grateful to see him right now.
"I thought..." My voice shook. "I thought he shot me in the back."
"No, Mer." Leo pulled me close, kissing my temple as his warm arms cocooned me. "You're safe now."
And despite the stench of blood and gunpowder in the air, I oddly felt it, right there in his arms.
I stared at my would-be killer, who'd stopped moving now, trying to spot his weapon. "Where's his gun?"
"He didn't have one." Leo's voice was careful. "I disarmed him earlier. He ran and I had to deal with some other guys."
"But I felt it. The muzzle?—"
"Probably this." Gray picked up a metal lighter on the floor, grimacing as the movement pulled at his wound. "Old trick. Make someone think you're armed." He dropped it and covered his bloody shoulder once more.
I shook my head, the adrenaline making everything fuzzy.
It took me a moment to realize the gunshots inside the house had fallen silent, and that it was quiet outside as well. Sofia appeared, medical kit in hand.
"Holy shit, Mer!" She was beside me in an instant, Leo's arm still wrapped arm me protectively. "I saw everything through the cameras. You're officially a badass."
The praise felt hollow as I looked at the bodies surrounding us. Several littered the living area that I could see now, along with the hall.
I'd killed tonight. To protect my family.
And despite knowing murder was wrong, I didn't regret it. Not for this.
"I was just protecting Gray," I said quietly, still processing what I'd done. The weight of taking lives should have felt heavier, but all I felt was relief that my family was safe.
My brother, my best friend, and the man I loved.
Looking between Leo and Gray, understanding truly dawned on me. This was how it had started for Leo – the instinct to protect those you love, to eliminate threats without hesitation. The violence wasn't separate from the love; it was born from it. He'd always spoken fondly of his family whenever he had spoken about them, which was rare. Now I understood.
Roman appeared, his usually pristine suit spattered with blood. "Place is clear. The Malatesta crew has been handled."
"This is going to be one hell of a mess to deal with in regards to Fiorenzo." Leo muttered, his own shirt stained crimson, not that I cared. "But I'll handle it."
"Will you be in danger?" The thought made my stomach clench as I pressed a hand to his chest, not caring about the sticky blood on his shirt.
"I'll arrange a meeting. Fiorenzo will likely try to keep our alliance strong. These men likely didn't act on his behalf considering there was a clash between him and his brother." His jaw ticked as he narrowed his eyes at the bodies around us. "What concerns me is how they found this place. This safe-house wasn't supposed to be on anyone's radar. Hence it being a safe-house. And I really don't think any of us were followed despite how that makes the most sense."
"We'll get to the bottom of it. For now, let's get this place cleaned up," Roman said before he barked orders into his earpiece.
"Sounds like the rest of cavalry arrived then," Sof mused as she inspected Gray's injury.
"Not a second too soon," Leo said with a heavy sigh. "What a damn mess."
"At least we're all alive," I stated the main fact, and he nodded.
Sofia had already started working on Gray's wound, muttering in Italian as she examined the damage. I watched them all – my brother wincing under Sofia's care, Roman speaking through his earpiece, Leo holding me close as we surveyed the carnage left from this fight.
My family. Complicated, dangerous, but mine.
And I'd kill for them again if I had to.