Chapter 49
MASSIMO
“Fuck,” I hiss, the bullet grazing my arm even as I fire again, hitting the soldier running at me, screaming. Why the fuck do they do that shit? Why do they want me to know where they are to kill them? Unless that’s their bright way of announcing they want to die.
With this group, who the fuck knows?
Alonzo and I continue to make our way through the waves of men coming at us. Sweat drips down my body, my ears ring from all the shots sounding around me, and my heart pounds hard in my chest.
“On your six,” Alonzo snaps, and I round, already firing at the Russian coming up behind me. Fuck, Ivan clearly had his men trained well because I didn’t even sense him. That or I’m getting fucking tired and that can’t happen. Tired could mean death and I have far more to live for now than before.
Lucy and Soren need me. So I’ll keep going.
“Where the fuck do they all keep coming from?” Alonzo snarls as he comes up behind me, already lifting his arm to fire at another few men that come down a side hallway toward us. “And how are they getting into the fucking house?”
“I just don’t know who I’m fucking firing at,” I grunt, ducking down again behind one of the ugly statues that seem to line Nico’s house in the weirdest spots. “Any word from the others?”
“Alessio and Lazaro have been holding off the men trying to get into the north end. Marco’s men, and he’s with them. No sign of Sinead, though. The others are still fighting Giovanni and Ivan’s men at the front. No sign of Orlando yet.”
Fuck, that won’t be good. I don’t like the idea of not knowing where that fucker is, considering how he’s been handling this entire situation. “And what about Nico and Dante? Have they figured everything out with Esposito and Leonardo?”
“Haven’t heard, but they were heading into the passages. Fuck!” He shoots again, firing rapidly at the soldiers still running down the hall toward us.
“We need to get down the hallways,” I yell to Alonzo. “Stop them before they can even get their asses up here. Figure out how they’re getting in.” Alonzo nods, face set, ready.
“Go!” he barks after taking out two more men.
We’re up and moving, in a practiced formation that we’ve been doing together for years.
We make our way down the hall, fast, taking out men as we go.
Before we reach the end of the hall, around a blind corner, I stop and grab one of the guns of the dead men, checking it to make sure that it’s got enough to keep going.
Thank fuck these bastards came prepared. Lazaro does that same, and we keep moving. Our breathing is steady, our steps even and cautious.
When we round the corner, there are only a couple more men, and I see them emerging from the kitchen. “Staff exit,” Lazaro murmurs. “Someone must have either broken down the door or let them in.”
I nod, and we make our way down. I hold up my hand for us to stop though when I hear the voices. Hushed, hurried, angry.
“Hurry the fuck up. We don’t have a lot of fucking time,” one of them hisses.
“Shut the fuck up, boy, or I’ll kill you the minute this is over,” the other hisses back, infuriated.
“If you’d have fucking listened to me in the first fucking place, we’d already be in and in the secret room,” the other snaps. “I told you Ivan was a coward. Where is he? Back in his house like some kind of fucking king and leaving us to do the work he fucking promised he would handle.”
“We’ll deal with him as soon as this is all done. Then we need to find that fucking assassin you hired. Where the fuck are they?”
“They’re here. Ivan keeps denying anything about them, but I know they wouldn’t want to miss out on something like this. Especially with the money and connections I promised them.”
“You mean, I promised them. This will all be mine after this is done, don’t fucking forget that, boy.”
I glance at Alonzo. Looks like we know where Giovanni and Orlando are now. We slink back into the shadows, waiting. We have to time this right. If we want them alive, we have to be careful. As much as I would love to just kill them now, we need them for information.
Though, in truth, the only one I care about getting information out of is Orlando. Giovanni isn’t the one running this show. He might think he is, but it’s all there. He’s slipping, and he’s grasping to try and stay on top.
“That stupid fucker Marco had to try and fuck us over and horn in on our attack,” Giovanni gripes, their voice getting closer. “At least he’s fucking useful for once. Keeps them occupied. And we get rid of more of those Russian fuckers. The less that goes back to Ivan the better.”
“Would you shut up?” Orlando hisses. “We’re trying to sneak in, not announce our presence.”
They walk through the door, and we step out, guns up and aiming at them. They freeze, Orlando’s expression turning furious, while Giovanni’s turns to stone.
“I don’t think they’re excited to see us, Alonzo,” I remark with a smirk, watching Orlando closely. The fucker will try something. It’s written all over his face. He’s operating on anger and temper.
Giovanni and Orlando bring up their guns as well, but we’re already moving.
Alonzo takes down Orlando hard, while I slam my foot into Giovanni’s gut, sending him sprawling.
Unfortunately, his gun goes off, the bullet slicing past my ear, making them ring.
I let out a shout of shock, and pain, giving Giovanni the advantage.
He lashes out his foot, tripping me and sending me to the ground.
I grunt, but recover quickly. No fucking way am I letting this old bastard get any kind leverage on me.
He’s already getting to his feet, ready to run, but once again, I slam my foot into his knee, making him fall to the ground.
“Fucker!” he shouts furiously, trying to breathe through the pain and aim his gun at me again.
I kick his wrist, sending the gun flying.
He shouts in pain, curling his wrist into his chest.
“Maybe if you were actually good at this shit and didn’t send everyone else to do your dirty work, you’d actually have a chance,” I taunt.
His lip curls into a snarl and he stares at me with hatred as I put my gun to the center of his head.
“You have no idea how much I want to put a bullet in your brain right now.”
“Then why don’t you, you fucking coward?”
“Because we have plans for you. But don’t worry, if you want to see how much of a coward I won’t be, I’ll make sure to take the first swing at you.” I give him a cold, ruthless smile.
A small flicker of fear, and then it’s gone and replaced by pure defiance.
He’s going to break fast, even with all his bravado.
Anticipation swells, and I force my gun tighter to his head, making his head jerk back slightly.
My smile grows wider. Yeah, it’s going to be fun in the dungeon with him.
Alonzo and I will get very creative. Though, I really want a piece of Leonardo for what he did to Lucy.
I hope like hell Nico and Dante have that fucker in the basement already.
I hear a grunt, but I don’t look at Alonzo.
He can take care of himself. Giovanni’s eyes are moving, giving away his plan to distract me.
I simply use my other hand to get my phone out and make the call.
“We have Giovanni and Orlando here now. Need a few men to take them down to our accommodations for them.”
“Got it. I’ll get Tino and Franco there with a few men,” Zeno states quickly. “I just got word that Amara took down Esposito and Leonardo in the passages. They’re getting the men to take them down there now.”
Amara did? Huh. I didn’t expect that. I was sure he’d have said Sienna or Rori. Well, I guess there’s a first for everything.
“And the other women? How is Lucy and Soren?” Giovanni’s eyes narrow at the names, but then he resumes trying to figure a way out of this. I see his eyes slide to the gun just out of reach. “Do it and I’ll blow your brains out now and be done with it,” I warn him darkly.
“Lucy and Soren are fine, and so is Kida. They’re back toward Nico’s office. I have them on the cameras and they’re in a good spot if they need to get out of the passages quickly, and I have men stationed outside Nico’s office.”
“Good. Any word on Marco?”
“Papa and Aurelio are handling them, but Alessio is also working with Lazaro now to handle all the shit happening at the front of the property too. It’s a fucking mess everywhere.”
“Well, as long as we’ve got these fuckers, we’ll take what we can.
We’ll wait for the men to get here and take them down to the basement.
” I hang up, but keep an ear out for Alonzo and Orlando, both of whom are still fighting for control.
I hear Alonzo grunt, then snarl, followed by a roar of rage from Orlando.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Orlando reach for his gun, and I know I can’t stay out of it now, but I can’t take the chance of Giovanni getting away. Swiftly, I turn the gun, slamming it down on the side of his head, making him grunt and sprawl to the floor unconscious.
I turn quickly and see blood running down the side of Alonzo’s face, the dark anger covering his expression as he slams his giant fist into the side of Orlando’s jaw, timing it perfectly to do it and avoid Orlando’s fist flying at his face. Orlando falls to the floor, letting out a low groan.
“You good?” I ask Alonzo as he swipes a hand at the blood on the side of his face, smearing it.
“Fucker is on something, no fucking way he should be fighting that hard,” Alonzo spits. He glares down at Orlando, who tries to force himself up, but then sinks back to the ground.
“Urso said men are on their way to get these two. Nico and Dante have Esposito and Leonardo. That just leaves Marco.”
“Someone saw him?” he asks, swiping at his head again.