Chapter 49 #2
“No fucking clue, but I doubt he’d miss his chance to take over this place and get to whatever it is that Orlando was talking about.
The secret room.” I flashed a foot out and kicked Orlando in the ribs as he once again tried to get to his feet.
He falls, groaning, finally just lying his head on the ground.
It’s disappointing considering how hard I figured he would fight. I was looking forward to it. Ah, well, there’s more to come. A small hum of anticipation builds in my gut at the thought again.
It’s almost over.
Alonzo looks at me, but something catches his eye over my shoulder, and his eyes widen slightly. I’m turning, gun up, but even before I’m completely around, I see Giovanni kneeling unsteadily, gun raised, hand and arm shaking, face covered in blood, with a look of determination covering his face.
The sound of a gun firing fills the hall.
I stare down at myself, sure that I’m going to see a hole for my carelessness, but nothing.
I whip my head looking at Alonzo, but he just stares past me, and I see Giovanni slumped over on the floor, something sticking out of his neck.
I whip my head around, trying to figure out where the shot came from.
My jaw drops when I see Amara standing there, Rori right behind her, eyes wide, as she stares at Amara. Amara gives a little finger wave before she takes off again, Rori running after her, Hades hot on her tail.
“What the fuck?” Alonzo hisses.
I’m already moving to check out what Giovanni has sticking out of his neck. The dart is small, with a feathered end, like the ones you see that they use to tranquillize animals. “Where the fuck did she get that?”
“Rori probably fucking gave it to her,” Alonzo gripes as he quickly moves to grab the guns on the floor. We don’t need another repeat of that. “I’m just glad she didn’t tell her to fucking aim that at me.”
I have to agree. Though Lazaro isn’t going to be fucking happy about this. I should run after her, put her back with the other women, but if she’s wielding that around, I don’t need her shooting at me.
By the time we finally get Giovanni and Orlando to the basement, Nico and Dante have Leonardo and Esposito there as well. The only one missing is Marco.
Leonardo and Esposito are both still unconscious, their eyes closed and heads bowed as they hang suspended from the ceiling.
We get Giovanni in the same position, but Orlando wakes up long enough to try and fight us.
Thankfully, one more hard punch to the face has him dazed enough that by the time he manages to get his wits about him, it’s too late.
“I can’t wait to fucking kill you,” Orlando rages, struggling against the chains.
“I really wish we had whatever it was that Amara shot at Giovanni, because it’d be real fucking handy right now,” Alonzo remarks mildly. Instead, he slams his fist into Orlando’s gut, making him gasp and gag. “That’ll have to work for now.”
“Has anyone told Lazaro that his woman is running around with a tranq gun?” I ask the others. Nico and Dante stare at me. “Yeah, okay, good to know.” I look at Alonzo. “You’re in charge of keeping him from killing us all.” Alonzo rolls his eyes but he doesn’t disagree.
Suddenly, the door slams open, and in comes Alessio and Lazaro, dragging an unconscious Marco.
A trail of blood follows in his wake. “Fucker is probably going to die before we get to question him,” Alessio grits out, temper flaring in his eyes.
“One of the men was a bit too quick on the trigger, and got him in the gut.”
“Fuck,” I hiss. It takes Lazaro, Alonzo, and me to get him hoisted up in the chains.
“What the fuck has he been eating?” I gripe when I finally step away.
“Fucker, you’ve gotten fucking lazy. Where’s the bullet?
” Lazaro pulls back Marco’s suitcoat, and I see the dark, thick blood seeping from the wound in his gut.
“Fuck. If we want any information, we need to get it out of him now.”
Lazaro slaps him across the face, making Marco groan, his head roll. He sluggishly opens his eyes, glazed with pain, and already fading.
“Do you know where the fourth girl is?” I demand harshly. “And where is Seamus? Did you kill him too?”
Marco starts to laugh. Low, agonized, but it’s there. Taunting. “Fuck…you.”
Lazaro simply takes his fist, and presses the knuckles hard over Marco’s wound, making his face go ashen, and a sound of agony falls from his mouth.
“This is your only chance. No one will ever remember you for anything but losing the battle you fucking started,” he warns him coldly. “Start talking.”
“Y-y-yo-o-u’v-v-ve a-a-alre-e-ady l-l-ost,” he stutters out weakly.
“I’m sure that’s supposed to be something revolutionary, but you’re clearly slipping into delirium," Alessio remarks, sounding bored, but I see the sharpness in his eyes. “Your men are dead. Including the only brothers you had left that were on your side.”
“F-f-fuck ‘em. W-w-orthles-s-s.”
He’s fading, his voice weaker, and his eyes dulling further.
Nico stalks forward and lands a hard punch to his face, a mask of utter fury on his face. “You don’t get to die without paying for what you did to Gia,” he hisses. “For all the times you beat her, tried to break her. You can rot in hell and watch her live her life thriving without you.”
Something flashes in his eyes. Regret? Nah, the guy doesn’t regret a fucking thing. “S-sh-sh-e’ll die soon enough.”
“We stopped that plot, so I don’t think you’re going to like the ending,” I sneer.
Marco shakes his head slightly. “Boom.” Then he’s gone, dangling lifelessly.
“Did he just say boom?” Dante demands, face hard.
I nod. “Did he just tell us that he planted another bomb?” A cold chill slips down my back.
“Dante!” Nico barks, already turning to run for the door.
Before we can reach it, the door slams open, and in walks Rori and Hades, Sinead in front of them, clutching her arm to her chest where it bleeds and looks like it’s been torn to shreds. I blink and look at Hades, who is watching the woman with a clear desire to take her down again.
“Deal with her,” Rori barks to us.
Sinead turns, ready to try and run, but Hades slams his big body into her, sending her sprawling to the floor with a scream, before stepping on her chest, snapping his teeth in her face. The utter terror on Sinead’s face has her sobbing. “Get him away. Get off. Off. Please. Please,” she begs.
“Hades,” Rori barks, and Hades immediately is off her and back at Rori’s side. Her face is full of exhaustion, but her eyes are hard and determined. She looks at Alonzo. “There’s a bomb in the north part of the house. We’ve already got it dismantled.”
“We?” Alonzo barks, rushing forward, but skids to a stop when Hades snaps at him in warning. Alonzo’s eyes narrow.
Rori looks at him, and my stomach tightens at the regret and sadness in her eyes. I don’t have a good feeling about this. “Just handle her. The women are safe in Nico’s office. I’ll be there soon.” Then she turns and takes off running, Hades hot on her heels.
“Dante, get the feed to my office, now,” Nico barks.
“Already done. She’s right. They’re all in there now. Men outside the door. Aurelio and Pietro are heading that way. The men outside it look like they have chased off or handled the others.”
“Get men down here to watch these fuckers. Get her up in the chains too,” he adds with a cold look at Sinead who is staggering to her feet.
Alonzo and Lazaro get Sinead strung up, ignoring her screams and attempts to struggle away.
When she’s finally locked up tight, I stare at her.
“You have two options,” I tell her when she finally stops and stares at me.
I expect her to be spitting angry, to fight, but it looks like she’s finally starting to realize the reality.
I don’t miss that they hung her up beside Marco’s lifeless body.
“You can tell us what we want to know now, or we can torture it out of you, and you’ll die harder and slower than you want.
You have five seconds to make the choice. Five.”
“I don’t fucking know anything.”
“Four.”
“I don’t. Please. I don’t.”
“Three.”
“Fuck. I don’t—”
“Two.”
“Okay, okay. What do you want to know?”
“Is there another bomb?”
“No, there's only one. The guys that came in to find the secret entrance put it under the mantel in one of the rooms. It was big enough that it would do some major damage.”
“Why did he only put the one?”
“Because we couldn’t get someone into the rest of the house. Marco tried to bribe the soldiers to put some in each area, but none of them would. Most of them don’t trust that shit.”
Small miracles, I suppose.
“Where is your father?”
“Bunker. On the edge of the territory. Barricaded himself there with his men. C-C-Couldn’t get in. We tried.”
“Is he still alive?”
“As far as I know,” she huffs bitterly. “He’s not fit to lead anymore.
He’s stuck in the past. Tradition. We could have been so much more.
” She shakes her head. “Him and my brother.” Then a sick, cruel twist of her lips.
“It was so fucking good to watch him die. The terror, the realization that he wasn’t as invincible as he always thought. ”
“And your nephews? What did they look like when you murdered them?” Dante demands, coming up to stand beside me.
“They would have grown up to be just little versions of him,” she spits.
Some of the fear is gone now. Now, the reality of who she is is starting to show.
“And that bitch of a wife of his was no better. Always talked down to me because she married Declan. She was nothing.” Then she laughs.
“I enjoyed watching her pain while I killed her children. Though that started her crying and screaming, and it was fucking annoying. It was so nice and quiet once she was dead.”
I glance at Alessio, who comes to stand on the other side of me. The woman is fucking nuts. The question is, do we kill her or send her back to her father to deal with? I already know what my answer to that is going to be.
The door opens and in walks four of our best men, Tino, Lucino, Franco, and Titus, all of whom look a little worse for wear, but at least alive.
“Guard them. Any of them try to escape, shoot them,” I order.
For now, I need to get back to Lucy and Soren.
I need to see for myself that they’re alright.
All of this, it’s finally over. The soldiers left over will be rounded up and dealt with, but first, the only thing I care about is my woman and son.
The others must feel the same because they’re hot on my heels.
When we got to Nico’s office, the women crowded around the desk, Amara in Nico’s chair, holding Soren and a soft smile on her face.
“What the fuck was that?” Sienna demands, hands on her hips as she stares at Amara.
“I know you’re smart, but where the hell did you figure out how to shoot like that? ”
“I don’t know, it just came naturally,” Amara shrugs. “And honestly, when I saw him looking at Soren, it freaked me out.”
“Where did you get the tranq gun?” Gia demands.
“Rori gave it to me,” she answers. “Said just in case she wanted someone else to have something.”
“Thank fuck, honestly,” Sienna agrees. Then she turns her head around. “Where is Rori?”
“What the fuck do you mean, how did she know how to shoot like that?” Lazaro barks as he charges into the room, his eyes pinned to Amara, face twisted in fury. “Who the fuck were you shooting at?”
“The bad guys, obviously,” Amara laughs, before looking at Soren. “Your uncle is just being too overprotective, isn’t he?”
“I’m going to tan your ass,” Lazaro seethes. “You won’t be able to walk for a week.”
“With what you’re packing, I’m surprised I can walk now,” she quips back, looking far too smug and satisfied.
Lucy quickly moves to my arms, hugging me tight.
I ignore whatever Lazaro and Amara are bickering about, and lift her into my arms, slamming my mouth to hers.
She kisses me back, desperately, as she clings to me.
When I finally yank my mouth from hers, I just press my forehead to hers.
“I was so fucking terrified when I heard they were in the passages,” I whisper. “Fuck.”
“We’re okay. Rori, Sienna, and Amara saved us,” she whispered. “Is it over, Massimo? All of this? Is it done now?”
“It’s done, cerbiatta. We’ve got them all. All of this is done.”
“Thank God.” I just hold her tight for another moment, before I finally put her back on her feet, and I keep her tucked tight to my side.
I step forward and shove Lazaro aside, where he’s still glaring furiously at a grinning Amara. “Argue with her later, I want my son and I won’t have you scaring him,” I scold him. Lazaro glares at me, but nods before holding a hand out to Amara expectantly.
“I’m afraid I can’t hand him back yet,” Amara tells me apologetically.
I smile. “I know he’s adorable, little sister, but I want my son.”
Before she can answer, the door to the office opens and a gasp fills the room. I turn my head and freeze.
In walks Rori, Hades…and Amara.
What the fuck?