Chapter Fifteen
Matteo Costello
The impact threw my head forward, and I barely managed to swerve past a light pole before crashing the car into the side of a building. Screams from the street beyond brought my attention back to the present as my head swam. I moved a hand to the back of where my neck had cracked a handful of times and winced.
I glanced over at where Lilianna had already unfastened her belt. Her pained grimace grounded me as I grabbed for the handle of my door and pushed.
It didn’t budge.
The hood of the car smoked, and my side had taken the brunt of the impact. The mangled metal kept my door closed securely, but Lilianna managed to prop her door open far enough to squeeze through.
Gunshots exploded from behind us, and she squealed, ducking back into the car.
On instinct, I flung my body over hers. I glanced through the still intact rear window and saw the driver of the other car reloading a rifle in the front seat.
I grabbed my sidearm from my holster and lifted it, pulling the trigger twice. My ears rang from the sound inside the enclosed car, but the man jerked back and went limp.
“We’ve got to go!” I bellowed. Lilianna nodded, but she was already on it, slipping out the car door that she had managed to push slightly ajar again. I followed, using my body to shield her as much as possible. “I don’t know how many hostiles there are.”
“They got away,” Lilianna whispered, staring toward where the Petrov’s car had vanished with narrowed eyes.
“We’ll worry about that later.”
A few pedestrians rushed toward us to ask if we were all right, but I ignored all of them as a distant gunshot sounded. The sound of metal colliding with the car had me shoving Lilianna forward and toward the nearest building. The pedestrians around us scattered immediately, taking cover as if they were the ones being targeted.
She stumbled forward, and I noticed a jagged cut across her thigh. “Can you walk?”
“I’m fine,” Lilianna shouted as she continued on. Another gunshot.
This time, I heard the bullet graze by my ear as we opened the side door to the building and threw ourselves inside.
The dimness of the hallway made me blink a few times as my eyes adjusted, but Lilianna didn’t seem to notice. “Do we have a plan?” she asked.
“Higher ground,” I ordered. “There were at least two more shooters, but likely more. We need to get as far away as possible so we don’t get pinned down, and then we’ll call for backup.”
“Matteo, if we call backup, there’s going to be a lot of bloodshed.”
“That’s why we’re going to try to get away first.” I reached forward and pulled the gun from the harness she wore, handing it to her. “If you see anyone with a weapon, shoot first and ask questions later.”
“That’s what Silas always used to tell me,” she whispered, taking a deep breath and loading her gun. I saw the steely look in her eyes. “You were right. We should have killed them when we had the chance.”
I nodded. “I didn’t want to be. Keep close.”
I took off toward the short hallway in the building, looking for an elevator or stairwell as I held my sidearm close to my body. I took a mental catalog of my weapons. The rifle had been left in the car, but I had three pistols—one at each hip and one at my ankle. I had two knives strapped to my bulletproof vest and a pocketknife.
The small arsenal would have to be enough.
We pushed through a large metal door and found ourselves in an open room, elevators on the back wall. A receptionist sat in the center of the room with a smile as she glanced over at us. A large sign over her head said, “Harley and Williams ” .
A fucking attorney’s office.
“Hello,” the receptionist said, her voice cutting off as her head flung backward and blood sprayed.
“Get to the elevator,” I shouted at Lilianna, pointing to the already open doors as the young receptionist fell to the floor in a puddle of her blood. I didn’t hesitate to lift my weapon and fire twice. The shooter dropped his gun with the first shot, and he fell back as the second bullet ripped through his throat.
A woman stepped forward, and Lilianna fired two shots. Both ripped through her chest, sending her backward and into the glass doors behind her. They shattered on impact.
When I looked at Lilianna, I found her already running toward the elevators.
“I think we need that backup!” she shrieked as another man rushed into the building, spotting us just before the elevator closed us inside. I hit the button for the rooftop as I pulled my phone from my pocket.
“I was wrong about you,” I admitted as I dialed Anthony’s number. “Your heart isn’t too soft.”
She tightened her mouth as she looked at me, but Anthony answered before she could respond. “What’s up, boss?”
“I need backup at the Harley and Williams attorney office. We’re pinned down.”
“Fuck,” Anthony cursed, moving around. “We don’t keep guys out there. It’s too close to the Russians’ territory, and we didn’t want a turf war.”
“I know where we keep our soldiers, Anthony,” I bellowed through the phone. “Get them here.”
“ Fuck. I’m adding Marcus to the line to see what else we can do. I’m all the way out in New Rochelle right now. I won’t be able to be there for an hour minimum. Hide in a closet or something, Matteo.”
My jaw clenched. “They saw us come into this building. We can’t allow ourselves to be cornered.
“Where are the men we sent you?” he yelled into the line. “Jesus, Christ, Matteo. There was backup at the shop. People on the streets. Where are they?”
We’d only been able to assign a handful of men and we couldn’t bring them with us–not without being caught following the Russians. “They’re back at the tech shop. Send them.”
He went silent, and within a moment, Marcus’s voice came on the line. “Hey, man. Did you catch the game?”
Anthony’s firm voice filled the line. “Matteo is pinned down in Russian territory.”
“Fuck,” Marcus mumbled as he began clicking away on a keyboard. Anthony relayed the information I had given him, and I tucked the phone into my vest pocket, putting it on speaker.
“We’re heading to the roof. I’ll let you know if anything changes.”
As the elevator continued rising, Anthony shouted demands at Marcus. He asked for the number and location of the enemy. He demanded backup from the men who were serving as lookouts. As always, Marcus was on it. He was sending the whole damn cavalry, but we’d need to survive until they got here.
The elevator opened, and I stepped out first, scanning the rooftop for any sign of life. Lilianna still had her gun in her hand, likely deciding that carrying it was the safest option.
Once we both stepped out, I shot the control panel once. The lights went out, and the door didn’t close as it lost all function.
Before we could take a breath, the ping of gunfire had both Lilianna and I ducking behind a large metal pipe. “How do they already have a sniper in position?” she asked, cursing under her breath.
“I can’t get any security cameras in the area. They’re all closed-circuit. No street cameras or government cameras either. It was why I couldn’t track the Petrovs,” Marcus fumed.
The door to the stairwell flung open a few yards in front of us, and I lifted my gun, firing into the head of the first man to come through it. Another came, and I fired again.
“We only have so much ammunition,” I growled as the sniper continued firing. “And I don’t know where this fucking sniper is. Backup is useless if we can’t move.”
We were stuck between a rock and a hard place.
The sniper would kill us if we gave him a shot. Judging by the trajectory of the bullets, the sniper stood somewhere behind us, but if we moved from our spot, he’d surely capture us in his sights.
We couldn’t hold up in the elevator after I’d disabled it. We couldn’t go down the stairwell when we had no idea how many men were waiting there.
When they exhausted our ammunition, we’d stand no chance.
“Where is the fucking backup!” I exploded, glancing at Lilianna’s fearful expression. She seemed to realize the same things I had considered already.
With a sniper in play, we couldn’t get help on this rooftop even if they arrived in time.
Fuck.
“Matteo,” she panted, firing once as someone else tried to come up the stairwell. Nobody else followed, as if they were trying to think about what to do next. “I don’t know what to do. I’ve never been in a situation like this.”
“We have to wait for backup.”
“Is there a way to fight?” she asked. “The sniper…”
“I don’t know where he is. If we move enough to enter his sights, he’ll kill us. We’re stuck here. We have enough ammunition for now. If backup shows up in time to clear the stairwell, we can wait it out.”
Anthony’s voice filled the silence between us. “We have fifteen men getting strapped up. They should be there in ten. Kirk is closer. He’s only four minutes out.”
“Kirk is our sniper,” I told Lilianna.
I kept my firearm aimed at the door, and a sliver of someone’s body peeked through. I pulled the trigger, and the man cursed explosively. We couldn’t keep this up. Not for long.
“Unless we figure out where their guy is, though…” Lilianna stopped, cutting herself off. Her eyes widened as she gave me a look that told me she had figured something out. She reached for my phone, prying it from my pocket and speaking quietly enough that the men in the stairwell wouldn’t hear. “Anthony, the top of the Trenton Event Center. The sniper is there.”
I considered her words as the stairwell grew too silent for comfort. I narrowed my eyes as I watched it, waiting for someone to come through.
“On it. I’ll send Kirk to a neighboring rooftop. Three minutes out.”
“I found one angle,” Marcus said uneasily. “It looks like a whole team of men are entering the building, Matteo. It looks like Vlad’s main tactical team. They look like a fucking SWAT team. Armed to the teeth. The only Hail Mary we have is that the actual specialist team hasn’t been called in yet, but I’m sure they’ve gotten plenty of calls.”
Sniper. Fully armed team. Fuck .
All the possibilities swirled through my mind. How could we avoid everyone? It wasn’t possible. Not with the sniper in play. But I wouldn’t let them get to Lilianna. Nothing was more important than keeping her safe. Not my life or the lives of my soldiers. Lilianna was mine, and I’d protect her.
“We’re in this together,” I swore, taking a deep breath.
“It’s an estimated three minutes until the adversaries reach you,” Marcus said.
That wasn’t enough time.
“Kirk found a high-rise closer to his location to set up. He’s going up now,” Anthony reported.
It would be close. So damn close.
A handful of men rushed through the stairwell door together. Five of them, all splitting in different directions the moment they left the doorway. They had used their energy running through the doorway, and by the time their weapons were lifted, Lilianna and I were already firing. Only one shot went off target, flying too far to the left before I shot three of them in the chest. Once they fell, I shot them between the eyes. Lilianna took out two of them with impressive aim.
“I’m almost out!” she cried.
I dropped one gun and pulled out the other two, handing her one. “This is it.”
A bullet pinged on the metal wall at our back, serving as a reminder that we couldn’t move. Not an inch. The shots echoed far enough in the distance that I knew no pistol would stand a chance.
“We’re going to make it out of this,” I assured her. Her expression showed her skepticism as her eyes darted between me and the still-open door.
She would, at least. If I had to stand and charge the attackers, I would do it. I didn’t know when the realization hit me fully, but there was no denying it now. I would do what I had to do to save her.
“You’ll be okay,” I told her, pulling myself to my feet in a crouch. The pipe at my back still shielded me, but with my feet under me, I could move more quickly. I still had bullets left, but not many. If another round of men made it to the top of the stairwell, I’d need to move.
If I moved, I’d draw their attention away from Lilianna.
I couldn’t count on Kirk making it in time. Not when I could hear the Russians storming up the stairs. There wasn’t time, and there weren't many options.
“Matteo!” she shouted as I took one step.
A distant shot sounded, and Anthony spoke. “Kirk got the sniper.”
Lilianna stood alongside me, and we rushed toward the doorway, slamming it shut. I leaned into the thick metal door as Lilianna scoured the ground and found a rusted pipe, half squashed. She slammed it beneath the door and kicked it, lodging it in place.
“We need a plan.”
“Half of the backup team just pulled up,” Marcus said as the door banged loudly.
It would bend and break long before the men made it up to us. It would hold for a few minutes, but I doubted it would hold long enough.
I took a deep breath and stepped back, looking at Lilianna. “Go and find somewhere to hide,” I told her.
“No.”
“Lili—”
“I’m going to fight right beside you until help gets here.”
There was a banging sound again, and a man swearing on the other side of the door. How much longer would this last? “We’re going to be fine, Matteo. You said it first.”
“We will,” I replied.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
How the fuck was the pipe still holding?
Bang.
The pipe slid across the floor, revealing a crack in the door.
Then, the banging stopped, replaced by the sound of gunfire erupting and men shouting. I waited until the shouting died down, my pistol trained on the door.
“Boss, we’re clear.”
Lilianna exhaled a shaky sob as she lowered her gun and leaned into the wall beside the door. “Jesus,” she cried. “Oh my God.”
We knew we were in a heap of danger, but today had cemented that. This threat was real, and we wouldn’t hesitate next time we had the opportunity to take the Petrovs out. We couldn’t.
Not if we wanted to survive this.