Chapter Twenty-Six
Lilianna Genovese
“Do we try to make it out of the building?” I asked as Matteo strapped on an obscene number of weapons over his outfit. He wore dark jeans and a muscle T, but it was the weapons that held my attention most—half a dozen guns, a dozen different styles and shapes of blades, and a set of brass knuckles.
Matteo handed over two guns and pressed a knife in my direction. I threw my clothes on and strapped the vest over them before I took on the weight of each of the guns. Neither was identical to that of the gun Matteo had given me, but they would work. I strapped the knife to a slot in my bulletproof vest.
Would I need bullets?
“There’s a panic room off the office. I chose this building because of its structural integrity. It’s not going to fall no matter how many explosives they plant.”
A panic room?
“There’s been a panic room this whole time?” I shouted at him, reminiscing on my near-death experience with two assailants a few weeks ago.
“I had it installed after the incident. They just completed it within the last week.”
“I didn’t notice anyone,” I remarked.
“I didn’t let them on the premises while you were here,” he scoffed coolly. “You think I would trust unknown men in this house with you? They were only permitted to come while we were out working.”
I exhaled a long breath. “Okay, we need to get Callum first. My gun is on the dresser in there,” I said, moving toward the doorway.
His hand wrapped around my wrist and pulled me back. His eyes were hard as he shook his head. “You’re not going first. We don’t know if anyone’s gotten into the apartment.”
“If they had, your guards would have alerted you.” But as soon as I said it, I wasn’t so sure. “Callum—”
“Stay close,” he demanded, barging through his office door. Another explosion came from below, followed by a series of rapid gunshots. All semblance of ecstasy faded away as I realized how severe this threat could be.
Something wasn’t adding up. Why hadn’t Matteo been getting calls and texts from his guards after the first explosion?
“We need to call for backup,” I whispered from behind him.
“I texted Anthony. They should be on the way.”
I thought about the way he’d tucked his phone into his pocket after typing out a quick message after getting dressed. It would have to do. Backup couldn’t be far. Not when there was likely already a call from one of the guards to alert them. There were too many people patrolling the area for this coup to work. Too many variables that Vlad and Aelita could never control. We were in the heart of Matteo’s territory.
Realistically, we should have heard word of the attack before feeling the explosions.
We should have gotten word by now that something was happening.
I grabbed the back of Matteo’s shirt and pulled him to a stop. We needed to get Callum, but we needed to know what kind of threat we were dealing with first.
And I had a really good idea of what was happening.
“Did you get any messages about the attack?” I asked. Matteo shook his head. “Did you make sure your message to Anthony went through?”
He pulled his phone from his pocket and glanced over the screen. His brows drew down, and his jaw clenched. “It didn’t.”
“Frequency jammers,” I told him. “My father used to use them every time he infiltrated a building. It ensured that no backup would be called.”
Matteo shoved his phone away and narrowed his eyes as he looked at the end of the hallway.
“Then they’re already here,” he growled, glancing back at me. “We clear the main room and block off the exits. You go and get Callum and take him to the panic room. It’s the only other door in the office.” He paused as if considering. “But my fingerprints are the only ones that will open the door.”
“I can hold them off while you get Callum,” I assured him.
“I can’t leave you alone,” he said, pursing his lips. A crash came from the main room, and I straightened. “Fuck, we don’t have time.”
Matteo and I moved in sync, rushing toward the main room and assessing the damages. The front door had been slammed open, and half a dozen men with guns had rushed inside. Matteo ducked behind the couch as they all aimed their firepower at him. I rushed past the main room and straight for the kitchen, taking another vantage as I began firing from the side.
I didn’t focus on hitting one specific man. I emptied the gun into the crowd of six men and watched them fall. Only one of them fired back, likely in an attempt to preserve his life.
They wanted me alive, and five of the six men had planned on following that order.
“Are you good?” I shouted at Matteo.
“Fine. You?”
“They don’t want me dead. Get Callum to the room, and I’ll try to secure the entrance.”
Matteo looked torn as he considered his options. Leaving me was the last thing he wanted to do, but if he were to carry Callum out of the room and across the penthouse to the office, he’d need both hands. He needed a clear path, and only I could give that to him.
Alternatively, I could have carried Callum, but then Matteo would be pulling fire in our direction by following us. Plus, only he could open the room.
I had to be between them and the weapons.
“Matteo, go!” I shouted, leaving no room for questions.
The double doors leading to the balcony shattered open, and two men slammed through, wearing what looked like rappelling harnesses. I took a brief moment to glance out the window and found ropes dangling from the roof above. Fuck.
“ Go !” I shouted to Matteo. “Be a father.”
The words seemed to get him moving. He fired two more shots, taking out the two men who had barged through the balcony door before disappearing into Callum’s room.
Almost immediately, two more men dropped to the ground, working to unhook their harnesses.
I stayed in the main room just long enough to watch Matteo carry a sleeping Callum across the penthouse and toward the office. Nobody came through the front door. I couldn’t be in two places at once, and I needed to take care of the most significant threat now—the two men on the balcony.
I focused my full attention on the men unfastening themselves from their harnesses. I couldn’t allow anyone to see where we were heading, or they’d try to force their way into the panic room.
If we didn’t get backup soon, I knew they’d be able to break into it. If they couldn’t break into it, I wouldn’t put it past them to burn down the whole floor to force us out.
If they knew we were inside, they would be relentless.
Time wasn’t on our side, and I prayed someone had managed to get the word out for help.
I needed to keep as many people out of the apartment as possible, and that meant stopping anyone else from rappelling onto the balcony. The front door would be next.
I sprinted to the shattered doors and didn’t hesitate before launching myself at the man nearest to the edge. He looked severely unprepared, having just unfastened his harness. With all my body weight, I shoved him over the railing, and he toppled backward, clinging to my shirt for just a moment before I threw myself back and broke free.
I had a brief second to glance over the ledge. His body hit the railing of the balcony beneath with a hard smack before falling to the streets below.
I turned and faced the second man. His tactical belt held both a firearm harness and a few straps for knives, and he reached for it, but I didn’t allow him to get that far. I slammed my hand into his wrist and kicked him back toward the ledge.
Unlike his friend, he was prepared. He caught his balance easily and grabbed the front of my shirt, pulling me into his body. He turned in a way that had my back resting on the railing, and he pushed my chest backward until I dangled over it.
I never realized how strong the wind was so high up in the New York skyline. It beat my hair around my face as I hung there, using only the man’s arm to keep me steadied on the balcony. “You killed my friend, bitch.”
I spit in his face, clinging to him for dear life. I wrapped both legs around his waist to keep myself steady.
If I went over, he’d be coming with me.
He tried to push me, but when he realized the grip I had on him, he pulled us both back, throwing me to the ground instead.
I couldn’t allow myself to think. I had to act, and I had to act quickly.
I reached for the knife that Matteo had given me and stood, plunging it forward as quickly as possible. It met skin and tore the man’s stomach open. He hunched over, wrapping a hand around the bleeding flesh. I kicked out, catching him in the arm as I grabbed my second gun and pulled the trigger.
He crashed into the patio furniture before falling to the ground.
I tucked the gun back into the holster and immediately moved toward where the ropes had been dangling from above. I tugged one of them hard, but it didn’t budge. It had been set to hold the weight of a grown man, so tugging would prove useless.
Think, Lilianna, think.
I glanced up toward the roof where the men had rappelled down from, and I saw where the rope had been tied. Nobody else stood up there, but it was only a matter of time before someone else made it up there…
A crash came from inside the house, and I turned, eyeing where Matteo held off three men on his own.
These ropes didn’t matter. Not when there was another imminent threat to deal with.
I turned and ran toward the front door. Matteo didn’t break his focus, but I knew that if he’d come back, Callum was safe, likely still sleeping in the safe room. We couldn’t retreat until everyone was taken care of, and if I was right about the people on the balcony below, I knew they’d be up here sooner rather than later.
The only stairs to this part of the building were typically sealed by Matteo’s security system and multiple locks. I’d need to check it and keep people from the elevator. Then, we should have enough time to get to the panic room.
It would have to work.
My plan ran through my mind as I rushed past Matteo and into the hallway. I glanced first toward the stairwell, finding that the security measures were still in place. The guards who had been stationed there were each down, lying eerily still. The blood oozing from their various wounds told me all I needed to know.
Dead. Everyone was dead.
My eyes moved to the elevator, and when it dinged, my body went rigid.
The doors slid open, and six men rushed out, all holding weapons.
I immediately reached for the gun at my side and pulled it free, but they were on me too fast. Too many of them. I kicked out my legs in an attempt to hold two of them back, but two more rounded my sides, grabbing my arms. My gun fell to the ground, clattering to the feet of another of the men. Too many. Too many.
I could hold off one or two men, but not six. I flailed and threw my body weight in all directions, hoping to incapacitate even one of them. If I could get to my gun, maybe I’d stand a chance.
I opened my mouth to scream for Matteo, but a sharp on the back of my head made everything go dark.