Chapter 75
As a security precaution, the back door to Bianca’s shop had a deadbolt and an electronic keypad lock.
Outside the Rosolini family, only two people had the keys and passcode: me and Vincenzo.
I pulled out my keychain, unlocked the deadbolt, punched in the code, and opened the door a crack.
Then I drew my gun and peeked inside.
A cluttered storeroom lay between me and the front of the shop.
Nobody was in the storeroom –
But I could clearly hear yelling at the front of the shop.
“Get out of here NOW,” Bianca shouted, “or I’m calling my husband!”
“Call him,” one of the track-suited goons said in a sinister voice. “We wanna talk to him.”
His accent was from Naples.
They’re Camorra, I realized in shock.
What the fuck is the Camorra doing in Florence?!
My heart started pounding –
But hundreds of hours of training with Lars kicked in.
I walked quietly but quickly through the storeroom, my gun held out in a shooter’s pose, my finger outside the trigger guard. I didn’t want to accidentally shoot one of the women.
“You don’t know who you’re fucking with, asshole!” Lucia yelled.
“You don’t shut the fuck up, bitch, I’ll be fucking you in just a minute,” another man shouted in a Neapolitan accent.
“Try it, asshole, and I’ll cut your dick off,” Lucia snarled.
I was almost to the partitioned wall that separated the back from the front when one of the men did something that made both women scream.
“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!” Lucia hollered.
“STOP IT!” Bianca shrieked.
Shit –
Does he have a gun?!
No time to play it safe.
I stepped out from behind the wall.
In a split second, I took in the scene.
Bianca and Lucia were to my right behind the counter.
The two thugs were standing 15 feet away amongst the displays.
One had a pistol pointed at the women.
The other held something he’d pulled out of the paper bag:
A Molotov cocktail.
A large glass bottle with liquid inside and a rag stuffed into the neck.
I could smell the gasoline fumes from here.
He’d already lit the cloth. The Zippo lighter was still in his right hand.
As soon as I stepped forward, the movement drew the two thugs’ attention.
They looked over at me in almost comical shock.
By then, my finger was on the trigger.
“DOWN!” I shouted.
It wasn’t for the men. It was for Lucia and Bianca –
Who both dove to the floor as I opened fire.
BLAM BLAM!
I hit the gunman with a double-tap to the chest.
He went keeling over backwards.
The other guy looked down at his buddy in shock.
“Back out of the shop slowly,” I ordered him.
He looked at me –
And pure hatred twisted his expression.
His arm reared back to throw the Molotov cocktail.
If he hit the wall behind Bianca and Lucia, they would get covered in flaming gasoline.
I had no choice.
BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM!
His torso exploded with red.
As he fell backwards, the bottle slipped out of his grasp.
The glass shattered on the hard tile floor –
And an orange fireball exploded into the air.
Lars had told us once that gasoline didn’t just burn – it vaporized quickly.
Now I saw what he meant.
Flames roared up to the ceiling.
The heat blast felt like an oven.
An entire rack of dresses caught fire as burning liquid spread out across the floor, engulfing the two Camorra soldiers’ bodies.
Black smoke was boiling through the air.
“GET UP!” I screamed as I backed away from the liquid fire and holstered my gun.
Bianca and Lucia both stood up behind the counter and stared at the rapidly growing flames.
“Oh shit,” Lucia whispered in horror.
“OH GOD!” Bianca screamed.
“OUT!” I yelled as I grabbed them both by the arm and hustled them towards the back.
“NO!” Bianca shrieked in desperation.
I pulled them both into the storeroom. Bianca fought me all the way.
“GIORGIO, PLEASE – ”
“We have to get out of here!” I yelled, then kicked open the back door.
I pushed both women into the alleyway and slammed the door shut.
“NOOOO!” Bianca screamed.
I dragged her over to the café door and pounded my fist against it three times.
When Emilia opened up, her eyes were wide with panic.
“I heard a gun – oh my god!” she exclaimed as she saw Bianca bawling.
I pushed Bianca inside the doorway and motioned Lucia to follow. Then I shut the door behind us and bolted it.
Emilia held Bianca, who collapsed into her embrace and wept.
“Keep Bianca here,” I ordered Emilia and Lucia. “Do NOT let her back into the alley – unless you hear anyone come into the café. If you do, take her out the back door and RUN.”
“Where are you going?!” Emilia asked, her face white as a sheet.
“To get the last one,” I snarled as I pulled my gun and ran for the front of the café.