9
Enzo
T he police officer was easy to distract. Too easy. There was no way he could keep Amara safe.“I need one of you to stay here and watch her while I get my sister back,” I barked, turning to Ludovic, Vitali, and Luca. “That pig is useless.”
“I’ll do it,” Ludovic sighed. “If any of you others do it, you’ll end up killing someone. Save all that energy for Sofia.”
I glared at him. “If anything happens to her…”
“I’ll guard her with my life,” Ludovic promised. “Go. Get your sister. Bring her home safe.”
I gave him a curt nod before turning to Vitali and Luca and motioning for them to accompany me.
We wandered the streets for a bit, looking for a car to hotwire. Vitali picked a sleek black sedan and went to work on it.
“That was fucking crazy,” Luca exclaimed.
“Oh yeah,” I agreed, thinking back to our escape.
Prisoners ran everywhere, smashing everything they could find. After knocking them out, they grabbed the guards' lighters and set the place on fire. Screaming guards ran as shouts rang and bullets flew. It was chaos and the perfect diversion for us to get away.
We dragged some guards into a utility closet and exchanged clothes where we knew there were no cameras. When we came out, the inmates recognized us with our tattoos and faces and left us alone. We used the guards’ keycards and got out of there, our heads down so the cameras couldn’t make out our faces. Whichever dumbasses they left to man things while the riot was ongoing weren’t too bright. But the important thing was that we got out.
We immediately got into one of the guards’ cars and sped off. No one came after us, and we whooped and hollered with joy.
We made a pit stop at Sofia’s house, where we got some clothes from her husband. The kids were asleep, and the teary-eyed man told us what happened. He was at work, the kids were in school, and Sofia had the day off doing housework and running errands. They ambushed her in her own home, breaking in and dragging her away, kicking and screaming. The kids returned to an empty house and called their father, who rushed home. She was already gone.
The engine roared to life. “Come on, Enzo, let’s go!” Vitali hollered, opening the doors for me and Luca.
We hopped in, and Vitali gave me the driver’s seat. “What was Sacha’s last name again?” I asked through gritted teeth as I drove away from the shelter.
“Sokolov,” he replied, his tone as grim as my thoughts.
“Fuck,” I muttered, veering hard to the left. The Solokovs were a powerful family in the Russian mafia, and they would’ve taken my sister as revenge for killing Sacha. If she wasn’t dead already.
“We need a plan,” Luca began. “We can’t just go in there with guns blazing.”
“Speaking of guns…” Vitali snorted, tossing each of us the guard’s guns, tasers, and batons. “This is a good start, but we’ll need more. Let’s go home and round up the boys.”
“That’s where the police will look for us first,” I shook my head. “We’ll have to call them and tell them to meet us there. They just kidnapped the Ricci mafia princess. There’s no way they’re not already en route to get her back.”
Luca grabbed the phone I used to call Amara, and he quietly dialed a set of digits before putting the phone to his ear. “Yeah, Ivan? It’s the Solokovs, they have Sofia. Round up all the boys. This means war.”
I smirked as I sped up. They wouldn’t go down without a fight, but killing is what I lived for. They’d have to cut off my arms and legs to keep me from eliminating them all now.
“What’s a couple more life sentences?” Vitali shrugged. “Ludovic might get out in a few years, but us three? We’re lifers. Might as well make it worth something.”
I gave him a curt nod as I reached the highway, nearly deserted at night. With Amara burned in my brain, I knew I couldn’t take as many risks as I used to. I needed to keep her safe from whatever danger she faced, as that cop proved. I wasn’t allowed to die today. Not as long as she still breathed air.
I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and the blood roaring in my ears. The road blurred before me as I sped up, racing down the streets to get to my sister. Rage bubbled up inside me, and my knuckles turned white on the steering wheel.
“Maybe I should drive,” Luca mumbled as he observed me. “Don’t get us killed or caught before we even get there.”
“He won’t,” Vitali assured him. “He’ll do whatever it takes to save Sofia. Besides, we’re almost there.”
He was right. I wasn’t sure how long I was raging at the wheel, but a few more minutes and we’d be there. I glanced at some cars nearby and recognized some of them. We weren’t going in alone.
“That was fast,” Vitali smirked as he recognized our henchmen. “No one fucks with the Ricci family.”
I floored the gas, shooting through the night as fast as this car could, and didn’t stop until we reached the Solokov safehouse. I skidded the car to a halt, parking it before all three of us jumped out. Several cars pulled up behind me, the drivers coming out with guns drawn, machetes in hand, ready for anything.
I motioned for the others to go in the front door and make a lot of noise while Luca, Vitali, and I crept toward the back. That’s where they’d run out to escape, and we’d be ready.
My henchmen banged on the front door before busting it down, and I heard multiple gunshots as they pushed their way through.
I heard thundering steps moving toward the backdoor, and I smirked, kicking it down in one fell swoop. The door crashed into the house, and a dozen Solokov minions stared at me in horror.
I launched myself at a man, pressing the taser in his neck as he shook violently, foaming at the mouth. Another man jumped on me, and I flipped him, pressing my gun in his face, and shot him between the eyes.
Luca and Vitali were spraying bullets, mowing through the Solokov men, their expressions grim and serious.
I was smiling, laughing as I aimed and fired, taking down as many of the Solokov fuckers as I could. My senses sharpened as I heard muffled screams, and my gun clicked, empty.
“Bullets,” I called, and one of my henchmen threw something at me, but it wasn’t bullets, I realized as I caught it.
It was a fucking machete.
I grinned, let my fury take over, and dashed toward the screaming.
It sounded like a woman, and I prayed that it was Sofia.
I burst through the door, and a man was holding a gun to my sister’s head, the other hand on her mouth.
But I was too fast.
Before he could say anything, I sliced, cutting his fucking hand off that held the gun. He screamed, his blood spraying all over Sofia as she shouted, ducking as I stabbed through the man’s throat, cackling as his blood sleuthed down my blade.
“What the fuck, Enzo!” Sofia shouted, trembling in her crouched position. “He could’ve shot me!”
“Nice to see you, too, sis. It’s been a few years,” I taunted, turning and slicing through another man rushing me. “How have you been?”
“Fuck off,” she spat, standing on shaky legs as she held on to the wall.
“You good?” I asked, looking up and down the hallway to ensure it was clear. All I could hear were echoes of gunshots on the other side of the safehouse.
“Just in shock,” she muttered, gripping my arm tightly. “What the fuck did you do to make them come after me, huh?”
“Beat your ex to a pulp,” I shrugged. “Sacha ran his fucking mouth.”
Her head whirled, regarding me with anger before her eyes flashed with something that softened her expression.
“Thank you,” she murmured.
I was taken aback by that, but I couldn’t let anything distract me. I had to get us out safely; now seemed the best time.
I grabbed her wrist and pulled, running for the side door. Luca stumbled after me, and Vitali was still shooting nearby.
I dragged her outside, seeing a few Sokolov stragglers left behind as they ran down the street, shouting for help. I laughed at them as Luca brandished his gun and shot them down one by one.
Sofia cupped her ears as I dragged her into the car I stole, shooting daggers at Vitali as he ran out of the safe house, making a beeline for us. I got in the backseat with my sister as Luca got behind the wheel, and Vitali took the passenger side.
I tossed the keys to Luca as he revved the car and tore out of the driveway, roaring down the highway and taking us away from danger.
“You went soft back there,” Luca exclaimed in astonishment. “You’re usually the one causing the most carnage back there.”
“Shut up, I don’t want to hear this shit!” Sofia shouted. I sighed, put my arm around her, and let her lean on me as she sobbed. She clutched at my hoodie, pulling me to her as she buried her face in my hood, crying her eyes out.
“Did they touch you?” I snarled.
“They fucking tried,” she cried. “I didn’t fucking let them.”
I looked at her arms and noticed that they were bruised and bloody. I fumed, wishing I had made those men suffer slow, horrible deaths like they deserved. But I had to focus on what mattered; my sister was safe now, and I had to return her to her husband.
Then I’d go check on my little lawyer.