32. Massimo
32
MASSIMO
I watched as Matteo pulled Luna away, her tears streaming down her face, calling out for me.
My heart felt fractured.
We had been prepared for an attack in Las Vegas ever since we bombed the Bratva’s warehouses in Chicago.
But fuck, at my sister’s party?
I looked around for my men, whom we had around the perimeter. They were making their way in, but even I knew we were outnumbered, especially when the Bratva weren’t alone.
They came with friends.
I had spotted several men donning Devil’s Wings MC cuts and a few more of the traitors who had followed Andre. I fired several rounds of bullets, but they were like fucking cockroaches. Where one fell, a few more took their place.
We could have taken on the Bratva and Lombardis, but the MC?
I underestimated just how much Cameron O’Connor had been able to recruit in recent years. Judging by their lack of skills, most men with him were prospects. I knew why he had brought them here:.They were easy to replace, but there were enough of them to distract my men.
Elio came up to me, his face bloody.
As if reading my mind, he wiped it away and said, “It’s not mine.”
I shook my head, looking around. This was useless. “Did you call for backup?” I asked, aiming my gun at a fucker behind Elio.
He nodded. “But I don’t know how long it will be before they get here.”
“Then we have to hold them off until then.”
“How?” he asked, looking hopeless. I didn’t fucking know. Romeo appeared to my left. He looked unharmed for the most part. No blood on his body.
“Matteo and the girls?”
“I have the girls hidden in the far corner of the warehouse. They’re not out of sight completely, but it would take time for any of the fuckers to find them. And Matteo is with them, guarding them.”
My fists clenched. It wasn’t enough. If anything happened to Matteo or Giulia… or Luna… Fuck, I would burn down the world until there wasn’t one single fucking Russian left.
“What’s the plan?” Romeo asked, looking at me.
Elio was looking at me, too, but I didn’t have one. I didn’t fucking know.
“Did Boris come here or Anatoly?” I asked.
“I saw Boris going at it with a machete to the left of us earlier. The fucker is in a blood frenzy. I don’t think he cares who he kills, just that he gets to kill someone.”
I nodded. “Perfect. That makes him easy picking.” I pointed to Elio. “Find Andre. I want his head. Bring him to me, dead or alive.”
I knew the fucker was here. He was still trying to prove himself, both to the Russians and to the men who had betrayed Emilio to follow him.
“Romeo will look for Cameron O’Connor. And Boris is mine. We get them, and we’ll have the advantage. Outnumbered or not. It gives us some time before the men arrive.”
My brothers nodded and went their separate ways. I watched them for half a second. It didn’t matter how much I had trained them, how many years had passed, and how many battles we fought in—it never got easier for me to see them leave, especially with the knowledge that something might happen to them.
I focused my thoughts on the task at hand. Now was not the time to get distracted.
I headed to the left of where Elio had pointed, moving through the crowd and shooting at any fucker brave enough to try and take me on.
A big fucker got in my path. I stopped and looked at him. Fucker was only a few inches taller than me, and he was wide.
He grinned, showing off an ugly row of yellow teeth. “There’s a big price on your head, De Luca.”
“And you think you’re going to be the stupid fucker to get it?”
Heat bloomed on his cheeks, and with a yell, he rushed toward me. I easily dodged out of the way, twisting around and kicking the back of his knee and watching the fucker go down. He screamed and tried to get up. I was on his back, not giving him the chance, and pointed my gun at his temple. The fucker froze.
I shook my head. “You still think you can get that price?”
He opened his mouth just as I fired the shot, watching as his blood splattered all over the ground.
My mistake was not watching my back. Something hit me against my side, causing me to lose my balance and fumble to the ground next to the big fucker’s body. I groaned and looked up to see Boris grinning down at me.
“Are you surprised, Massimo?” he asked, kicking me in the side of my stomach. I curled in on myself, flexing the hand I had holding the gun, only to realize it was no longer there. I must have lost it when the fucker tackled me to the ground. “You were so nice, showing up at my wedding and congratulating me on my marriage; I thought it would only be right if I showed up to your home state.”
“How fucking generous of you,” I gritted out as the fucker yanked me up by the front of my shirt. He smiled, pulled his hand back, and punched me.
I felt my head fly back from the impact as I fell to the ground once more. I tasted metal in my mouth and felt something wet and warm drip down my nose. It didn’t feel broken, but there was no doubt the fucker had done some damage.
“Yup, that’s me,” he said, laughing. “Generous as fuck. It’s a shame, really, that the De Luca Famiglia didn’t approach us first before Andre did. I would much rather work with you than fucking Andre Lombardi. Has the fucker always talked that much?”
I laughed. “You’re pretty talkative now.”
He pulled back once more, holding me close to him. “You’re right about that. What can I say? I always wanted to make friends with you.”
“Yeah?” I asked. I slammed my head against his nose. The fucker let go of me and backed away a few steps but didn’t fall. “I have enough friends.”
I grabbed his shoulder and brought my knee up to his stomach a couple of times, hearing that satisfied crunch that told me I might have fractured a rib or two.
“Stupid fucker,” Boris said when I threw him to the ground, grunting a little in pain. “You keep saying shit like that, and you might actually hurt my feelings.”
I gave an extra few kicks for good measure.
This one talked too much. Sometimes, it was easy to forget he was only twenty-one, considering the reputation he had earned for himself in the East. But there was still a lot he needed to learn before he thought he could take me on.
I held his hands off as I patted him down. I found his gun holstered around the waistband of his pants.
“Careful, you keep feeling me up like that and sweet little Luna might get jealous.”
I punched him in the mouth, watching as blood spattered out and dotted my shirt. “Don’t say my wife’s name.”
He laughed, the sound guttural from all the blood dripping out. “Ah, you’re one of those possessive types, aren’t you? You look like it.”
I pulled him up until he was standing and pointed the gun at the back of his head. “Call off your men.”
“But then that’ll stop all their fun.”
I hit him on the back of his head with the butt of the gun. “Do it, or I’ll leave the entire Novikov Bratva in disarray when I kill off their one and only heir. We both know what that would mean for your dad.”
The vultures would come in, wanting a piece of New York for themselves.
He hesitated for a moment before letting out a shrill whistle three times.
Nothing. The men were still fighting, and my men were exhausted. He looked back at me and shrugged as if to say, What are you going to do?
The smile he shot at me said he didn’t care much.
Fucker.
But what the fuck should I do? It wasn’t like the men were going to stop like this.
I tightened my hand around the gun. A scream rang out, making my blood run cold. I had never heard her scream like that, but fuck, I knew right away it was Luna.
I turned to the sound and found Matteo going head-to-head with one of the members of the MC. My brother was holding his own well, but he was tired.
Boris took advantage of my distraction and yanked the gun out of my hand just as the doors burst open and more men came in.
I took in the men, but they didn’t look familiar to me. They weren’t my men. But they weren’t part of the Bratva or the MC either.
Emilio pushed through the crowd, Valentino standing next to him.
Thank fuck.
“I would stay around, but you make a good point. Can’t have anything happen to the only heir of the Novikov Bratva, now can we?” Boris said, moving away and getting lost in the crowd before I could do or say anything.
I didn’t care to give chase. I rushed over to where Matteo was, moving behind the fucker who was currently trying to overpower him and wrapped my hands around his neck, twisting until I felt bones crack and I knew he was dead.
Matteo pushed the dead fucker off and slowly got to his feet. “Are you hurt?” I asked.
“I’m fine. There were four of them. I took down the other three, but this one? Fuck, he would not die.” Matteo rubbed his hand up and down his face in frustration. I squeezed his shoulder.
“Go help Valentino control the rest of the men. And if you see Romeo or Elio, tell them to come to me.” Hopefully, they had more success getting Andre and Cameron than I did Boris. I waited until he left before I turned to my sister and my wife. Giulia didn’t wait. She rushed into my arms right away, crying and speaking incoherently.
“It’s okay,” I said, rubbing my hand up and down her back while keeping my eyes trained on my wife. My terrified wife, who was still standing in the corner by herself, not saying anything.
Fuck.
I couldn’t just leave all my responsibilities behind and comfort her, and there was a part of me that wondered if she would welcome my comfort at all.
Not after witnessing me kill another man.
Valentino came up to me then. I looked between him and Luna. Fuck.
“Emilio pulled through. We caught one of the Bratva’s foot soldiers as he was trying to get from Chicago to Las Vegas. I hoped we showed up in time.”
I nodded. “You showed up at the perfect time.” I hesitated. “Take my wife and sister home. And bring some men with you to stand guard,” I said.
Valentino nodded. I handed Giulia to him and watched as he led my sister to my wife, speaking to her softly. She shook her head before looking at me.
I waited to see what she would do.
She took a step toward me. Then another. And another, making my heart feel like it was about to climb out of my throat.
Then she was running toward me. I caught her just as she stumbled into my arms, burying her face in my chest. I took her in, the feel of her in my arms, whole and safe.
“You’re okay,” she said when she pulled away.
“I’m okay,” I repeated.
“I was so scared when I couldn’t see you, and… and…”
Her lips trembled.
“Hush, it’s okay now, principessa . I still have to take care of a few things. Go with Valentino.”
She hesitated, not wanting to leave me. Fuck, I didn’t want her to leave either, but I wasn’t going to let her witness what happened next.
I turned her around. “Be my good girl and go.”
She twisted her head around to look at me. “You’ll come home to me?”
“Always,” I promised.
She nodded, and I watched as my entire world walked out of the warehouse, feeling any softness I might have had disappearing along with her.
And what was left was anger and bloodlust.
The noise had long died down. With Emilio’s men, we were able to secure a lot of the fuckers, most of whom were lying on their stomachs on the ground, their hands on their heads, and their weapons being collected by Emilio’s and my men.
A commotion caught my attention, and I turned to see Elio and Romeo had done their job, with a tied-up Andre, and Cameron pushed to kneel on the floor. Both looked terrified. Especially Andre, who had his eyes trained on Emilio.
Andre would be his to deal with. After all, he was the one who betrayed Emilio, but Cameron was mine. The only thing that would have made this better was if Boris hadn’t escaped.
Emilio came up to me and patted my back. “Didn’t I tell you? We would make a good alliance with each other.”
I nodded. “I owe you one.”
“Remember that, De Luca. I’m taking Andre home with me. He needs to be presented in front of my men before I kill him.”
“He’s yours. Leave the rest for my men to play with.”
The men hearing my words began to shake. Good. They knew what was coming for them.
“Will do,” Emilio said with a laugh, indicating to his men to grab Andre and prepare to leave.
I would be staying behind to make sure all the men who tried to take us on would be dead, that this place would be cleaned up, and that the people at the party who weren’t a part of this world would be well compensated, along with a warning that I would come after anyone who spoke of what happened tonight.
And then…
I would go home to my wife.