Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Idon’t get nervous before a war. I love the adrenaline. There are a few things I never leave the house without doing, though. One of those things is seeing my little sister. I like to think of her as my good luck charm.
I find her sitting on the back porch. “You hiding?” I ask Eliana as I drop down next to her.
“Nope, just didn’t want to make it easy for you all to find me.” She smiles. She looks withdrawn.
“You doing okay?”
“Just dandy. All the men I love are about to go off and get into a shootout with god only knows who. Why wouldn’t I be okay?”
“It has to be done,” I tell her.
“I know.”
I wrap my arm around my sister’s shoulder and pull her against me. My lips press onto the top of her head. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” she says.
“You know we’re all coming back.”
“I know.”
“I need you to do something for me.”
“Anything.” My sister sits up straighter.
“Look out for her for me.”
“She’s older than I am. She’s also very capable of looking out for herself,” Eliana says.
“I know, but you’re more used to this sort of thing than she is.”
“I’ll make sure she’s distracted.”
“Thank you. Now stand up and give me that good luck hug of yours.” I stand and hold my arms out for my sister.
She wraps her arms around me and hugs me as tight as she can.
“Thank you.” I hold her close, inhaling her strawberry scent.
“Stay alive,” Eliana says when I step back.
“Always do.” I smile and drop my arms. “You should go find Mom and keep her company.”
When I walk inside, I find Elias waiting at the door. “My turn,” he says, stepping out to the back deck. We all make sure we talk to Eliana before we go out to fight.
As I pass the living room, I hear my mother talking to my aunts and some of my cousins. I step into the room and find Frankie and Jazzy.
“Hey, Ma.” I walk over to my mother.
“Emilio, stay safe.” She hugs me.
“I’ll do my best,” I tell her.
“Good boy. Now go and put a smile back on Frankie’s face before you leave this house.”
“She’s just worried. She will be fine,” I tell my mother before walking over to Frankie. Bending down, I press my lips to her cheek, keeping it PG for the sake of everyone watching us. “See you soon. Try to stay out of trouble. Te amo.”
“You too, te amo.” Frankie smiles at me.
The car pulls to a stop and my father turns his attention on me and my brothers. “Look out for each other. Don’t leave anyone alone,” he says. “And don’t fucking die. We’re not doing that to your mother.”
“Got it, Papa.” I nod in agreement, so do my brothers.
“Stick to the plan and you all get out if shit goes south.”
“Right,” Elias says. Not a single one of us would ever leave our father if the shit stacked up against us. He’s delusional if he thinks we would.
“You two.” Dad points to me and Elias. “And you two.” He then points to Ezekiel and Esterio. “Stick together.”
“We know the drill, Papa,” Esterio says.
“Good, don’t fucking forget it,” Dad grunts. “Let’s go.”
I climb out of the car and tug on the bulletproof vest I’m wearing, straightening it out. I take a Glock from my holster and cock it. I’m not getting caught unaware again. I’ve had two really fucking close calls in the last couple of weeks. I’m not going for a third.
We separate into the designated teams. My dad, Esterio, and Ezekiel go one way, along with Uncle Carlo. Elias and I follow Uncle Sammie and Uncle Louie. We’ve also got at least fifty foot soldiers around us. Half going in through the back, the other half going in through the front.
Uncle Sammie holds up a hand, signaling for us to wait. Then I hear it, a body falling.
“Got him.” My Aunt Lailani’s voice comes through the comms in my ear. “There’re two more to the left, just past the front gate,” she says.
“Got it,” Uncle Sammie replies.
Elias kicks the crappy metal gate open. For a family with money, you’d think they’d use better fucking material to secure the place. We walk through and Uncle Louie fires at the same time Uncle Sammie does.
“Two more down,” Uncle Louie says into the comms.
“Five down out back.” Dad’s voice comes through next. “You might need to catch up.”
“It’s not a fucking competition,” Uncle Louie grunts.
“If it were, I’d win.” My dad laughs.
I look to Elias, who just shakes his head and rolls his eyes. We continue making our way up to the front of the house, and then we’re all dropping to the ground at the sound of bullets flying our way.
Elias is right next to me. “Good?” he asks.
“Yeah, you?”
He nods. We’re both behind a concrete pillar.
When the firing stops, I pop my head up.
Uncle Sammie and Uncle Louie are about ten feet away, on their stomachs with their guns aimed at the house.
I spot movement in one of the windows. Raising my barrel, I fire, hitting the fucker in the chest. Another couple of shots and he’s falling to the ground.
“Stay down,” Uncle Sammie yells back at me. Elias yanks on my vest, pulling me down. An explosion erupts, and when I look up, the front door of the house has been blown off.
“Damn it! I wanted to throw a grenade,” Elias groans. “Why do they always get to have all the fun?”
“Because they’re trying to make the most of it while they can still move without breaking a hip,” I grumble as I follow him up the path.
“I fucking heard that,” Uncle Sammie grunts at me.
“Did you get new hearing aids, old man? Good for you,” I retort.
“Fucker.”
It’s eerily quiet as we step through the house.
“We’re in,” Uncle Louie says into the comms.
“We’re coming up now,” my dad replies.
“Where the fuck is everyone?” I mutter under my breath while looking around.
“No idea. Let’s clear the place. You two, take upstairs. We’ll do the lower floors,” Uncle Louie instructs.
I follow Elias up the stairs, listening for any sounds of movement while keeping my gun aimed in front of me. Ready.
Come and fucking get me, fuckers. I would rather know where they are than to be walking through this silence. It’s fucking weird.
We clear the first two bedrooms, no proof of life to be seen. I look to Elias, who just shrugs. Walking into the third room, I don’t hear anything. But I smell it, a strong scent of cologne. I tap Elias’s shoulder, letting him know someone is in here.
I walk to the closet door, my gun still raised, and nod at Elias. He opens it and I find some asshole with a gun pointed right back at me. I pull the trigger first, the bullet going through his hand.
“Who the fuck hides in a closet?” I ask.
“A fucking pussy.” Elias reaches in, drags the guy out, and then shoves him against the wall.
“Please let me go. I didn’t do anything,” he whimpers as Elias binds his wrists together behind his back.
“Got one alive,” I say into the comms.
“The fucking place is empty,” Dad replies.
“All outer buildings clear,” Alfie says. He, CJ, and Sammie Junior all went with a team to search the garages on the property.
Once we’re back downstairs, Elias shoves the guy onto his knees. “We keeping him?” he asks Dad.
“Get him in the car. He’s taking a trip to the basement,” Dad says.
I smile. I fucking love the basement. It’s where all the fun shit happens.
***.
The moment I walk into the house, I’m attacked by Frankie. “Thank god you’re back,” she says.
“I wasn’t gone that long,” I tell her.
“It felt like years. I probably have gray hairs.”
“I’d still think you were the prettiest woman I know, even with gray hairs.”
“Thanks. Now take me to your room and show me just how alive you still are.”
“Does being scared turn you on, Frankie?” I question as I take her upstairs.
“No,” she scoffs, but I catch the blush creeping up her face.
This is a theory I’m going to test out. We’ve got some nights of watching horror films coming up.