Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Giana
The van rumbled down the street, the night breeze whistling around us.
I leaned into Merrick as he wrapped an arm around me and took a deep breath.
My chest felt lighter than it had ever since we got the call about the fire and I knew it was because of Merrick.
I never thought I’d like half of the things he did to me, but it was different with him, hell, with any of my guys.
I loved them all and trusted them not only with my heart but also with my body.
It was like he knew all the dark and depraved thoughts in my head and was more than willing to help me live out my fantasies.
“I still don’t think it’s fair that you got the seat next to my sugar when you spent the whole afternoon inside her.
” Spade glared at Merrick yet again as he smugly leaned back, curling me into his chest. I sputtered out a laugh, barely covering my mouth before the sound burst from it.
Some of Spade’s ire dissipated at that as he winked.
“It’ll be my turn next, baby, and I’m not going to let you get any sleep when I’m inside you. ”
Even Kellan’s jaw ticked. Of course, because Merrick and I went to sleep still wrapped in each other.
Kellan and Spade had walked in on the two of us just after we’d woken up, Merrick’s cock was hard once again, and my body burned with desire as he filled me completely.
We’d exchanged sleepy kisses before they grew more passionate as my hips rocked against his, grinding myself down on his length.
We were already on round two by the time Spade and Kellan walked in.
To say they were pissed was an understatement, but I didn’t regret a moment of it.
Besides, I had no doubt that after tonight, the two of them would try to steal me away every moment they got.
They thought I didn’t know about their competitive streaks, but how could I not?
It’s not like they tried to hide it. But I knew they were pretending to be sneaky, so I kept playing along.
I was glad to have these moments with them, letting the normalcy of it all sink in before tonight.
Francine and Sophia had called us to let us know they were safe with the reduced teams watching them.
Some of the townspeople had even offered to keep watch so that we could bring more of the Demons with us.
Sebastian and Zane were in another van with their own men, who had been freed up since there wasn’t anyone to guard at our house anymore.
The brakes screeched as we came to a stop, and through the open partition I could make out the brake lights of an identical van in front of us.
Kellan checked in with the teams to make sure everyone had reached their rendezvous points.
We’d mapped out the best places to leave the van so that Angelo’s men wouldn’t come across them before we made our move.
We filed out of the van the moment the last team was in place, meeting Sebastian, Zane, and their men as they did the same.
We parked a few blocks away from the secluded mansion. Once everyone had exited the cars, the drivers parked them up a small dirt path, concealing them among the foliage.
“We’ll head through the trees here.” I motioned to the seldom-used path in front of us. “We’ll have three lookouts that we’ll pass by.”
“We just have to hope that Lorenzo’s men have put up the markers.” Merrick’s jaw ticked as he crossed his arms over his bulletproof vest which all of us had on.
“Yes, we’ll be searching for the yellow markers.” I gave him a sharp nod. “And the first station should be past the third marker.”
Spade and Merrick took the lead, and Kellan stayed at my back with the others following behind.
I pulled my gun from its holster and screwed on the silencer.
My cheeks flamed at the memory of just what Merrick had done with the pink one.
I wasn’t sure I’d be able to focus if I’d used that one tonight.
Besides, stealth was our priority tonight and having a pink gun might’ve gotten us caught.
We’d all dressed head-to-toe in black, trying our best to blend into the darkness.
We kept on the path Lorenzo had laid out for us, mindful of the dry leaves that crunched under our feet.
Their earthy, decaying scent tickled my nostrils, and I suppressed the urge to sneeze, not wanting anything to give us away.
My body tensed every time someone stepped on a fallen branch, like the crack might alert anyone close to us of our approach.
My nerves ratcheted up each moment we didn’t encounter a yellow marker tied around a tree, but my thundering pulse finally eased as I spotted one a few feet ahead of us.
I tapped Merrick’s shoulder and pointed to the marker, earning myself a disgruntled nod as he showed it to Spade.
We stayed silent as we passed a second one, and we took cover the moment we spotted the third.
I scanned the trees until I found the one Lorenzo warned us about.
Angelo had small treehouse structures constructed throughout the property for his lookouts.
There was a wooden structure poised between a tree with two thick trunks that branched off in two different directions about twenty yards ahead of us.
A light lit the shadowed structure from within, the open window pointed right in our direction.
I tapped Merrick’s arm and we crouched low, the others following our lead. “We should wait until he comes into view and Kellan should take the shot.”
They nodded since Kellan was the best shot among us, especially at long ranges.
He winked as he took aim, waiting in silence for the perfect moment.
A few minutes later, the guard got up from his seat, the floorboard squeaking under his weight as he went to the window.
This was our only chance. If he spotted us before we could land a killing blow, he’d radio the other guards and the element of surprise would be gone.
He muttered something and turned to the lamp on the table when Kellan fired. Blood splattered against the worn wooden planks as the bullet went straight through the back of his head.
I grinned at Kellan as Spade and Merrick raced forward and climbed into the station to make sure he was dead.
A moment later Spade climbed down and gave us a thumbs up, while Merrick kept watch.
Kellan’s fingers twined with mine as we ran to close the distance.
We followed the same pattern. Finding the next three markers before another hut.
This time, the lookout was on the ground, like a small shed with no door.
Spade crept forward and slit the guard’s throat before he ever knew he wasn’t alone.
Merrick snuck up behind the last one, plunging his knife into the back of the man’s neck before letting him drop to the forest floor.
“Lookouts clear on Alpha team’s route.” I pressed the earpiece and spoke into the radio. One by one, the other three teams reported that their guards were neutralized too.
We crept to the line of trees, keeping to the shadows as we surveyed the landscaped property; the forest melded into the perfect backyard.
Most of the property was lined with paver stones, with an opulent pool and waterfall burbling on the other side.
A pool house was before us which was about the size of a normal bungalow.
Smaller trees and bushes lined the pavers giving us hardly any places to hide.
“There shouldn’t be anyone in the pool house, but we should still check first,” I said, and the others nodded. We’d already decided that the six of us would go in first to take out the guards before everyone else joined us.
We watched as the guards circled the yard, their rifles in hand.
Their chatter reached us as murmurs on the wind, their footsteps like the ticking hands of a clock, counting down the seconds we had until Lorenzo expected us inside.
Crickets chirped around us, the sound so at odds with the high stakes we were under that it snapped me out of the anxiety gripping my heart like a vise, reminding me to breathe.
The moment I slowed everything down, I noticed the pattern.
There was only a minute where all the guards were out of sight, giving us the perfect opportunity to get behind the trees and start taking them out one by one.
Tension radiated off Sebastian as he closed in on the other side of Kellan, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it now.
I knew he had some sort of past with the Barones, but so did we all.
We had to trust Lorenzo. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have a chance of getting out of here tonight.
As though he sensed my attention on him, he met my gaze and nodded, clearly seeing the reprimand in my stern expression.
I wouldn’t let him come with us if he couldn’t get himself under control.
There was no way I’d let his indecision get someone else killed.
He must’ve read that too since he straightened his shoulders, his eyes losing that glaze of fear and apprehension.
I got their attention, holding my fingers up to count down.
The moment my hand closed into a fist, we made our move as one.
Sebastian and Zane joined my guys and me, while the rest of our group hung back, keeping guard in case anything went wrong.
We ducked behind the sparse foliage just as the guard rounded the pool house.
Before he could even take another step, Spade sprang out, wrapping a hand around his mouth and dragging him into the bushes.
His struggles were cut off abruptly as Spade’s dagger gleamed in the moonlight and plunged into the guard’s neck.
Blood sprayed across his chest and the bushes, dripping off the leaves, but he didn’t make another sound.
“Bravo team, take out the guards by the pool,” I said into the radio.
If they took out those two, that left three more for us.
Meaning we had to split up. Otherwise, the disappearing guards would only tip off the others, and we’d be screwed.
I pointed to Merrick and Spade, sending them to the front of the pool house, while Kellan and I would go around the back.
I pointed to Sebastian and Zane, directing them to drag the body inside the pool house and to make sure it was clear.
Merrick’s and Spade’s mouths thinned, indecision warring in their gazes before we all took off. Kellan and I went around the back, stopping at the edge of the building. I holstered my gun and palmed a knife in both hands, knowing that a shot going off this close to the house would alert the others.
“Bravo team is clear.” Nicholas’ voice echoed through the radio, giving us the opportunity to strike. We’d be out in the open like this, but with Merrick and Spade going after the remaining guard, we struck.
The guard was just about to circle the side of the house when I lunged for him, catching him off guard.
My fist slammed into his face, making him fumble the rifle.
It clattered to the ground, and Kellan plucked it up, making sure the guard didn’t get a chance to retrieve it.
I slashed out with a knife, but he dodged the blow and kicked out at my legs.
I barely escaped being sent to the hard cement as I lunged out of the way and swung my leg in a roundhouse kick that collided with his ribs.
Kellan was on him before he could even yelp a pained grunt.
He shoved a hand over his mouth and swiveled him toward me so I could plunge my dagger into his neck.
Kellan didn’t waste any time heaving the man up, trying to leave as little blood behind as possible as he carried the man back around to the back door of the pool house.
Zane was already there, opening the door for us as Kellan dropped the guard’s bloody body to the ground, grimacing at the blood soaking into his sleeves.
I wiped my knife off on the dead man’s pant leg and strapped it back to my leg.
A moment later, Spade opened the door and Merrick dragged a muscular guard behind him as if he were nothing more than a sack of potatoes.
“All the rooms are clear,” Sebastian said as he strode out of one of the bedrooms and holstered his gun back at his hip.
I grimaced and averted my eyes, not wanting any of my memories of this place to bombard me when I needed to remain vigilant. Tommaso and I used to stay here whenever we visited his parents because he never trusted us to sleep under the same roof as his father.
A crease formed between Kellan’s brows, his expression voicing his silent question, but I shook my head and sucked in a deep breath, pushing the memories into the box I kept them in as though it was someone else’s story, someone else’s life.
“Backyard is clear,” I said through the earpiece, beaming at my guys like they just brought me flowers instead of a dead body.
“We have to get to the back door.” Merrick gripped the doorknob and strode back out into the night with the rest of us on his heels. I glanced down at my watch, noting we only had two minutes until Lorenzo’s distraction.
As we rushed to the rear entrance, the rest of the Demons met us, clad in their black outfits and bulletproof vests.
I directed them to line up against the house just in case anyone looked through one of the windows, and we stayed away from the corner, out of sight from the guards not under Lorenzo’s command at the front.
Merrick pressed his ear to the thick door, waiting for the moment the music started blaring and the lock clicked open.
I gritted my teeth as I tapped my foot on the cement, watching the seconds tick by on my watch.
Just as the watch flipped to eight o’clock, Merrick jerked back, holding out a hand for the rest of us to be on guard.
I shifted my gun into my palm, taking aim as did the rest of the guys, but the door didn’t swing open.
Instead, the classical music was turned up so that the lyrical notes vibrated through the kitchen window panes, helping to block any noise we might make as we entered the back door.
I raised my brows, making sure each of my guys was ready. Lorenzo did what he said he was going to do, now we just had to hope that there wasn’t a trap waiting for us on the other side of that door.