Prologue #2
“You don’t look so bad yourself in that tux,” she tells me. “I forgot to compliment you on it earlier…”
When it’s time for us to head down, I hold my elbow out for her to take and she links her arm in mine. The butler opens the doors and as soon as we enter, all eyes turn toward us.
I steer us in the direction where our father is standing with a few men around him, one of them being the very man I have a strong dislike for, Salvatore Rossi, head of the Rossi family.
“Children,” father greets us.
“Hello father,” Aria says, a fake smile across her face. He doesn’t even answer her but turns to me instead. I grind my teeth to hide my annoyance.
“Son, you remember Salvatore,” he says and I nod. I don’t miss the way Salvatore’s eyes are roaming over my sister and I instantly want to stab him in the eyes for being such a creeper.
After a few minutes of standing here, I feel Aria’s body tense and when I look down at her she has another fake and uneasy smile on her lips. I can tell Salvatore’s attention is making her uncomfortable so I decide to move us from here.
“If you’ll excuse us gentlemen. We’re going to go mingle a little,” I say and then walk us away before they can even say anything.
We talk to people here and there. It’s all tiresome and fake as hell. Any one of these people would stick a knife in your back if they thought it could help them gain a leg up in this world.
When I’m tired of the small talk, I take us to get some food to munch on. After that, she tells me she wants to dance and I oblige her. We’ve been at this party for about two hours when the sound of gunshots coming from outside and somewhere in the house can be heard.
Everyone around us is instantly drawing their weapons as mayhem erupts in the room, confusion etched onto people’s faces as they wonder what the hell is going on.
Shock clouds my sister’s face as she freezes, standing there but I don’t waste any time jumping into action.
I pull my gun out from the back of my waistband, pointing it in front of me as I grab her hand in mine.
I quickly drag her to the back of the ballroom and we slip out the door, rushing to the hidden elevator that’s directly across from the door we just came out of.
I quickly close the door behind us, push the button to take us up to the floor her room is on. When the doors open again, I’m the first one to step out, keeping my gun pointed in front of me in case anyone is up here already.
But the hallway is clear. I pull Aria along with me down the hall and open one of the doors that’s a few rooms away from her bedroom.
I pull her inside and head straight for the hidden panel on the wall that’s at the back of the room. The steel door opens and I quickly push her inside the panic room.
“Stay in here. When everything is sorted out, I’ll come back to let you out or I’ll send one of the guards,” I tell her, seeing the fear plastered across her face.
“No! No! Please Luca! Don’t go back out there! Stay in here with me where you’ll be safe,” she begs, tears streaming down her face. Fuck! I hate seeing her in tears but I need to do something.
“I’m the future head of this family sunshine,” I say, calling her by the nickname I’ve always used for her. “I can’t hide; I need to help however I can. I love you.”
That’s the last thing I say, as I push her further into the panic room and pull the door shut behind me, locking her inside. I’m instantly rushing back out and down the hall towards the stairs, slowly making my way down as I edge along the wall.
Someone in all black wearing a ski mask over his face is coming up the steps and I lift my gun and aim, shooting him right in the forehead which causes him to drop like a fly.
I hear voices that definitely sounds like the fucking Russians coming from inside the house and silently curse as I continue making my way through the house, shooting the unknowns as I come upon them.
Screams echo in the distance as well as the sound of more gunshots firing from somewhere else inside the house.
Why the fuck are the Russians even here attacking us?
We have no business with them and they have their own territories to deal with.
Guess these fuckers are just greedy as hell.
I haven’t even reached the ballroom yet, because the house is crawling with these assholes.
It looks like they brought a fucking army or something.
And this shit has me wondering what the hell is going on for them to be attacking us like this. I hear shouting from our men too as they fire back but I’m too far away to see exactly what’s going on.
I’m walking down another hallway when I feel a body ramming into me from the side. My gun falls out of my hand, clattering to the floor as I let out a grunt from the impact of this asshole’s body slamming into mine.
Both of us fall to the floor, rolling as I try to get the upper hand. I manage to get on top of him, landing a punch to his rib and then one to his mask covered face.
He lets out a grunt before he manages to land a hit of his own to my side. I slam my fist against his jaw, scrambling off of him to get my gun. I grip the handle, laying on my side as I aim for his head just as he’s getting up to come after me and I pull the trigger.
When I get to the foyer, it’s utter chaos with people running, trying to hide and the dead bodies scattered in different areas around the downstairs. I shoot a few more of our attackers, adding them to the pile of bodies as well.
I’m halfway to the ballroom, changing the magazine on my gun when someone manages to sneak up on me. I don’t have time to react and fight them off because the only thing I feel is the pain of something cracking against the base of my skull. The butt of one of their rifles, no doubt.
Light bursts across my vision, the person hitting me again and the sharp impact has me seeing stars—at least that’s what it feels like— before everything collapses into a dull ring. My vision is smeared at the edges, fogging up as everything slowly goes black…
PREORDER IN PIECES