43. Ambush #3
“Please,” Aria begged. “Uncle,” she choked on the word, bitterness in her throat. “You want me. Take me. You don’t have to do this.”
Sean turned towards her and smiled. “You have your mother’s eyes. My sister was a fool to think she could hide your existence from me. But this is not just about you, dear niece. You will marry Aleksandr, though I have a greater purpose for my trip to Italy. I have a Monster to break.”
Unhurried footsteps echoed down the hall, and I heard Liliana’s furious shouting.
My heart dropped. She hadn’t gotten away.
Aleksandr Rostov filled the doorway, and all the Russian soldiers stationed around the room straightened.
My niece, slung over his shoulder, was thrashing, screaming, and pounding her fists into his back.
“Lili,” I surged up, but a boot drove me back down.
Aleksandr’s stony gaze swept over all our faces, and I glared at him. How could he do this to us?
He crossed the room, unbothered, and set her down on the sofa. Not throw, set. Like she was a china doll. I narrowed my eyes.
“You traitor!” Lili screamed. Her hand reared back, and she slapped him across the face. Hard enough to whip his head in the other direction. It was the first time I’d ever seen Lili that angry. I held my breath, expecting him to retaliate.
With his head twisted to the side, he worked his jaw and rolled his tongue into the side of his cheek. Lili was heaving, eyes wide and alarmed at what she had just done as he slowly turned back to her.
“Yes,” he answered flatly. “I am.”
He stood straight and took his place at Sean’s side. Aleksandr met my gaze, zero emotion on his face. Not an ounce of guilt or remorse.
Sean chuckled. “You have impeccable timin’, as always, Aleksandr. I was just about to decide who to start with. I’m thinkin’ the pretty whore who slapped you. Nothin’ breaks as sweetly as a—“
The Russians moved.
Not towards us. They peeled away from the walls and the Buccini soldiers they were guarding, moving in a smooth, coordinated formation and sliding into position around the room.
Each one took a stance beside an Irish soldier, shoulder to shoulder, their gaze locked on Aleksandr. I didn’t understand the purpose of it.
Neither did the Irish, it seemed, as they all looked to Sean with confusion.
Sean’s smile wavered. His gaze cut to Aleksandr. But he was too busy staring at Liliana.
“I am a traitor.” Aleksandr pulled out his gun and aimed it at Sean’s head. Sean’s mouth opened. “Seychas.”
The room erupted in a single, long bang. Every Russian fired at the same time. The Irish soldiers didn’t even have time to raise their guns. Aria screamed. I threw myself onto the rug over Olivia, thinking we would be next or caught in the crossfire. But a deathly silence filled the room.
I slowly lifted my head to find all of McKenna’s men dead. Except for Sean and Oscar. They stood frozen in the centre of it all, guns pressed to each of their heads. Russians seized them by the arms and bound their hands behind their backs. They looked too stunned to speak. All of us were.
Aleksandr came over to me first, pulling me up by the arms and spinning me around. He cut the cable ties from my wrists and turned me back to face him. “You have medical training. Go help your brother.”
I closed my mouth, which had been hanging open, and raced over to Gio.
Tearing his shirt open, I swore when I saw the pulsing hole in his gut.
He’d lost so much blood, and the bullet was still inside.
Olivia was beside me next, having been cut free.
She grabbed Gio’s face, who was barely conscious, and started kissing him, willing him to hold on.
“Lili! Go and get my nursing kit. And towels.”
Lili fled from the room while I pressed my hand over the wound.
“We had an agreement, Rostov,” Sean roared from his knees.
“No. You thought we did,” Aleksandr replied as the Russian soldiers dragged the Irish bodies from the room. “You told me to choose a side. I chose the one that best served my interests.”
Lili raced back into the room with my kit, and I got to work applying firm pressure with gauze. “Liv, you need to call the family surgeon. Tell him that Gio has been shot and needs abdominal surgery. Now. He doesn’t have long.”
Olivia pulled herself together enough to follow my instructions as I placed another gauze over the already blood-soaked one on his side.
“Is he going to be okay?” Raff asked behind me. I swallowed, pressing my lips together. Honestly, I wasn’t sure.
Looking over my shoulder, I met Aleksandr’s gaze. “Where’s my mamma? Cecilia?”
“She’s safe,” he answered. “I made sure of it.”
I swallowed and nodded. I didn’t know what the hell to make of this, but somehow I knew he wasn’t lying.
Aleksandr stepped in front of Sean and crouched so their faces were level. “There’s a man on his way here who has waited a long time to end you. Enjoy your last few hours of comfort, McKenna, because I’ll be handing you over to a monster with a pretty bow on top.”
All the colour drained from Sean’s face.