Page 120 of Before Broken Vows

"Because you would've said no."

"Well, bring that fucking thing down. We have a plan."

"A plan that gets better with this." He taps a few buttons on his phone. "Watch."

Suddenly, the security lights on the perimeter flicker.

"What did you just do?" I ask, grabbing the butt of my gun.

"Scrambled every electronic signal within five hundred feet. Cameras, alarms, phones—all dead." He looks far too pleased with himself. "Complete blackout."

"Phones?" I pull out mine. No signal.

"Dammit, Dimitri. Now we can't use our phones."

"What? You said you wanted stealth."

"I wanted coordination too." I put my useless phone away. "Now we can't communicate with the teams."

Dimitri shrugs. "Yeah, well, it's done."

"How long does this last?"

"Thirty minutes, give or take."

I shake my head. "Well, let's go."

We scale the perimeter wall easily, Dimitri smiling because his drone's interference ensured the security cameras didn't spot us.

Coming up to some bushes, we crouch down. The first wave of guards doesn't know what hit them. Suppressed shots, swift strikes, bodies collapse into the dark.

Guards are neutralized without an issue.

The rustling causes one of Cosmo's men to come investigate.

One of ours slides behind him and covers his mouth. He brings a blade down, slicing clean across his throat. No sound except the soft thud as he lowers the body to the grass.

"Hey, let's split and meet inside," Dimitri says.

I look around and see our other teams moving, the guards at the perimeter being taken out.

"Okay."

Dimitri nods and points to a few men, and off they go. I break left with my crew and we run, crouching toward the home.

It's all going smoothly.

Then all hell breaks loose.

A barrage of bullets cuts through the air, slamming into the stone column beside me. Chunks of marble explode outward, pelting my face with debris.

"Get down!" I yell, ducking behind a stone planter as bullets pepper the pathway. Two of my men drop beside me, blood flowing from their chests.

More gunfire erupts from another direction.

"Shit," I say, but the firing drowns out my voice. We're pinned down, bullets ricocheting around me with nowhere to go.

"It's a fucking ambush!" one of my men shouts.