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ALESSANDRO

E ro stomps the gas pedal, jetting my black Porsche Taycan in and out of the light midnight traffic as we cross the bridge.

It’s an old warehouse district, mostly abandoned.

And he got the info from chasing down the wrong van full of thugs and…

Well, doing what Ero does.

He’s fucking scary sometimes, my little brother.

The four of us float in that dark, ice-cold calm, like we’ve done a hundred, a thousand times. Only this time we’re doing 125 mph and racing against time to save the woman I love and my unborn child.

The stakes are higher than ever.

Right in the middle of a fucking war. But this is part of the war.

They came after me through her.

And they’re all going to die for it.

Then, I’m going to hunt down Domenico Vipera and kill him. Slowly. He’ll beg me to put the bullet between his eyes when I’m through.

“You’re sure it’s here?” I glance at him as he slows, turning down an old, abandoned road.

Ero just narrows his eyes and nods, gunning it down the tight wharf-front drive.

By the time I see the first signs of black vans, I’m so tightly wound that I’m grinding my teeth. All of us ready our guns, the first volley of hell we’re going to rain down on these bastards. The car skids up onto the gravel, sending the guys guarding the gate flying as Ero spins the wheel and donuts the car.

All four of us spray gunfire out the windows, Adriano popping off several grenades into the vehicles parked outside.

It’s instant mayhem.

I hit the gravel running, rattling off round after round into the thugs pouring around the side of the building. Most of them look terrified, shocked.

Like they’ve seen the damned devil himself.

Some flat-out run.

But I can’t show them mercy.

Not tonight.

Ciro leaps into the air, aiming in mid-flight, taking three down in a flash.

Adriano is more practical, simple. Efficient. Four go down in a spray of bullets, another gets knocked off his feet from the grenade Adri tossed into the van behind him.

His guns are back in his hand in an instant taking down two more. Fleetingly, I notice Ero is gone, probably slipping through the shadows, taking out anyone who might sneak up on us.

And I'm running, slashing, cutting, bashing one guy in the face with the stock of my rifle. In full motion, I catch another off guard, palming his entire face and smashing his skull straight down into the concrete.

Something zips along my upper arm, stinging, but I barely notice.

There’s only fire and blood.

Adrenaline fuels my pumping legs as I rush on, and I realize I’m screaming her name at the top of my lungs.

“Isabella!”

Another asshole goes down before he can draw his firearm, a second panicking and dropping his gun right before Adriano caps him in the head. We’re twenty yards from the huge bay doors when the side of a van opens, unveiling an M134 minigun.

“Down!” I shout and burst into a sprint.

Pitter patters of bullets trail me, pinging off of another van as I dive for cover.

I’m pinned down. We all are.

Until I hear the sound of my favorite car’s engine rev hard.

“Shit. No!”

I break cover in time to watch my car rocket into the van, rolling into a metal ball of fire and death, tumbling into the siding of the warehouse.

“Ero!” I shout, making a dash for the door, firing off cover for my brothers.

“You need a new car.” His calm voice nearly stops my heart, right behind me in my mad dash.

“You scared the shit out of me!”

“Glad you care.”

“I meant just now!” I growl, rage doubling in my chest. “And I’m glad you’re not dead.”

We take cover on either side of the bay doors, a signal from Adriano cluing me in to what’s coming next. Six heavies with automatics crunch onto the gravel.

Before they can make formation we dart off, all four of us in different directions. Ciro and Ero pop off the ones on the wings, diverting the remaining four’s attention. Adriano sprints out, diving onto his knees, kneecapping the two on his side, finishing them off with a double tap of his Glock.

My last bullet takes the one closest to me in the neck and I shove him out of the way as he gags, swinging my gun behind me on its strap. The other heavy squares up, about to raise his weapon.

He doesn’t expect me to hit him head-on.

And he doesn’t expect someone his size to be as fast or agile as I am.

I flick a kick to knock his gun barrel to the side, booting him right in the gut, taking him under the chin with my dagger in one smooth motion, leaving his corpse to slump to the ground in my wake.

We regroup, marching toward the gates of this fortress, fires blazing behind us.

“Isabella!” I roar, a battle cry, a warning to those still inside.

Let them piss themselves in anticipation. Or save themselves and run.

Nothing can stop us.

I’m a few steps from the door when I hear gunfire inside, a few shots. We’re right in the open when I see it, the barricade, a line of artillery aimed right at us. I duck inside, Ero slipping in and vanishing as Ciro and Adriano dive back outside to avoid the onslaught of bullet rain.

It follows me along the wall, whizzing past my head as I sprint the length of the warehouse, spinning behind a huge grinder and firing off a few shots around a massive pipe.

A scream echoes through the chamber, followed by more gunfire, and I break for it, targeting more of the scum setting a trap for us behind their makeshift wall. One, then another, and I notice the other bodies scattered around the room.

Ero?

But I spot him up on the catwalk high above, slashing the throat of a sniper taking a bead on me. He flicks two fingers to my salute before signaling down below him, guiding my attention to the man standing out in the middle of the floor, working his way toward the doors, a smaller, struggling figure in his grasp.

Most of the thugs are dead, the rest wounded, writhing on the floor.

I straighten, storming out into the opening, throwing out my hand for my brothers to hold.

“Give us the girl and you might live,” I growl.

“One more step and she dies. Surrender now and no harm comes to her!”

“Let her go, and maybe you get to die quick.”

“Doesn’t matter. I got you here. Got you to leave your people unguarded. My job’s done. I just want to get paid and go home.” His hands are quivering. He doesn’t want this.

“Where’s your captain?” Adriano steps into the open doorway.

“Dead. Harry killed him, took over.”

“And where’s Harry?” he continues, keeping the man’s attention on him.

“I…I don’t know. He’s a whack job.”

“He’s dead!” Isabella spits out around the grip of the man’s arm. “I fucking killed him.”

“Hmm. I guess that leaves you.” Adriano steps closer.

“Step back. Step back! Or I put a fucking bullet in her head. Gun down.”

Ero stares at the man, finishing off stragglers as he joins us. He glances my way, shaking his head. No clean shot.

None of us have one.

But Isabella’s staring right at me.

She looks … scared?

No. She looks pissed.

I lower my gun slowly, her eyes tracking my hand to the floor, locking right back onto mine. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Ero lunge in right as I give her a nod.

Isabella rams her elbow into his ribs as hard as she can, wrenching herself loose and running, right as Ero slides behind him, slicing him behind the knees, Ciro rushing in to snatch the gun from his hands.

And I surge forward, clutching the screaming thug by the throat, driving him down to the ground. My first punch knocks him senseless, and I lose track of how many times I’ve hit him when Adriano grabs my arm, pulling me back.

Looking down in a daze, I see that there’s nothing left of his face. My fugue clears instantly, and I’m looking around, desperate to find Isabella.

“Isa? Where are you?”

My brothers spread out, finishing off the leftovers as I look for my love. I hear a grunt, off to my left and follow the sound through the maze of machines.

She’s there, crouched in a corner, a gun in her hands, her chest heaving in panic. I approach slowly, cautiously, my hand out as she spots me and whips the gun up at me.

“Isa … it’s me. It’s okay.”

Recognition dawns in her eyes and she lowers the gun, still breathing heavily, teeth bared in a feral grin.

In that moment, she’s the most stunning I’ve ever seen her. Spattered in dirt and blood. Showing her true nature, the beast inside of her. Just like me.

“ Amore mio… ” I rumble, pressing the barrel down farther, looking into her eyes. “You did it. You fought your way out.”

“And you came,” she chokes out.

“I will always come for you. At your command.” The innuendo deepens my voice as I pull her into my chest, reveling in the feel of her body against mine, back where it belongs.

“Aless, more men are coming. We have to go.”

“Uh, problem…Ero blew up the car,” Ciro says.

“I stopped the minigun,” Ero corrects him.

“By blowing up the car. Thanks, by the way,” I add.

My brothers regroup, circling up around us. Isabella looks from one to the next.

“Thank you all.”

“Sorry we didn’t get here sooner.” Adriano gives her a stern nod.

“Let’s move. Maybe one of the vans is less burny,” Ciro shrugs, snatching an assault rifle off of one of the bodies.

We move out, staying in a tight formation, Isabella in the center, her gun pointing over my left shoulder. More vehicles skid to a stop as we reach the stockyard, men pouring out. One steps forward, raising his hand.

I lock eyes with him, but mutter to my brothers, “On my signal. We need to break through. Stay ready.”

“I was born ready.”

Our group slows near the gate, pausing as the leader steps forward.

“We don’t want to fight. We’re just here to delay you.”

“What the hell does that mean?” I shout back.

The dark-skinned man laughs. “He just needed to keep you busy for a while.”

“You tell Dom?—”

“No need. He’s already got what he wants. All of us have.”

It dawns on me, the scope of the plan. The specific nature of the raid, taking Isabella. It was all one big distraction. We went rogue at the most crucial moment.

“And what is it you all wanted?” Ciro quips.

“To kill the Diamante brothers.” A dozen guns lock on us.

“Well. You can certainly try.”