Page 98 of Doll's Eye

“I said maybe.”

“Good enough for me.” I grin.

“Little psycho.” He shakes his head smiling.

“This is nice.”

“What? Charging into Russia with an army to save your boyfriend?”

“My fiancé, and I meant the part of being a part of the team.” Okay, so Massimo’s life being in grave danger has fast-tracked the forgiving process. I didn’t think I even had it in me.

“You’ve always been a part of the team.”

“Not like this.”

“We haven’t done anything like this in a long time, Alessia. Last time we did anything close to this you were still a teenager. Of course, you weren’t included.”

“If I were a few years older, would you have included me?” I arch one eyebrow.

“Probably not,” he admits. “I know I’m starting to sound like a broken record, but I only want to keep you safe. All of us.Babbodid too. Your capabilities never escaped his notice,piccolina, but to him, you would always be his little girl.”

His way of putting it recasts everything in a new light. The different treatment I resented wasn’t rooted in gender bias, but out of love. I wasn’t limited for being a female, I’ve been cherished.

“Tullio?”

“Yes,piccolina?”

An apology hangs on the tip of my tongue, but I’m still me. Stubborn bitch and all. “I love you,” I say instead.

“Don’t get all soft on me now.” He bumps his shoulder into me. “Now, is not the time.”

I smile and nod my head. “Right. I’ll save that for when we get De Luca back.”

The next hour or so is one big blur. Adrenaline at its peak, especially since I got to use the fucking minigun. Literally razing their soldiers surrounding the abandoned building.

Next thing I know, Armando and I have some Russian motherfucker held with my knife against his throat demanding the exact location of my betrothed. As soon as he pisses his pants and spits the words out, I slice his throat and move forward.

“Cazzo. Alessia, you are savage,” Armando says, shaking his head with a faint smile.

“Let’s go.”

With my ears ringing, we rush up to the corner, and Armando quickly peeks around. “Go.” He motions for the soldiers to go first. They rush around the corner and start popping off right away. Armando and I go in behind them, guns raised, and shoot our way through the hall and to the stairwell the guy told us to look for. Our men cover us, and we send two ahead of us downstairs to clear the way.

Descending the stairs, we aren’t met with anyone right away. Not until we reach the bottom and turn to the left like instructed. We unload, and one of our guys goes down, but we have to keep moving. We manage to shoot our way through again, and I begin peeking in through each little window on the closed doors. It’s not until the third one that I see Massimo.

“In here,” I bark out.

“Go. I’ll cover you.”

There’s a big metal latch on the outside that I crank, and the heavy door makes a loud screeching sound as I open it. Massimo is tied to a chair in the middle of the empty room, his head limply dangling down. “Give me a minute,” I say to Armando, and I close the door on his face as he starts shouting at me.

“Damnit, Alessia! You have one fucking minute!”

Yeah, yeah…

Walking swiftly over to Massimo, I can’t help the smirk that stretches my lips wide. To see Massimo being the one restrained for once. I’m tempted to pull my phone out and snap a picture of him.

“So, this is what Massimo De Luca looks like tied up,” I muse.