Page 48 of His Wicked Wants (West Coast Mobsters #6)

CHAPTER 44

NERO

Gabriel and I run as quickly as we can around to the pool area, only to find that hell has descended upon it. The place where I once lounged so peacefully is now a battleground, littered with the dead, the blue water now red.

I pause and pull Gabriel back, worried that he will find it too much, but he just pushes me on. “Keep going,” he pants out. “Look?—”

He points to the pool house, where Sandro and a handful of loyalists, including Jack, are holding back the assault.

“Wait.” I pull Gabriel behind a tree and start searching through the bag of weapons I was carrying. I swear I saw an M4 carbine in there, and with that, I can thin the herd—but the weapons have been thrown into the bags with too much haste, no order at all?—

“Here.” As though he read my mind, Gabriel has already found what I need in his own bag and is handing me exactly the sleek assault rifle I was seeking. Then he immediately goes back to repacking the bag quickly and securing it as I turn my attention to the enemy.

I lean around the tree—it won’t be much protection for either of us if we’re spotted, but better than nothing—and I fire along the line of Bernardi traitors. They scatter or drop, giving the men at the pool house time to regroup.

“Move,” I tell Gabriel, grabbing up one of the bags. We move, and I wave frantically as we do.

“Get inside!” Jack calls as we approach, and he provides targeted cover as we dash across open space, though bullets still kick up earth and stone around us. I try my best to keep in front of Gabriel, and then thrust him ahead of me as we reach the pool house. It’s pockmarked all over but it’s still standing, and inside I see Gino Bernardi has been hastily bandaged up with pool towels and whatever else was to hand. I’m relieved to see Roxanne still holds Charlotte tight, even as she watches over her injured husband.

Gabriel and I tear open our bags and begin handing out weapons to Sandro and his men.

“Just in time,” Jack tells me with grim relief, sliding a fresh clip into his gun. “We need to keep them pushed back. The Espositos are here, and Pedretti and Soldano went down to meet them, escort them through so our guys don’t shoot first at unfamiliar faces. They took down the tech that was blocking cell reception, so we also got word there’s a wave of fresh Castellani crews coming through from the gate.”

“The best news I’ve heard tonight,” I say.

Sandro grabs a clip for his Beretta from the bag and demands, “Did you find Julian?”

“Yes,” Gabriel says before I can respond. “But he’s in a bad way. He got in between Miller and a bullet.”

Sandro stares at him. So does Jack.

“Is Miller—” Jack begins.

“He’s fine,” I tell him. “All of them—they are all okay.”

“Except for Julian,” Sandro says. I can’t read his tone.

“He’s alive, Sandro. And we, too, want to stay that way, yes?”

Sandro racks his gun and turns without another word to his lover, who has been sheltering just inside the door, listening with a frightened face. He kisses Teddy, hard, and then moves outside once more. Jack and I hurry to follow him, taking over for Freddy Lazzaro and a handful of other men who are ready to refill their weapons.

“Load up inside,” Jack snaps, and they flow past up into the pool house, letting us take their place in defending our position.

But to my horror, I realize Gabriel is behind me, and has taken the duffel bag out with him. “Get inside!” I snap at him.

“I’ll reload for you and the others,” he says simply. “You focus on shooting.”

I want to argue but there’s no time. More figures are approaching from the direction of the gate, and we brace for another wave of enemies.

“Are they ours or theirs?” someone calls from inside the pool house.

We hold fire and squint hard into the darkness. “Castellanis,” Jack announces, relief evident in his voice.

I recognize one of them as he gets closer, astonished to see him moving so fast. Ray Ventura is also a crack shot, evidently, because he hits every one of the Bernardis that he aims at, even while running.

And coming with them, I see Leo Bernardi charging through, pushing the enemy aside as though he were a tank instead of a man.

The tide begins to turn. The Bernardis fall back, looking to regroup, but it allows us to consolidate. Ray catches sight of me and grins at my expression.

“What, you thought I’d leave all the fun to you, Andretti?” he asks, settling into position beside me.

“Hey, Nero!” Jimmy, the younger man I remember from the community garden night, grins as he slides dramatically over the tiles toward us.

“Where’s Liggari?” I ask, though I already know the answer.

“Too scared to show his fucking face,” Ray says. “But the rest of us came as soon as we heard.”

“Where do you need us, Boss?” Jimmy asks, catching sight of Sandro.

“Anywhere and everywhere,” Sandro replies. “Just don’t shoot any of the Espositos, for God’s sake.”

The Lion arrives, slowing his pace to a jog, shoving through to Sandro. “Any news on Julian?” he asks, and I catch the fleeting worry in his eyes.

“He’s alive,” Sandro says, “but he might not be for much longer.”

Leo’s face darkens. “He’d literally fight to the death if he could,” he says through clenched teeth. Then he claps Sandro on the shoulder. “Too bad for him that he’s immortal, eh? So let’s kill these motherfuckers and then go bitch him out later.” His faith in his lover’s prowess seems unshaken. It’s almost…

Touching.

“Here,” says Gabriel from behind me, passing me a new clip for the handgun I switched to for greater control. There are too many bullets flying around from our enemies; I don’t want to risk hitting an ally. And as the battle intensifies once more, Gabriel stays with me, focused and determined, utterly mechanical, switching out weapons and clips for all of us.

At last the fighting dies down. We separate out more, watching the bushes carefully, but with the feeling that perhaps the worst is finally over.

Then something catches my eye—movement where there shouldn’t be. Jack and I are just as quick as each other; he fires straight between the eyes, and I send one into the heart of the Bernardi soldier who has crept around the corner of the pool house. He reflexively clutches his trigger in death, letting off a burst of gunfire that makes me dive to cover Gabriel.

I look up again—only to see another enemy rushing in behind the dead man, taking his place, another enemy runs straight for us, his weapon aimed directly at my chest.

He fires.

I brace for the impact, only to find myself shoved sideways, hitting the ground hard as I twist to keep Gabriel covered.

“Are you alright?” I demand of Gabriel.

“I’m good,” he tells me. “You?” He’s already patting me over, searching for wounds, but the bright red splashes painting the pool stones make my heart seize as I realize what’s happened.

I pull Gabriel with me as I crawl over to Ray Ventura, who has collapsed on the tiles, breathing in short, shallow gasps. Jack has already dispatched the shooter and is covering us as I heave Ray up, letting him rest against me as I check him over. Gabriel presses his hands hard against Ray’s wounds, but there are too many of them, and blood is already pouring out of him.

Too much of it.

“Linda is gonna kill me,” Ray gets out with a pained grin. “Or she would, if that bastard hadn’t done it already. You tell her I was thinking of her in my last moments, won’t you, Andretti? Make sure she—” He coughs up blood.

“You’re not going to die,” I snap at him. “Not tonight, Ventura.”

But Jack is already shepherding the others away to give us space. I catch Gabriel’s eye. The soft sorrow in his face drives home what I don’t want to admit.

“Ray, why the hell did you do that?” I choke out.

“Don’t you take the honor away from me, Andretti,” he wheezes. “You got your whole life ahead of you. Make it count. Make me proud of you. And make something out of that goddamn reject crew, because God knows Legs Liggari ain’t gonna do it.”

He reaches for my hand, and I clutch it tight. “I will,” I tell him, my throat tight. “Your wife will want for nothing—I promise you. And I will see you in the next life, with great tales to tell.”

Raymond Ventura dies with a smile on his lips.

Around us, the battle has moved on to other areas. The Espositos have secured the path from the gate to the house, and now more Castellani reinforcements flood down toward us. Some escort the innocents from the pool house back up to the Manor, while others spread out to take the fight to the enemy.

Through the blood-red haze of my shock, I feel Gabriel’s hand on my shoulder. “Nothing we can do for him now,” Gabriel says gently. “Let’s get him into the pool house and lay him out.”

Jack helps us lift Ray and carry him carefully into the now-empty pool house, where we lay him out gently on the floor. Gabriel places a towel over his face and I sink to my knees next to the body of Ray Ventura, still staring at him as though he might somehow rise again.

“Everyone okay?” Pedretti’s voice is loud in the quiet. He and Bricker Soldano are hurrying over.

“No,” Sandro says grimly. He is standing in the doorway, looking at Ray. Looking at me. “And it’s time to make these fuckers rue the day they messed with the Castellanis.”

“The cavalry is here,” Bricker says. “My people have got control of the gates and the house.”

“Then order mine to sweep the grounds,” Sandro says. “I want every last one of these motherfuckers dead .”

I feel Gabriel’s hand on my shoulder. “Nero?”

I stand once more, Ray’s blood still wet on my hands. For the first time, I realize that all of the pretty words I’ve said to Sandro over the years are really true.

He is my brother. And like every other man here, I would die for him. La Contessa might have set out to craft me into the perfect protector, taught me how to deceive and manipulate, but my reactions now are pure.

This is my Family. These are my people.

And Gabriel, most of all, is mine .

I look at him wordlessly, needing his embrace, but unwilling to stain him with the still-warm blood of Ray Ventura, which has soaked through my clothes. But somehow, Gabriel seems to understand what I want.

What I need .

He throws his arms around me and hugs me. And I hold on to him as tightly as I can.