Page 30 of Only Fools Rush

I paused, inhaling and exhaling. “I’m not sure.”

“What do you mean, Cas?” Leona asked, voice strained.God,I knew that voice. She was inches from falling apart. We needed to finish this. “She was terrified! Of course, she’s a hostage! We have to save her!”

I swallowed, trying to replay the events. If I didn’t think Chiara was so scared, if I hadn’t known her for years, I might have said she intentionally pushed Vincenzo forward, into the path of Ryuji’s bullet. And then that smile? Was that actually what I saw?

“We need to follow,” Wynn said, eyeing the door. “Obi?”

Obi nodded. “Ciel, any cameras inside that room?”

“Negative, you’re flying blind,” he replied.

Obi glanced behind him at the shattered window. “Ryuji, reposition to see if you can get a view of the west side of the house. Caspian, Wynn, we will breach the door. Once we’re inside, fan out, and take Volpe down.”

Sweat dripped down my temple. I didn’t think my knee could take it. “I’ll protect Chiara.”

Obi’s eyes flicked to my legs, then back up to my eyes. His expression told me he knew. Fuck, that guy didn’t miss anything. “Good. Wynn, take your position.”

The two of them kicked the double doors in, then ducked and rolled inside. I followed directly after, scanning the room for any sign of them—only to find it empty.

It was a bedroom, likely Vincenzo’s master. A huge four-poster bed sat against the wall. Moonlight shone through a massive set of bay windows. Bookshelves, a desk, a sitting area, rich fabric curtains, and ridiculously ostentatious paintings covered the walls.

It looked like a bedroom out of a fucking medieval castle.

But no sign of Max or Chiara.

“They can’t have disappeared,” Wynn murmured, poking his head inside the en suite bathroom, gun raised.

“Panic room?” Obi asked. The two of us locked eyes and jointly explored the walk-in closet, but again, nothing. “Ciel, do you have any ideas from the floor plan files you have?”

His keyboard clicked in the background.

“Passageways,” Leona whispered. “Chiara told me once this house has passageways.”

Obi and my gaze slid to the massive painting hanging across from the bed. It was almosttoolarge.

I jerked my head at it, and he nodded. Then he whistled quietly, Wynn’s head snapping in his direction. The three of us stepped across the room. Wynn grabbed the painting while Obi and I readied our guns. With a yank, the painting swung open, as if on hinges.

“Fuck,” I hissed. There it fucking was. A massive metal door.

I stomped forward, ignoring the screaming in my leg, and yanked on the handle. Of course, it didn’t budge.

“Did you find it?” Ciel asked in our ears.

“Yes,” Obi replied. The man ran his hand over the metal beside me. I still, fruitlessly, yanked on the handle.

I raised my gun, but Obi’s hand clamped down on my shoulder. “Don’t shoot it.”

“We can break the lock! We can follow!”

Obi shook his head. “It will ricochet. We must choose wisely.”

“Fuck, wisely!” I shouted as I slammed my fist on the door. We wereso fucking close. If my aim hadn’t gone wide, he would be dead. And now he was going to slip through our fingers again? Absolutely fuckingnot.

“Cas,” Max’s voice came from the other side of the metal door. I snarled, slamming my fist on the door again. Pain screamed up my arm. “You can’t break this door down withoutthe proper tools, and you have no idea where these passages lead. We’ll be gone before you get a chance to follow.”

“Why are you doing this, Max?” I shouted. Another bead of sweat dripped down my temple. I inhaled slowly. “Why?”

He didn’t answer. Damn him. Damn this whole thing to fucking hell.