Page 115 of Red Retaliation

I swing around and scan the room. There’s no sign of Del, so Arianna must still be on the premises.

My teeth grind. I want to kick the fuck out of this place that I’ve put so much work into. What the hell is Cal playing at? What’s taking so bloody long? He should have taken Arianna far away from here by now.

It goes against every fiber of my being to let her out of my sight. I never want to - more than ever now, but there’s no choice. She must get to safety.

My breath is ragged as I get desperate and begin upending chairs and ripping roulette wheels from their mounts. “FUCK!” I roar, loud enough to wake the dead.

Hang on!Galvatore! Did Galvatore slip in a device when he was here the other day? “Has my office been checked?” I yell.

“Yours was done first,” Liam shouts back. “All the offices are clean.”

“And the reception? What about the there?” That bomb has to be somewhere. Where else did Galvatore go when he was inside this building? And what about the cunt who delivered the heart?

Maybe thisisdown to Tom Slater after all? Knowing I would kill him, he could have paid someone to plant a device as part of his plan to ruin me? Joe Farrow, perhaps?

Oh, this is getting stupid! Lurching from one scenario after another isn’t helpful.

I’m starting to hyperventilate. “Where the hell is Keith?” I shout.Another one I haven’t seen.

“He’s checking the cellars,” Oscar calls. “Red, this casino room is fully clear.”

Panting, I swipe sweat from my brow. If the gaming lounge, the offices and the reception are clear, then where else does that leave? “I’ll go and help Keith.”

Running across the room, I reach the double doors just as they open, narrowly missing smacking me in the face.

“Arianna’s gone. The car’s left. She’s safe, mate.” Able to see my desperation, Del claps me on the shoulder. “How are things getting on in here? Anything?”

I sag with relief.Arianna is safe.Now just the rest of it left to deal with. “Nothing here. It’s all clear.”

Keith barges through the door to appear behind Del. “The cellar is clear!”

I’d laugh at the collection of cobwebs stuck to his shaved head if there was anything remotely funny about this situation, but there’s not.

Liam and Oscar rush across. “If the cellar’s clear, then where is left to look?”

I drag my fingers through my hair, not sure how to answer Liam’s question. “There must be somewhere else,” I mutter. “There has to be! Either that or we’ve missed something.” I glance at my watch, my heart beating at a dangerous pace. “Get everyone to double-check what they’ve already done.”

I’ll kill whoever planted this. I’ll destroy the bastards who are trying to kill my brothers, my men, my wife,me...

I’ll rip the person or people responsible to shreds for attempting to destroy all the hard work, blood, sweat and tears my father put into this firm, building it up from fuck all.

But for once, I’m unsure who is behind it. It could be one ofmanysuspects. All I know is that whoever it is, they will die when I find out.

That’s if they don’t win. And time is running out.

CHAPTER

84

Arianna

CRANING MY NECK, I look out of the back window of the car, wanting to see another glimpse of the Scorpio Lounge before I’m too far away, but it’s already out of sight.

A bit like how this shift in my life and what happened with Red feels.

Last night and this morning, my life took on a new dimension. There was finally a point to my existence, yet now... now everything is in tatters.

Abomb?