Page 25 of Single Mom’s Mafia Daddies (The Forbidden Reverse Harem Collection #22)

RENZO

W ednesday morning dawned with the kind of perfect sky that offered hope after the choking defeat of battle. Puffy clouds. Blue sky. It was too much for my heart to take, and I turned away from the window with a dissatisfied grunt.

My room smelled like Lila even though she hadn’t been in here since the night of the attack.

I’d slept with my face buried in the pillow, trying to absorb her into my dreams. It worked almost too well.

I’d woken with a hard-on that a hand job in the shower eased but didn’t satisfy.

Nothing satisfied me anymore except Lila. Once with her would never be enough.

I’d heard her and Alessio fighting last night when we returned from our recon mission, and I’d left them to work things out for themselves. Hopefully Alessio hadn’t acted like a bastard and push her away even further.

Shrugging into my black shirt, pants, socks, and boots, I headed from my room to the kitchen in search of food. My stomach grumbled, impatient after yesterday’s fight and adrenaline drove me to bed without fueling my body.

Lila and Alessio sat at the counter stools, side by side with their backs to me, close enough to settle my worry that Alessio hadn’t made things worse for us.

Then he turned and slid his hand down Lila’s arm, his touch lingering at her elbow before his hand fell to his side.

He whispered into her ear, keeping his voice too low for me to hear, and she tucked her hair behind her ear while leaning closer.

The domestic sight set warning bells clanging in my head, dissipating the relief.

What happened if Lila chose Alessio? What if she changed her mind about spending time with all three of us? We’d agreed not to interfere and to let her decide. Letting her go would be the second hardest experience of my life.

Alessio held a strawberry up to Lila’s lips. She grinned and bit into the fruit, then kissed his cheek. They’d really worked things out then.

I made sure the door shut loudly enough to announce my presence before I crossed the kitchen and opened the refrigerator to grab my protein shake and the carton of boiled eggs I kept on hand.

The shift in dynamic between Alessio and Lila was none of my business, I reminded myself, so I kept my mouth shut and filed the information away in case I needed it later.

Alessio grew more volatile with every passing day.

This change offered a chance for things to calm down, but if Lila retreated from him, it could go the other way.

“Morning, Renzo.” Lila hopped up from the chair and scooted around the counter to stand in front of me. “Alessio told me what happened last night. Thank you for looking out for him.”

“It’s my job.” I winced at the harshness that roared through me. “And it’s what friends do for each other.”

Her smile gathered up all the joy in the world and shot it straight into my chest. I rubbed at the ache and turned away. “I’m going to the security room. Need to review last night’s footage.”

It was a short trek from the kitchen to the security room, and I opened the nondescript black door to find Bruce waiting for me. He rubbed his eyes and pushed a chair toward me. “Figured you’d be in soon. I cued up all the footage from last night.”

The room used to be a large pantry, but I’d converted it into a security hub with Matteo’s help.

Monitors covered the long wall, each of them wired for a different section of the estate.

We could control everything from here, but this was only one of three hubs.

I had a backup for the backup in case of multiple emergencies.

They were a risk, but I knew better than to think no one would ever reach this room where they could control our safety without giving us a possible way to fight back.

Matteo and I were the only two people in the world who knew about my secondary systems and hidden rooms.

Bruce tapped a command on the keyboard. “How far back should I go?”

“Start from the time we left.” I had a gut feeling we’d missed something.

Battles were won and lost on gut feelings, and I’d learned to listen to mine.

We’d escaped the Verduccis twice, and both times it had seemed too easy.

We should have died that first night. And we shouldn’t have been able to escape last night.

It was almost as though they wanted to let us go. Why?

I popped a boiled egg into my mouth and chewed as the screen in front of me clicked on. After we painstakingly reviewed recorded footage from our investigation and search of Verducci’s building, we watched the footage from our own domain.

The cameras in the wolves’ eyes at the gate gave me a clear view of the street in either direction. No sane enemy came at us from the front. Then again, Luca wasn’t sane. His brother kept him on a short leash, but even the black-haired demon Vincenzo couldn’t control The Ghost all the time.

I shifted my attention to the second set of cameras that overlooked the southern side of the wall and the estate.

The mansion stood in the background, a white behemoth amid a sea of black.

The windows were shadowed, impossible to see through, so I concentrated on the wall.

Several of Luca’s men had scaled it on Monday, leaving behind deep gouges in the stone.

Seeing the torn-out chunks infuriated me, but something else grabbed my attention.

“The sensors are out.” I tapped the screen. “There. There should be two red lights for the motion sensors.”

My gut twisted as the possible implications rampaged.

Seconds passed on the screen, then a face appeared over the top of the wall.

I checked the timestamp. Two hours after Alessio and I left.

While we faced off with Luca, his men were scouting the house.

The man leaped to the ground and sprinted toward the far corner of the estate.

I squinted. “Is that the tunnel entrance?”

“One of them. It’s closed off, though. Justin checked it to make sure.” Bruce eyed me from the side. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

“We’ve been compromised.”

I’d already known—I’d even warned Lila—but damn the building evidence was a shitshow.

It was always a risk to bring in more men.

Alessio trusted me to bring in people who wouldn’t betray us, and I paid handsomely to ensure trust. But it seems they were bought anyway.

I’d failed to meet my mission parameters.

Alessio had to hear this from me. “Bruce.” I waited for him to look up.

“Get the men out. I’ll call you when we’re clear.” I checked my watch as I stood. I’d worked through the day, and Alessio should be in his office down the hall unless something called him away.

Or Lila distracted him.

“It’s been a pleasure working with you, sir.” Bruce stood and held out a hand. “I hope we see each other again.”

I slapped my palm to his and gripped his shoulder with my other hand, shaking him back and forth. “It’s been my pleasure. Now do your job, soldier.”

He snapped a salute.

In any other situation, I’d handle the men myself, but I had bigger priorities. I entered Alessio’s office after a single knock. He sat behind his desk, the wrecked room looking like something from a horror film. “We have to go.”

“How bad?”

“Level three.” I palmed my phone. “You have thirty minutes. I’ll get Lila and Leo prepared to vacate.” I paused, the regret almost too much to bear. “There’s likely a man in the tunnels. Maybe more. I should stay behind and deal with him.”

“You’re coming with us.” Alessio pointed a finger at my chest. “I warned you once about this martyr bullshit.”

“Yes, sir.” I spun around and marched out of the office.

Leo scampered up to me. “We’re going outside to play. Can you come?”

“Not yet.” I managed a smile. “Don’t go outside. I need to talk to your mom for a minute. Okay?”

“Okay.” Leo ran over to the bench seat beside the French doors and clambered up.

“What’s wrong?”

I gave her the quick and dirty version. “We have to leave. The house isn’t safe right now. I need you to get what you can’t live without for the next two days and meet me in the kitchen in half an hour.”

“We’re leaving?” Leo jumped off the bench and raced toward us. “How come? Are we going somewhere fun?”

Lila lifted him to her hip. His taller height and her petiteness gave them a strange silhouette, but the love between them shone no matter what. She tapped the end of his nose. “We’re going to play soldiers again.”

“Can I be a knight instead?” Leo spun Lila’s hair around his hands, wrapping the long strands around his wrists, then letting them go to fall across her shoulders. “I want a sword.”

“You can be a knight. I don’t have a sword, but I can get you a shield. Then you can be like the knight in Matteo’s story.” She tapped the center of his forehead. “Be quick and smart.”

“Okay.” He wiggled to be put down and ran toward the stairs as soon as his feet touched the floor.

Matteo and Alessio walked into the foyer from opposite directions. They closed in behind Lila and looked at me.

Damn it to fucking hell. I’d gotten out of the military so people would stop looking at me like I had all the answers. No time to worry about that. “Twenty minutes until we’re out of here. I’m going after the car.” I couldn’t afford to trust anyone else to drive.

“Are you sure we should go out the front?” Lila asked.

I bit down the sharp retort I’d have lobbed at anyone under my command. “We can’t risk running into them in the tunnels. This is the fastest way out.”

“I’ll fight them off.” Leo brandished a broom he must have found in the closet. “It’ll be fun, won’t it, Matteo?”

“Some fights you win by walking away.” Lila held out her hand to Leo. “This is one of them.”

“Gotta be smart?” He tucked the broom under his arm. “I can be smart and fight too.”

“Yes, you can.” A pained look crossed her face. “And right now our fight is figuring out what we need to take with us.”

They scurried up the steps toward their rooms. I heaved a sigh and made my way through the kitchen to the garage. Bruce would have the men out by now, hopefully without the traitorous bastards. I counted on him to keep them safe because I couldn’t do everything alone.

Matteo joined me first, sliding into the backseat and hefting the tablet. “I’ll shut it down as soon as we’re through the gates.”

“Keep an eye on the car. I’ll be right back.” The glowing green numbers on my watch ticked down to the five-minute mark. I entered the kitchen at the same time Lila, Leo, and Alessio walked in from the other side. “This way.” I took the bags from Lila and slung them across my shoulder.

Her eyes widened when she spotted the open door previously hidden beside the table. “How many secret entrances are there?”

“Enough,” Alessio answered at the same time I said, “Too many.”

We’d argued over it several times. He won in the end, and I was left figuring out a strategy that kept him alive in these situations. I nodded my reassurance at Lila when Leo yanked on her hand and tried to drag her through the door. “It’s okay. Matteo’s in the car.”

They climbed into the backseat while Alessio and I threw all the luggage in the back and closed the hatch.

He hopped into the passenger seat without complaint.

It was one of my few unbreakable rules. He drove last night because I allowed it.

Not today. Not when the threat of vehicular pursuit dogged us.

The cool leather wrapped around me when I slid into the driver’s seat and snapped my seatbelt into place. “Hey, Leo, watch this.” I pressed all the window buttons at the same time and another hidden door opened.

Leo laughed and clapped as I gunned the engine and peeled out across the yard. The gate opened at a tap from Matteo’s fingers on the tablet, and we were on the road. I gripped the wheel with both hands, my gaze shifting between the road ahead and the cars behind.

It took a mile for our tail to make his first mistake. Two for me to be absolutely certain I knew the man behind us. I recognized him from the cathedral, the short blond hair spiked straight up with blue on the tips giving him away.

“They’re tracking us.” I pitched my voice toward Alessio. “And they’re getting closer.”