Page 56 of The Enforcer’s Revenge (Untamed Hearts #4)

“Got it,” Carina whispered. “God, it’s a fucking flip phone. I hate these stupid burners they all carry.” They both flinched when she opened it, the light making Carina look ghostly and shadowed as she took a shaking, terrified breath. “This’ll take forever.”

Carina turned away from her, leaning her forehead against the wall to concentrate on texting with the flip phone.

They heard a door being kicked open. This time, it was much closer than the one above them. Brianna realized the ledge she was resting her feet on was another laundry hatch in the room beneath Carlo’s on the first floor.

The two of them fell one full story down.

She tried to remember which room it could be, but the pain was all-encompassing, making white spots dance in the darkness of her vision.

Carina worked at texting Tino, and Brianna could tell her hands were shaking by the way the light was flickering. She heard the chime of a text being sent, but Carina was still typing.

“NYPD!” A boom of the closet door flying open on the other side of the thin wall made them both jump. “Hands up!”

Carina let out a choked, “No,” a second before the sound of Nova’s flip phone landing in the basement echoed up the laundry chute.

The darkness engulfed them once more. Brianna was tense with fear as they listened to the sounds on the other side of the wall.

“This one must be the Don’s bedroom,” a voice said over more hangers being pushed around. “Nice digs.”

It was obvious the intruders were in the downstairs closet.

Someone kicked at the wall. “Sounds hollow.”

Brianna was almost glad for the pain as a distraction. The voice felt so close, and if this guy found the hidden door to the laundry chute, Brianna and Carina were both screwed because she didn’t dare try and drop down further.

Carina’s breathing was harsh in Brianna’s ear, sounding unsteady and choked. If Brianna felt like she was suffocating, she could only imagine what Carina was thinking.

“Here, put this in your pocket,” one of the men was saying. “And this?—”

“Motherfucker, we’re not here to rob the place.

” More hangers sliding around. More kicking of the wall.

“Go help Barry check the basement. Anyone who ran down there would be trapped. Our guy said the only way out of the basement besides the stairs is through the elevator to the garages, and Ed already cleared the garages. He’s standing guard up there.

So, play backup for Barry just in case he needs help. ”

“Check this out—eighteen-karat gold. Look at the face on it. It’s covered in real diamonds. Do you know how much this thing is worth?”

“Just help Barry search the fucking basement so we can tell them we did it.”

Carina didn’t seem to care that they were robbing her nonno. Instead, she was running her hand along Brianna’s leg, which was covered in blood. Carina tried to grab Brianna’s hurt arm, but Brianna jerked it back because she could accidentally injure her worse.

These assholes were taking a really long time in the closet.

Brianna’s legs were shaking from the strain. Carina must’ve noticed because she tried to slide up, but Brianna grabbed her arm, squeezing it, praying she understood to stay still.

They couldn’t afford to make noise.

Not yet.

Brianna breathed a sigh of relief at the sound of footsteps walking away. It was obvious they’d left the closet, but she didn’t dare move much in case someone came back.

“Where are you shot?” Carina asked in a fearful whisper.

“No, I think it was a nail. Something got me in the arm, but I don’t think it’s a bullet. It got me before they started firing.” Brianna shifted, trying to stay balanced because her legs were cramping. “It feels bad. It’s bleeding a lot.”

“No shit,” Carina hissed at her. “We need to crawl out of this thing.”

“We can’t.” Brianna realized she might actually die in this stupid laundry chute. “They could still be in your nonno’s room.”

Brianna strained to listen, but mostly she could only hear her own heartbeat and labored breathing. Carina was struggling for breath, too, and that wasn’t helping. Brianna could physically feel her best friend’s freak-out building in the stifling hot tunnel.

“Slow breaths,” Brianna whispered, and she wasn’t sure if she was talking to herself or Carina, but it worked for both of them.

Long, slow, cool breaths.

In.

Out.

The voices in the bedroom seemed to drift farther away.

The noise in the house felt more distant.

Brianna still thought she was going to die in this stupid coffin dressed up as a laundry chute, but the adrenaline was just starting to wane a little.

“ Adesso,” Nova’s voice reverberated from beneath them.

They only heard it faintly, but he had to have said it pretty loud.

Even if Brianna didn’t understand what he was saying, she knew it was Nova.

His tone was harsh and dangerous with warning, but the two of them still jerked a second later at the shout of raw panic that echoed up the laundry chute from the basement.

It was quickly cut off by a dull, sickening thud.

“That was Nova, right?” Brianna asked Carina in a terrified whisper.

“Yeah.” Carina was still trying to breathe in and out, but it sounded more like she was hyperventilating. “But who was screaming after?”

Brianna didn’t know, and she didn’t have to answer. The clank of something heavy and metal against cement had her falling silent once more. She was listening intently just as the laundry chute door far beneath them was opened.

Brianna held her breath and turned her head to better peer down the shaft. She couldn’t see the face of the person. The light from the basement was dim, but it looked like a man.

He picked up the phone Carina had dropped, and a blue light was suddenly cast over Nova’s features.

The damn thing hadn’t broken, it just landed face down. When Nova tilted his head up, using the phone to light up the laundry chute, Brianna still couldn’t see his face past the shadows.

But she could hear him as he let out a choked, “Cazzo,” when he saw what the cellphone light revealed.