Page 159 of The Fractured

I stared at Lily’s skin, waiting for blood.

None came.

He missed.

“What?!” Beatrice spat in frustration at whoever barged into the basement.

“Your father is here,” the man responded, sounding out of breath.

The triplets shared a look, their faces going pale.

Gabriele snapped his fingers at Lucia. “Check him for a wire.”

Lucia hurried over to me, masking her eagerness to get near me again with feigned concern. Her nails curled into the front of my black, button-down shirt and tore it open, unable to contain her smile as she ran her hands over my skin.

I looked away as she did, clenching my jaw and curling my fingers around the arms of the chair. My right hand was completely numb, save for a fluttering of a pulse whenever blood dripped from the wound.

Beatrice began speaking Italian, her voice fast and mildly panicked.“He wouldn’t be wired. You took him from her apartment.”

Gabriele began to pace, also speaking Italian.“Then how does he know?”

I rolled my head back, eyes closed.“Ever heard of a hunch?”

“Shut up!” he snapped in English.

“Calm down,”Beatrice hissed.“He might be here to tell us he changed his mind. We need to hide them.”

“Fine,” Gabriele said in English before barking orders at their men. “Hide them in one of the storage boxes. And tape his mouth shut!” he snapped, jabbing a finger at me.

They moved fast, cutting us from the seats, zip tying our wrists in front of us, and reapplying tape to my mouth. We were dragged off the stage and steered towards the back of the room side by side.

My head spun with every step. I didn’t know how much blood I was losing, but it was gradually taking its toll.

Lily looked at me, her eyes riddled with worry, until one of the men shoved her forward, and she fell.

“Mmphaphkha.” I grabbed his shirt with my good hand, not entirely sure what my plan was when a dozen guns were suddenly pointed at my head.

The faint sound of popping rang out from upstairs, and the room stilled.

There was distant shouting, more gunshots, and rushed footsteps in the stairwell before a final, much louder bang rang out. Several seconds later, one of the lackeys fell to the bottomof the stairs, spilling into the doorway with a bullet hole through his head.

There was a rush to have all guns on the door as Lily was dragged to her feet.

It was too late to hide us.

Two of the men shoved guns against our temples and pushed us together. At least she was beside me again.

The blood was beginning to drip faster, landing in large splats on my shoe.

Gabriele and Beatrice pulled guns too, but Lucia drew a short, thick knife with a diamante-encrusted handle.

She brought a knife to a gun fight…

I huffed a laugh into the tape.

Heavy footsteps echoed through the stairwell before several men in black suits walked into the basement.

It was like the fucking cavalry arrived.