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“Tell me you understand.”
“I understand.”
My strong girl.
I give her one last deep kiss and force myself to pull away, needing to get changed. Sliding into the tactical gear Dante sent, I quickly get dressed and meet Mac and Finn, who are saying their goodbyes to Harper by the elevator. Looking over at Enzo, I raise my brow in silent question, and he nods. “We’ve got her man. I’ll protect her with my life.”
Harper pulls away from Finn and moves toward me like a magnet. Always drawn toward one another. I take her face in my hands. “We’ll be back before you know it. Everything will be better. I promise.”
She nods, blinking back the tears slowly slipping from her eyes. “I love you, Baby.”
My mouth crashes to hers. She immediately opens for me. I take in every touch taste, and moan like it might be the last time I ever get to experience it. Pulling away, I take one of her curls between my fingers and look deep into her eyes. “I love you, Harper Hayes.”
She grabs one of my wrists and turns my hand over between us. Sliding my signet ring off her thumb, she places it in the palm of my hand. “No,” I shake my head and put it right back on her thumb with more force than necessary. “That is yours. Keep it with you always. We have you with us, remember?” Her wide eyes stare up at me. “Here,” I tap her name on my neck. “And here.” My finger moves to my chest. Harper places her hand on my chest, feeling the rhythm of my beating heart under her palm.
A moment later I turn and pick up the duffle of weapons Enzo brought, and join Mac and Finn in the waiting elevator.
Standing in the elevator, I stare at the love of our lives, barefoot, wearing a pair of jeans and one of her favorite vintage T-shirts, her arms crossed in front of her. Her messy curls hang over her shoulders, and her reading glasses are perched on her head. Her freckled cheeks are the perfect shade of pink, and her emerald eyes shine with unshed tears. I spare a look at my brother and best friend to find them staring at her the same way I just was. Like this is the way we want to hold her in our memory forever.
Our perfect girl.
“I’ll see you soon then?”
“See you soon, Baby.”
51
Finn
With a stroke of luck, it only takes us twenty minutes to drive through the city to the address Sebastian gave us. And with an even greater stroke of luck, the sun has just set by the time we pull up in front of the giant pre-war building in Bowery. A group of giant men in matching tactical gear walking around the city streets in broad daylight isn’t exactly inconspicuous.
While the neighborhood is now considered one of the wealthiest in the city and is filled with a beautiful roster of architecture, like the rest of the city, there is no shortage of abandoned buildings. The ones in Bowery just happen to be a little nicer than the rest.
As we pull up, Luca and Dante emerge from an alleyway, dressed in the same dark clothing as us. The three of us climb out, and Ronan slaps the duffle bag onto the car’s roof. He opens it, and we quickly pull the weapons out of the bag.
“Nice to see you enjoying your gifts,” Dante’s deep voice rumbles.
“They in there?” Ronan asks, not wasting any more time.
“Yeah. Seb just called and said he’s already tapped into the cameras around the block. Nobody else has come or gone since they showed up. He’ll keep an eye out and call if they do.”
We all look at Mac, including Ronan. Regardless of being the boss and the one we turn to for direction, he knows that this is where Mac excels and that our best chance lies in doing what he says.
“Alright. Finn, Ronan, and Dante, you take the front door. Luca and I will take the back. On my signal, we move as one. We all know who the target is. Anyone else in there dies. Nobody leaves this building.” The four of us nod in agreement. “Alright, turn your coms on and get your weapons ready.” We all follow his instructions, and once everyone is ready, Mac looks between us. “Let’s move.”
Luca and Mac get a head start so they can run down the alley that leads to the back of the giant brick building. Once they reach the back door, Mac’s voice sounds through our earpieces, “We’re ready.”
Ronan and I file behind Dante and move toward the front door, guns at the ready. “Ready,” Dante’s deep voice rumbles through the coms.
“On my count . . . 3 . . . 2 . . . 1” I listen as Mac busts down the back door at the same time as Dante raises his giant boot and crashes through the large wooden front door with minimal effort. Like a well-oiled machine, Ronan and I break off on either side of him. Shots go off around me as I drop a man who emerges from a doorway in front of me before he can so much as raise his gun.
Too slow motherfucker.
I turn around just in time to see Dante bash a man’s skull against the tile floor hard enough that he goes limp with just one hit. Ronan and I converge on Dante, and the three of us move through the grand first floor, killing a dozen more men until we meet Luca and Mac at the base of the staircase leading to the second floor.
“They’ve got to be upstairs. We cleared that half,” Luca says, breath ragged.
“This half is clear, too,” answers Ronan.
