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Nick
How many men have I put down today? I can’t keep count, probably shouldn’t. When St. Peter turns me away from the pearly gates, I’m certain he’ll have that number handy. For now, I have to deal death to keep my family safe.
I skid to a halt in front of the stone house that the Davincis have called home for almost a century and jump from my SUV. A trail of blood leads across the drive, and a body lies still in the landscaping. One of Pasquale’s men.
“More are coming!” I whistle, and soldiers pour from the front of my home and around the sides.
Squealing tires announce the arrival of more thugs tasked with taking me down. Pasquale won’t be among them. He’s too chickenshit to get his hands dirty. But that ends today. He doesn’t play chess. Not the way I do. Because I have a queen now, who rules the board. His pawns can’t stop me, because with Sophia at my side, I’m the most powerful king this city has ever known, and my knights? Well, let’s just say their loyalty is only matched by their bloodlust.
A white SUV races toward me, a passenger hanging out the side with a submachine gun firing haphazardly at me. I duck behind my car as bullets thunk into its metal and a few windows behind me shatter. Worry sparks inside me, then fizzles, because I know Carlotta pulled Sophia to safety at the first sign of trouble.
Once the white SUV skids to a halt and almost crashes into an oak lining my drive, I step out and fire into the windows. My soldiers follow, several of them rushing down the drive toward the broken gate. They let out a barrage of gunfire at the approaching invaders, yells and cries of pain shooting up into the night.
Glancing up, I make sure Gio is ready. I can barely see him, but I don’t need to. I see the fifty caliber Gatlin gun rise from its hiding spot onto a steel platform.
Marco ducks out the front door and comes to stand beside me.
“Shit’s about to get real.” I hitch a thumb at Gio on the roof. “Are you ready for this?”
He pulls out his pistol. “I’m Davinci.”
“Are you certain?” I’m surprised, but unbelievably proud, that he’s chosen my side.
He gives a hard nod. “If Sophia trusts you, then so do I.”
I don’t have time to tell him that he will be like a prince here, that he will one day stand as my equal and be free to begin his own family, his own operation. But all that and more swirls in my mind as I think about the future, about what Sophia and I can build with him and for him.
The kid’s right on time, because another load of Pasquale’s soldiers mow down some of my men as they try to overwhelm us with sheer numbers. Truck after truck full of wannabe capos destroy my front lawn and desecrate my fallen soldiers. Gunfire spurts from each window, muzzle flashes lighting the night as they fill my car and my home with metal slugs. Marco returns fire, ducking behind the SUV with me.
Rage boils up inside me at the fucking disrespect in this attack, and it grows even hotter when I think of my Sophia inside, probably terrified as our lives are threatened. I reach inside my SUV and pull out my big gun, a weapon that belongs on the battlefield. It’s loaded. I’m ready. I fire as the onslaught comes.
Gio plays a single sharp tone through the estate’s PA system. The attackers won’t know what it means. But my men do. They scatter back toward the house, running for their lives. When I hear the fifty caliber begin to whir, I grin. Blood already streaks my shirt and my hands. None of it mine.
The heavy thud of each huge slug from the fifty caliber gun is like a fireworks explosion right beside me. Greenery flies, tree limbs fall, and our enemies crumple under the inescapable onslaught. I join in the melee, picking off any soldiers who try to run toward my home. They don’t even set foot onto the roundabout before I’ve cut them down. My men teem behind me, seething to kill anyone who threatens our superiority.
One of the SUVs explodes and flames shoot into the night as utter carnage dots my lawn. Once satisfied, I hold up my hand. The barrage stops, and the night fills with groans, screams, and sirens.
This is going to take a hefty payoff to Police Chief Vanridge, but he’s swept plenty of crimes under the rug for me before.
“Sir?” Tony waits at my elbow, his eyes on movement in my shattered grounds.
I turn toward my men and beat my chest with one fist. “Davinci!”
“Davinci!” they yell back.
“Finish them off.” I wave them forward.
They rush onto the field like a swarm of locusts, and soon enough, there are no more groans or screams of pain. Only the sirens now.
Gio hurries from the house and surveys the damage. “You weren’t kidding when you said the fifty caliber would be worth it.”
I clap him on the shoulder. “Promise Chief Vandridge whatever sum he wants when he shows up.” Turning toward the house, I jump up the front steps.
“Where are you going?” he calls.
I wipe one hand down my face, and it comes away bloody. “To see my bride.”
“Boss.” My guards part for me as I stride to the safe room.
