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“Ah, fucking motherfucker.” Sammy exploded as she grabbed the big man by the collar, pulling him forward as she got in his face. “You work for him?”
More gunfire came from outside, making me jump. Things sounded like they were escalating. Men were yelling out commands in English, Italian, and Russian.
“Can we argue about who he works for later?” I snapped at Sammy. She wasn’t taking the gunfire outside seriously enough. And the explosions going off were definitely cause for concern. Why the fuck wasn’t she freaking out when her childhood home was under attack? “There are people outside shooting at us right now!”
Vaughn grasped my wrist, and some of the fear choking me receded. Warmth spread through me at his touch, and I wanted to curl into him while the rest of the world disappeared. But more rounds of gunfire came from outside. Even with the door closed, I heard a few men scream in pain.
“Where is the panic room?” he demanded, his fingers tightening around my hand.
“Oh, you mean you don’t know already?” Sammy snarked, her face showing something other than amusement as she released the new guy. I wasn’t sure the rage vibrating off her was any better than the giggles from earlier. She scared the hell out of me, but for some weird reason, I wasn’t scared of what she might do to me.
I stepped closer to Vaughn. An image of her ripping his throat out kept popping into my head, and I didn’t doubt for a moment she could and would do it if pushed too far.
“Samara.” His voice echoed off the walls, vicious and full of command. “You can bitch at me later, but right now, Abi needs to be in that fucking room.”
Her face softened for a moment, and she gave a nod before turning and rushing down a hallway. Vaughn pulled me with him as he followed, the guy who had pissed Sammy off right behind us. The mansion was a maze of different corridors and stairs, from just the little bit I saw before we entered an elegant library.
She stopped in front of a huge bookshelf that was built into the wall. She moved a few things around, and a hidden panel popped up. She punched in a code, and then the entire wall shifted, revealing a giant metal door. It was something out of a spy movie with the way an air lock snicked and the door slid open.
A deadly knife was swung at Sammy’s head, making me yelp. “Fuck’s sake, Anya!” a gruff voice shouted. A man with gray hair, dressed in a suit—because, of course—came into view. I peeked around Vaughn’s arm to look at him. His face was lined with age, but it didn’t take two guesses to figure out who he was. Vaughn was a younger version of him. “I could have killed you!”
Sammy threw her arms around his neck, hugging him hard, her entire body trembling. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
A third explosion went off outside. I whimpered and pressed my face into Vaughn’s arm. “Samara,” Vaughn growled in warning.
“Let me go, woman. I need to get out there and help the men,” Cristiano Vitucci said, trying to untangle Sammy from him. He gave Vaughn a pleading look. “Tell your mother to release me.”
Oh, he thought she was his wife.
“Sorry, Pop,” Vaughn said with regret, shoving his sister aside and pulling me into the panic room. “Mom is going to help me. But I have something important I need you to handle.”
My stomach protested as I realized what he was about to do.
No. No, Vaughn. Don’t you dare leave me!
“Who the hell is this, Christian?” his father demanded.
Brown eyes landed on me, amber glowing at me as he brushed the backs of his fingers over my cheek. “This is Abigail, the girl I love.” His words had tears filling my eyes. “Wildfire, meet my father. You two get to know each other.”
“Vaughn—” I tried to reach for him, but he was already backing me farther into the room with his dad.
“Pop, please keep her safe. If anything happens to her…” He paused, his throat bobbing, making my heart break while my fear only spiked higher. “Just protect her for me. Okay?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
vaughn
My heart was in my throat as the panic room door shut. Before it closed completely, I saw a tear spill down Abi’s cheek, her mouth forming my name, but no sound came out.
This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. She was supposed to be upstate in a safe house with Samara and my father. Where I knew she would be safe, with Walter taking care of all three of them while I dealt with Daria and Polina. That was my plan. But Samara had suggested an alternative, leaving Pop at home while she and I took care of business. When I’d spotted a tail, the choice was taken out of my hands.
We both knew it was only a matter of time before Daria and her people caught up to us. My only goal was to get Abi to the mansion and inside the panic room, with Cristiano and Samara inside with her.
As soon as the door was completely shut, Samara took off running. Cursing, I swallowed the knot of emotion choking me and raced after her, Walter at my heels. Even with her vision off, she still moved with grace and speed through the house to the kitchen.
Walter and I shared a look as she opened another secret door, this time into an armory. Neither one of us had known about this room or the inventory. Samara told me she’d designed the panic room, but she must have had a hand in this storage area as well. I hadn’t found either of them on any blueprints regarding the house, and I wouldn’t have known about them if she hadn’t shown me firsthand.
“Take whatever you want,” Samara called over to me, but I was already loading up, pulling on a bulletproof vest and grabbing an earpiece before slinging the straps of several guns over my shoulder.
