“I sure as hell do.”
I sit on the couch, and Ricco takes one of the chairs. The pool house is my favorite place on the compound. Dark rustic wood and a stone fireplace make it comfortable. It takes me away from the chaos that surrounds me in the big house and gives me solitude when I need it.
“Have Darius come down to the pool. She shouldn’t be out there alone,” I tell Ricco.
Just as he’s about to radio Darius on the two-way, I hear them before they hit. Gunshots. WHAT! THE! FUCK!
Before I can even think, Ricco is on the floor and has dragged me down with him. Gunfire explodes through the windows, and glass is shattering all around us. Oh my God, Zaira! I pull my Glock from its holster as Ricco pulls out his gun.
Yelling over the gunfire, I start to get up. “Ricco, Zaira is outside. I have to go get her!”
“No!” Ricco yells, pulling me back down. He grabs his two-way and says, “Darius, what’s going on?”
Darius radios back. “Don’t know, Gunner. There wasn’t any warning. Gunshots came from the south lawn. Gio and his men are checking it out now.”
“We want ’em alive, Darius!” Ricco demands.
I’m sure Gio isn’t going to find anyone. They are long gone or already dead.
“Zaira was lying by the pool when all this started. I need you to check on her ASAP!”
“Heading that way now. Was Michael hit?” Darius asks.
“No, but he’s freaking out about Zaira. Need something to calm him the fuck down before he goes running out there himself. You got me?”
Darius is silent for a few minutes and then chimes back in. “Gio just radioed, found two gunmen on the bank of the lake. They’re both dead.”
I figured as much. Fuck. Someone inside had to get them on the property. And now they are too dead to talk.But who?
“Zaira is fine, just a little upset at the moment,” Darius reports.
“I’m going out there!” I demand.
“No, I’ll get her!” He crawls toward the door. “You fucking stay put!” As he’s working his way out, he says, “I mean it, Michael. If you fucking come out there, I swear I will kill you myself!”
The gunfire has stopped, the gunmen dead. I know it’s only been seconds since Ricco left, but it feels like hours. The torture of not seeing with my own eyes that she is okay is fucking killing me.
I don’t care what he says. I have to know she is okay. I crawl to the door, gun cocked and ready. I reach up to grab the knob, but before I can open the door, it opens. Ricco is standing there, a wet Zaira cradled in his arms. She’s crying into his shoulder, and my heart aches that she was caught in the middle of all this. Again.
I take her from Ricco’s arms and carry her to the couch. I sit beside her and hold her close. “Zaira, darling, shhhh. It’s okay, love. I know you’re scared, but it’s all over now. Nobody was hurt.”
She claws at my shirt and holds onto me for dear life.
I look at Ricco. “Give us a minute, please.”
He nods and moves to step out the door.
As he leaves, I call after him. “Ricco.”
“Yeah,” he says and turns back.
“I owe you my life, yet again.”
He nods and turns to leave.
Zaira is still crying, and I can’t do anything but hold and comfort her. I hate feeling so fucking helpless.
“Michael, what happened?” she asks between sobs.
