“Wait until they’re out,” Leo said between his shovels of dirt.
“They’re fanning out,” I said. “I can’t wait that long.” I dropped to my stomach, crawled slightly under the car, and then I fired my gun at their feet. Pops of blood immediately squirted from two pairs of ankles, and then screams followed immediately. They both dropped to the ground, either in shock or because they physically couldn’t stand.
“Frankie.”
I quickly pushed to my feet and saw the third guy round the corner with his gun pointed at me.
Leo threw his shovel like a spear and hit him right in the face.
He staggered and squeezed the trigger, spraying bullets everywhere in his panic. Thankfully, the gun was aimed skyward, and I was able to shoot him with my rifle and make him collapse.
Leo didn’t hesitate before he grabbed the shovel I’d dropped and carried on digging. “I see the coffin.” He slammed the shovel down and heard the thud of the wood underneath.
I looked over the hood of the vehicle and saw men continue to be engaged in combat. I should remain in my lookout position, but fuck it. We were so close. I grabbed the shovel that had been tossed and returned to Leo, and we sprinted to the end, tossing dirt into the air and caking our clothes. The black coffin came into view.
“The drill,” Leo ordered.
I jumped out of the hole, grabbed the drill, and tossed it to him below. He went to all the screws that held the lid shut. “Anyone coming?”
I did a quick check. “No, but hurry.”
“Going as fast as I fucking can, Frankie.” He did each screw, and once he got to the last one, my heart nearly exploded.
I should stay above and keep watch on the house, but I needed to get to Wolfe as quickly as possible. The two of us were sitting ducks in that grave, but I kept my gun with me and hopped inside.
Leo removed the lid to the coffin.
Wolfe lay there, hands folded together at the bottom of his chest like he’d really been asleep…and he was smiling.
Fucking smiling.
Gunshots continued to erupt around us while the firefight carried on, and this asshole was fucking smiling like being buried alive underground was a damn vacation.
I dropped to my knees beside him, flicking my eyes back and forth between his because I couldn’t understand what I was seeing.
Even Leo was stunned. He stared down at Wolfe and then switched his gaze to me in confusion.
Wolfe sat up and rested his arm over the edge of the coffin like it was the windowsill in a car, the irrational smile still plastered on that handsome face. He didn’t look traumatized or winded or even remotely stressed. His eyes held this warm affection like we’d just spent a wonderful day together. And there was something else…pride. He’d never looked at me like that before. His eyes flicked back and forth between mine before he spoke. “Tough.Fucking.Bitch.”
Despite being buried alive for the last few hours, Wolfe got behind the wheel while I got into the passenger seat, and Leo hopped in the back seat.
Wolfe hit the gas and drove off the property through the main gate, turning the wheel and clipping as many guys as he could in the process.
I called Don Russo. He answered right away, gunfire loud over the line like he was positioned behind a car during the battle. “I’ve got Wolfe.”
“Yeah, I see him. We’ll pull out. Meet you at headquarters.”
“Alright.” I hung up. “Head back to Palermo.”
Wolfe seemed to know exactly where he was because he didn’t put the address in the GPS. The vehicle could somehow still operate despite all the damage it had sustained. The engine sounded the same, roared to life with the same amount of power. When he got onto the road and made a sharp right, his hand immediately went to my thigh as his elbow rested on the center console, like we were on a fucking date.
I glanced down at his hand then turned to him, seeing him glance in the rearview mirror then look straight ahead, calm and confident as always. My hand moved to his, and I interlocked our fingers and gave him a hard squeeze.
Without taking his eyes off the road, he squeezed me back.
A couple minutes later, Don Russo called me.
I released Wolfe’s hand and put it on speaker. “We’re on our way.”
