Page 57 of Sicilian Savior

Three guys left. Victor flew behind a wall, disappearing from my sight.

A bullet whizzed past me, and I spun and took out the man who’d shot it. More motion caught my eye as another man bolted toward where I’d lost Victor.

He didn’t make it.

“Kill him!” Victor commanded, but only one man remained to take the order. An order he’d never accomplish.

The last man rose, hands trembling as he lifted his gun. I dropped him before he’d exhaled one last shaky breath.

A sinister smile twitched up my lip. “It’s just you and me now, Victor. You want to go out hiding like a pussy, or do you want to come out and face me man to man?”

“Why are you doing this?” he called from his hiding spot. “What the fuck did I do to warrant this unforgivable assault! I demand to talk to Rico!”

I wanted to tell him I wasn’t with the Vitalis and that I was here for Lucia. Here for Luca. I wanted to go into a monologue about what a piece of shit he was and that he deserved his fate. I wanted to tell him that I’d be the man holding her in my arms every night, keeping her safe and that he never deserved her.

But I didn’t.

I wanted to wait to say those words until I was staring into his eyes as the life left them.

“Why don’t you come out, and let’s have a chat. Just you and me.”

Silence.

Not surprising. He was gonna make me come in after him.

I crept toward his hiding place then saw the barrel of a gun emerge around the corner. I ducked out of the way before he sent bullets flying into the room, aiming at nothing.

Return fire? Okay, this would be fun.

“Not quite,” I said with a chuckle. “A little more to your left.”

He shot again, missing me by a mile.

My coms kicked in, and Piper’s panting voice filled my ears. “Knox, we need help. We’re pinned down. We’ve got Luca.”

My heart stuttered to a stop. “What?”

“Shit went sideways. Marcus and I need backup to get Luca the rest of the way. Hurry up and get your ass here. West wing, south wall in the courtyard. Wes, ping him our mark.”

I glanced over to the place that Victor still hid.

“Hurry up, Knox! I don’t know how long I can hold them!” Marcus said, his words punctuated by gunfire.

Fuck. Victor would have to wait.

I spun on my heel and bolted out of the room, my vengeance for Victor subsiding to my need to protect Luca and my team. I took out several men along the way, following the dot on my watch guiding me to the two blinking dots I grew closer to with each step.

The gunfire grew louder as the dots on my watch converged, so I pressed my back against the wall and slid out my mirror.

“Six guys just to your left,” Wes said.

I saw them in my mirror.

“Do I have space to land a grenade without hitting Marcus, Piper, and Luca?”

“If you aim perfect,” Wes answered. “They’re taking cover behind the fountain.”

“I always aim perfect,” I responded as I lifted my gun, shifting my finger to the trigger for the grenade launcher I’d installed.