Page 53 of Savage Little War

His right eye is swollen shut, and blood coats the right side of his face. His shirt is torn and stained with blood, and I honestly can’t tell if it belongs to him or someone else.

“You’re alive,” I breathe out in relief as we move away from the kitchen.

Luca grins. “Takes more than a few men to kill me. Heads up.”

Luca lifts his gun and fires past us, dropping an Italian guard heading our way.

“You look like shit, Dmitri,” Luca tells him.

“I could say the same about you,” Dmitri grunts. “Ferro is dead.”

Luca’s eyes widen. “Is that who beat the shit out of you?”

Dmitri wipes water from his lashes and gives Luca a look. “Ask me later.”

Andrei limps down the stairs. “Second and third are clear.”

Sean appears in the kitchen doorway, smoke and gunpowder clinging to him. “First floor too.”

Dmitri breathes in deeply as everyone gathers, a determined look settling on his face. “I’m sure word has spread to their allies about this fight tonight. I think we should send them a message.”

“What do you have in mind?” Luca asks, eagerness glinting in his eyes.

“It’s too much work to try to clean up this mess,” Dmitri replies as his eyes roam over all the bodies littering the floor. “We’re going to burn this place to the ground. Ferro’s body is out in the garden. We’ll throw it in here so that he can turn to ash with the rest of his men.”

Everyone around him nods in agreement.

“Our dead come with us,” Dmitri says, voice like iron. “They don’t burn here.” He points at his men. “You two, get Ferro from the garden. Sweep every room for ours. Take their cars. Another team get to the hotel and grab our bags. Be at the airfield in twenty.”

The group splits apart, leaving Sean, Dmitri, Luca, and Andrei to stand with me in the aftermath of the fight.

“So, how do you want to roast and toast this place?” Luca asks as he rubs his hands together.

“I saw a small shed out back. There’s probably something in there that we can use,” Dmitri tells him.

“On it,” Luca says before walking off.

My father moves closer to me, gently touching my cheek as he inspects me. “You good?”

I nod, letting him check on me. “I’m okay. I didn’t take any bad hits.”

“I want you to go to a doctor as soon as we get back home,” Dmitri tells me with a stern expression on his face that leaves no room for argument. “We need to make sure the baby is okay.”

Sean’s eyes grow wide.

“I finally told him,” I say, seeing him relax. “Everything is okay.”

My father glances over at Dmitri for confirmation.

The side of Dmitri’s mouth turns up. “You’re going to be a grandfather,” Dmitri says. “Try not to look so ancient.”

Sean scoffs. “Not too ancient to kick your ass, yeah?”

Instead of worrying about their rivalry flaring back up, I smile. If my marriage to Dmitri won’t keep them bonded as allies, I know our little one will.

We step out of the way as Leo helps Isaak toward the front door. “We need a medic, now!” Leo snaps.

“One of my guys is a former paramedic,” Andrei replies. “I’ll go find him.”