Page 151 of Fall Before Her Throne

“We’ve got to get out of here,” I said to Kostya. “The entire block is on fire. The cops are going to be swarming.”

Kolya returned. “Yeah, bad news about that. There are three squad cars out front and at least a dozen cops outside. They’re surrounding the building as we speak.”

“Shit,” Kostya said. “How do we feel about going out there guns blazing?”

I exchanged a glance with Cas. “We have too much heat on us already. The feds have been breathing down our backs.”

“And you think they aren’t breathing down ours, too?” Kostya responded. He braced his hands on his hips. “Can we bolt? Split up to escape?”

“If the building is surrounded, they’re going to pick us all up,” Kolya said. “They’ve already got five or six men out there in handcuffs in front of their cars. They’re going to take as many of us into custody as they can for that fucking carnage outside.”

“They’ve got your men?” Cas asked. “Or Camorra.”

“They look Camorra,” Kolya replied. He pulled his phone out of his pocket. “I snapped a picture. Here.”

Cas and I both stared at the image. “Three guys are Greco’s capos,” Cas said.

We still needed to get out of here, but at least the cops had arrested some of the capos already. “Text me that photo,” I said quickly while I zoomed in on the image. After he did, I looked around for anything we could use. “What about a distraction?”

“Got any brilliant ideas?” Kostya asked.

“Some of us go out the front and distract them, so the rest of us can escape out of the back,” I said, eyeing the back exit. “I’m not seeing a lot of other options.”

Kolya and Kostya exchanged a glance, but Kolya spoke first. “I’ll take some of my men and do it. I don’t mind sitting in jail for a while.”

Felix spoke to a few of his men before he spoke. “Some of my guys will go, too. That will let the rest of us get out the back.”

“I don’t love the idea of my brother and my men getting arrested with the Italians,” Kostya said through gritted teeth.

“We can hold our own,” Kolya said. “Right, boys?”

His men and Felix’s grumbled their agreement.

“We don’t have time to debate, Kostya,” Kolya said. “We’ll be fine. Get out of here while you can. Just make sure that Greco can’t bail out his men and leave us rotting in there by ourselves.”

Kostya gave him a quick, hard hug. “I’ll do my best. I have some detectives and a few higher-ups on my payroll. I can put pressure on them to not let this get swept under the rug. Just stay safe in there.”

“We’ll do what we can, too,” I added. Between Obi, Samuel, and Ciel, we would not let the Italians weasel their way out of this. Not this time. But for now, the distraction would let the rest of us escape.

“All right,” Kostya grumbled. “Let’s not tug dicks and waste time. Go before I change my mind.”

We split up—half of us heading for the front of the shop for the distraction, while the other half of us crept out the back. Thankfully, the small street was dark and quiet. When shouts erupted at the front of the building, we used the cover of smoke and other chaos to get away.

Kostya split away from us two blocks later, saying he was heading to one of his safe houses.

Cas, Felix and his men, and I doubled back around until we got to our cars.

Cas looked up and down the street, making sure we weren’t followed. “Are you guys heading back to our headquarters?”

“Don’t worry about us,” Felix said. “We’ll stay low and stay safe. We’ll connect with you later.”

I extended a hand. “Thanks, Felix. You guys were a huge help tonight.”

The corner of his mouth pulled up, but he didn’t respond. Without another word, he and his men melted into the night.

Cas and I got back into our SUV, but this time I hopped into the driver’s seat. I doubted New York City had seen a battle on the literal streets like that in decades, if ever. The news would be all over it. The media coverage alone would hopefully be enough to keep those men behind bars, but just in case, I’d tell Ciel and Obi to leak the names of all the men who got arrested. If there were enough public outcry, it would look terrible for Greco to intervene.

As carefully as possible, I started navigating our car through city traffic. I couldn’t wait to scald my skin in a hot shower. We were both covered in blood. But as soon as I started heading south, I caught sight of a suspicious-looking car following us. It didn’t stop even as I made random turns around the borough.