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“Let’s go, brothers!” Vin yells over his shoulder. They both follow, taking shots while covering us as we step outside and move farther from the warehouse.

Vin pulls out his phone and presses it to his ear. “Everyone back? Okay, good.” His gaze turns to me. “Now.”

I grab my phone from my pocket and swipe across the screen, the images and words blurring beneath the blood spreading over it. I open the app, press down hard, and…

Boom!

An inferno explodes behind us, the heat scorching our skin as we reach the line of SUVs. I make it to the last one and open the side door, checking that every woman made it safely. Seeing they’re all accounted for, I look toward the guard in the driver’s seat. “Take them to the hospital now.”

He nods.

As I step away, a woman wraps her slender fingers around my forearm. I glance over my shoulder at her.

“Thank you,” she breathes, tears streaming down her face. She releases me and wipes her cheeks. “Thank you.”

“You’re safe now.” I shut the door, tap the side of the vehicle, and step away. Then I jump into my brother’s SUV just as Vin floors the accelerator, getting us the hell out of here.

I collapse against the seat, my heart hammering in my chest, every breath still coming too hard.

I swipe my finger across the screen and open the camera feed to the living room, where Clara and Charlotte are playing with blocks on the floor.

My knuckles drag across my chest.

All I want is to get home to them.

To my girls.

I glance at Vin, who peers in the rearview mirror at the wake of destruction we left behind. A cold, menacing grin spreads over his face, his eyes on the fiery blaze. “Checkmate, stronzo.”

Chapter nineteen

Charlotte

“The Swiss consume more chocolate than any other nation on Earth.” A smile curves my lips as I scroll down the screen, my eyes grazing over every word and picture I’m coming across. “Hmm… Maybe I should add Switzerland to my list.”

After Clara fell asleep, I grabbed the laptop and settled into the living room, determined to research different countries across Europe, so I could finally decide where to start my journey.

At first, it was exciting, getting lost in pictures of snow-capped mountains, winding cobblestone streets, and breathtaking coastlines. Every destination felt like the beginning of a new adventure.

A new life.

But then my eyes caught sight of a picture on the mantel. A candid photo of Alex and Clara sitting on the grass by the lake. He’s holding her against his chest as they both look into each other’s eyes, laughing. The love between them can practically be felt floating off the image.

And the idea of never seeing those two faces again… Well, it’s starting to make the endless possibilities of where to live feel less exciting and more suffocating.

I pull my phone out of my pocket and reread the text Alex sent me earlier.

I’ll be home soon, Fiorellina.

He called me that name before at the flower shop as he wrapped his arms securely around me, but I have no idea what it means.

I type the word into my Italian translator app and see…

Fiorellina: a term of endearment translating to “little flower.”

Warmth fills my chest as I remember what Alex had said to me in his greenhouse.

“Flowers look fragile, but they’re resilient. Stronger than people think. They just need the right person willing to care for them.”