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“O-kay…” Nero pulls her back against his chest. “They came to help.”
She shrugs away from him and paces the length of the room. She’s tiny, but the way she moves screams dangerous. Her feet whisper over the ground, her movements lithe and graceful. I know exactly who she is, and yet it’s so hard to believe that this girl is one of the most lethal and sought after contract killers in the world. Looking at her causes an ache to settle in my chest. Her mannerisms are nothing like Anna’s, but they look so alike. Una’s hair is white blonde to Anna’s golden, and where Anna has sapphire blue eyes, Una’s are the strangest shade of lilac, but the features are the same.
She keeps pacing, and it’s like watching a caged wild animal, waiting for it to snap and rip off a handler’s arm. Nero is a far braver man than I, to not only blackmail this girl but then fuck her and get her knocked up. Then again, the Italian has never been very sane.
Eventually, she crosses the lobby and disappears through the doorway.
I jerk my head in her direction. “I’m assuming that’s your kid?”
“Yes, which is why it would have been great if you could have kept the girl safe like I fucking asked.”
My temper spikes dangerously, and I move closer to him, my fists tightening at my sides. His men tense, and I smile. “As far as Nicholia Ivanov is concerned, you have taken his angel of death from him. Anna is innocent in all this shit, and now she’s being used to get to her sister.”
“I’m aware. But I can’t let Una go to him, not with the child.”
If Anna were here, she’d never want Una to endanger her child, but that selfish part of me doesn’t care. The pain in my chest burrows even deeper as the gravity of the situation fully settles over me. “I need her back, Nero.”
Whiskey-colored eyes lock with mine, and something passes between us, an understanding. Man to man. We’re two men resigned to the crippling weakness of love. Two men who shouldn’t be affected by such things, and yet here we are.
“As do I, because if we don’t get her back, I’m not sure I’ll be able to keep Una from doing something stupid.”
“She’d sacrifice herself for Anna?”
His lips press into a hard line. “In a heartbeat.”
I glance through the open doorway and can just about make out the form of Una silhouetted against the huge window, the lights of the New York skyline illuminating the space around her. Nero follows my gaze, his brows pinching together as he watches her. I know the look in his eye well. Love and fear—because the two are one and the same, mirrored.
“Gio, take them into the office. I’ll speak with Una.”
Gio leads us down a hallway of the sleek, modern penthouse. All the exterior walls are nothing but floor to ceiling glass, offering an uninterrupted view of the bustling city far below. He opens a door, and we file into an office. There are no windows in here, only bookshelves covering every inch of wall. Three leather couches face a coffee table, and a large desk sits near the back wall.
“How very Godfather,” Carlos remarks.
The Italians say nothing. Jackson, who I figure is the muscle, takes a seat on one of the couches while Gio starts pouring glasses of liquor from a decanter. He hands me one, and I stare at the glass of amber liquid, my thoughts drifting to Anna again. I’m doing all I can. I’m here with the Italians. I’ve left my cartel on the brink of war to get her back, and I can’t even find it within me to care.
Gio places something on the coffee table in front of us, pulling me from my thoughts. I glance down at what looks like a floor plan. “This is the base where Una believes Nicholai will be keeping Anna.”
“What’s the security like?” Samuel asks.
Jackson throws his head back on a laugh. “It’s the main base for his Elite.”
“How many?”
“Hundreds.” He jerks his head towards the door. “Hundreds like her.”
Sam lifts a brow and glances at me. I just shake my head because I don’t want to be reminded of how impossible our odds are right now.
“The base has only one entrance in and out, and the gate is heavily guarded, with a two-mile long road on approach. If you can get within a mile of the gate without being shot by their long-range snipers, you then have to get in the gate. If you’d seen these guys fight or shoot, then you’d know just how difficult that will be. Then you’ve got a blast-proof concrete bunker with an underground base, all filled with Elite.”
The door opens and Una steps inside, followed closely by Nero. She glances at the plans on the table without much interest.
