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He glanced at me. “They must really love you to put their lives on the line like this.”
“They do. And I love them. Your brother included.”
“Yeah, they’re gonna need to move. Like now,” Salvatore said, dryly.
“How do we get them to move?”
He thought about that and rubbed his forehead. “If we yell, the gunmen below will know we’re up here and start shooting at us. Fuck...”
I didn’t want to consider he’d fire off the device with Sebastien, Anthony, and Julian as collateral damage. Not happening. I couldn’t stop the hitman’s bullets. But I could protect my men. No more hiding. Whether in a hole or up in a tree.
“I’ll take care of this.” I started crawling back toward the trunk and those notches, hoping that climbing down would be as easy as scaling up.
“Where are you going?” Salvatore pulled at me.
“I’m going in the house to get their attention. Draw them inside from behind them.”
“It’s too risky.”
“I don’t care.”
Salvatore rubbed his face. “I can’t go with you. I need a line of site. The signal is weak on purpose so it can’t be hacked. It’s a protective measure so I can only detonate it from here.”
“How do you suggest we get them back into the house?”
“I can use my phone to get a signal to Gian. He’ll know what to do.”
“But he’s already inside.” I pointed. “The other men I love aren’t. We are all for one in this relationship.”
Salvatore cursed under his breath.
“I’m doing this.” I realized if I died, this madness stopped. Either way, I was protecting the men I loved. “As soon as you see the guys go in the house, detonate.”
I just hoped I could lure them back inside far enough.
The staircase may not survive.
I scaled down the trunk, my feet only finding every other notch. My hands got scraped as I held on so I wouldn’t plummet to the ground. I reached the bottom and with the high brush blocking me, I ran to the back of the house.
The smell of smoke choked my lungs, and God, so much gunpowder. The deafening pops had my ears ringing. From the row of several front windows, I saw my men from behind. Their strong backs, muscles flexing as they pulled their triggers and reloaded. The two front support posts were stone, but several more and on the sides were wood. A few were gone and the roof had already started to slump.
God, the entire covered patio would come down and kill them.
“Help me!” I bellowed as loudly as I could.
Bastien turned around first and just then, a rocket blast took out that stone support post. “In the house, now,” he screamed.
Most of the windows were shot out. They each jumped through. A second later, a massive explosion radiated through me. Just as Salvatore predicted, the entire front of the house blew out. Anthony grabbed me and laid on top of me. Bastien covered the both of us. Then Julian joined the huddle while still unloading his Glock at the now missing front wall of the house.
They didn’t know Salvatore detonated the bombs.
Debris rained down around us as I watched the base of the stairs shift.
The staircase may not survive.
Those thick spindles could shatter off the banister. Become projectiles and might take all of us out.
Smoke thickened around us and all I heard was a low hiss of sizzling wood. Shredded drapes clung to exposed bare studs and crackled with the ends on fire. The setting sun’s glow lit up gashes on the now ruined hardwood floors. Dust and glass and smoldering embers lay scattered everywhere. Heavy footsteps broke the silence and Julian lifted his gun with his arms all bruised and cut up from glass.
“It’s me!” Giancarlo said breathless, kicking the gun out of his hand. “What the fuck happened?”
My throat went thick, and all I wanted to yell was your brother is alive!
“All the SUVs just blew up?” Gian asked, ignoring the utter devastation of his home.
Bastien stood up and helped Julian. “Yeah.”
Anthony’s lips drenched the back of my neck. “Are you okay, angel?”
I twisted to face him. Kissing him, I said, “I am. You’re all alive. That’s all I wanted. All I need.”
A shadowy figure appeared on the pile of debris on what was the front porch. Everyone looked dizzy like their brains were mush. I recognized the shoulders, the long hair, the beard.
Julian lifted his gun again. “You motherfucker!”
It felt like slow-motion. I saw Julian’s fingers go to pull the trigger.
Gian grabbed the gun. “No, let me kill this prick.” He aimed, preparing to shoot.
I dove, pushing him as we tumbled to the ground, the three of us. “Gian, stop,” I cried out. “It’s your brother.”
