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While I took out a few of the shooters, a little nest of people that were firing at us had been shot down, but I knew they were the decoys. Collateral damage.
We needed to circle back and get everyone in the cars and to the hotel. I crawled out of the bushes and worked my way back up the front steps.
I started to head back in to get my mother and sister, but that was when I noticed Luciano’s mother on her knees huddled over Angelo. My heart dropped and my brain began to register what happened as I called for Luciano.
“Luciano!” I yelled.
“Bria! Where are you?”
“Over here, by the front doors,” I yelled then I saw him start moving toward me.
He cautiously made himself aware of our surroundings, and then hugged me when he reached me and pulled me inside of the church.
I pointed to his father, who had been shot in the head. As much as I had wanted him dead for all these years, it wasn’t the right time for that to happen.
The look in Luciano’s eyes at having lost his father made me feel horrible, and I wished I could have saved his life, even if it were just for Luciano’s sake.
He kissed my head. “You need to go, I’ll handle all of this. Take your mother and sister to the hotel,” he ordered me.
I didn’t want to leave him but…
“God dammit, Bria. For once do what I’m asking you to.” His jaw clenched, and he wiped at the tears trying to stream down his face. I wanted to hold him close, but I knew now would not be the time.
“I’ll head over there in just a minute,” I agreed.
Taking two of the soldiers, I found my mother and sister huddled with one of the coordinators, Natalie. The other one, Carol, had been shot in the shoulder, but a few of the soldiers were gathering her up to help her out as well.
“We need to move and get into a car to get going,” I urged.
The remaining coordinator, Natalie, was freaked out and I had to try to find a way to get her to move her ass to one of the bulletproof SUVs so that we were safe.
I wanted to be able to get her to stop hyperventilating first. Eventually, we were just going to have to move. I couldn’t wait around. Not with my sister out in the open like this. I grabbed an arm and threw the other one around Natalie’s waist to drag her to the car.
We took off in a squeal of rubber, headed straight for the hotel which had a private garage and would give us the best possible way inside. I didn’t know if the hotel was the best place, since the church was a hot zone, but it was the only option, with cameras on every entrance, exit, and window.
Nick left us with the remaining guards when we exited the garage and headed toward the security room to watch the cameras and set up a command post for the rest of the guys out there.
My clothes were covered in dust and dirt, and torn, but I wasn’t worried about how I looked at the moment. I needed to get my family safe.
We hurried into the dining hall that had been reserved overlooking the city. What would have been a romantic rehearsal dinner was turning into a sad, tragic statement of our lives.
“Stay back from the windows for now,” I warned as I began to pace.
I started setting up all the other soldiers at the entrances and making sure that the place had been swept for other explosive devices that might go off.
It took over an hour before Luciano arrived, and I ran and threw myself into his arms and hugged him, not caring what anybody else said or thought. I needed to take in his warmth, and know that he was alive and not physically injured, even though I knew his heart was shattered at the loss of his father.
He hugged me tight and whispered in my ear, “I’m okay, my love. You’re not injured?” I shook my head as I tightened my hold. He released me as my father came in.
“Everything’s going to be okay.” For once my father actually did something right and pulled my mother into his arms as he comforted her. She wasn’t crying or a mess, she was very stoic, but I could see her loosen up when my father held her.
“Wait a minute, where’s your mother?” I looked up into his dirt streaked face, as worry ate at me. I looked around the room.
“She wouldn’t leave him. So I thought I’d give her some time alone for now. I’ll go get her later.”
“Where are they?”
“Under guard at a safe facility.”
