AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She nodded, not meeting my eyes. “It was the hardest and easiest decision I’d ever made,” she admitted.
I didn’t know what to think of that response, but the lights in the auditorium dimmed before the chairperson of the orphanage strode onto the stage, smiling broadly and giving me a small wave. I nodded in return as she grabbed the microphone and began the same speech she delivered each year. She gave her thank-yous to all the benefactors, and then she said my name last, listing a number of things that I’d allowed them to fund over this past year. I couldn’t keep my gaze from traveling to Mia as she stared at the stage and clapped at the words that were spoken. My eyes were fixed on the soft curves of her body and the confident strength of her motions. While the woman on stage continued her speech with a tone that demanded everyone’s attention, Mia’s silent presence was the only thing that could hold mine. I couldn’t fathom the thought of ever hurting her in the way I had initially planned. She was too important in too many ways.
The speech drew to a close, and the woman on stage was beginning to lead into my speech when my phone began vibrating in my pocket. I pulled it out immediately, turned the volume up, and pressed it to my ear. “What?”
Alessio spoke quickly. “Caterina just gave word that they’re moving. They’re coming here. To your house. She’s trying to slow them down so we can get units here. We have six teams on the way and one already here.”
“How many are moving?” I asked.
“Three dozen.”
“Fuck,” I growled. “We’re coming.” I hung up the phone and stood, giving the woman on stage a cue to end her speech without bringing me up. She effortlessly veered topics as Mia stood alongside me, and I grabbed her hand, pulling her through the long room. A few people offered me a hand and gave genuine thank-yous, but I didn’t have the time to stop for pleasantries.
As soon as the door was closed behind us, Mia spoke. “What happened?”
“Your father’s launching an attack on my home.He has the cavalry on the way.” She gasped and rushed around the van, jumping into the passenger’s seat. “I’m sorry dinner had to be cut short.”
She shrugged, removing her heels and tossing them in the back seat. “That’s okay. This is what we all signed up for, not fancy dinners and rehearsed speeches.” She shrugged as I accelerated, speeding down the side streets as quickly as possible. “Dinner is boring anyway. I’d much prefer some action.”
Despite all that was happening, a small smile pulled to my lips at her words. If I hadn’t known she was made for me before, I had no doubts about it now.
19
MIA GENOVESE
We pulled into Vincent’s home before the attackers, charging toward the front door. He kept me in front of him the entire time, and when he closed it, he clicked three bolted locks.
The house looked nothing like what I’d come to expect. Soldiers milled about, all armed to the teeth with different weapons. Some sat at the windows, taking the early vantage, and others rushed around and gathered what they needed to prepare themselves. Luca and Alessio strode toward us together, both wearing two separate pistols. I wondered what other weapons were beneath their clothes, but I didn’t ask. Alessio extended a gun toward me as he began speaking to Vincent, and I grabbed it and examined the cool metal as he spoke. “Caterina slowed them down. She slashed a few of the tires, so some of their people are coming in a second wave. Other than that, we have the tactical advantage. But wedon’thave the numbers.”
“ETA?” Vincent asked.
“Any second. Our other teams won’t be here for ten minutes.”
I looked at Luca, and he seemed to be a physical embodiment of the calm before the storm. It took me aback, seeing him alongside Alessio, when the two couldn’t have been more different. Alessio at least seemed predictable. He constantly smiled, brought humor into most situations, and looked at Caterina like she was an untouchable goddess. His motivations and feelings were clear. Luca, though, didn’t give away much of anything. I didn’t know how to feel about him, and I decided I’d stay close to him in the fight and learn what I needed to know.
“They’re here!” someone shouted from the other side of the room.
“Don’t let them in the house!” Vincent shouted back, and gunshots began firing. He looked at me, grabbed both of my cheeks, and pulled my face close to his. “Stay in here,” he demanded. I only shook my head. He didn’t understand why my father would decide now was the time to launch an attack, but I understood completely. He realized that he’d lost his inside person, and he needed to come up with a new plan. I knew he’d justify the attack by saying he wanted me back, but that wasn’t the real reason. He didn’t care about me, only what I offered him. I was his last chance to gain inside footing, and this was his way of telling me I was making a mistake. This fight was my fault, and I wouldn’t sit back and watch as other people got killed.
“I’m fighting for you. Don’t ask me not to.”
His lips pulled together in a tight line. “Okay,” he whispered, taking a deep breath. “You’re right, but I swear to God, if you get yourself hurt or killed…”
I pushed at his chest lightly. “Go, Vincent.” He only hesitated for half a second more as he turned and made his way toward a window, watching as the guys kept my father’s men at bay, shooting any body part that dared to escape the vehicles. My father’s men sat there, waiting, and I knew that this could be bad—very, very bad. We only had the advantage until they found a way inside, and then it was all over. We’d be nothing more than fish in a barrel. I wouldn’t let them get inside.
I tried to consider the strategy my father would use to end this battle swiftly. I gnawed on my bottom lip as I considered. I wasn’t sure if he even wanted to win this battle or if he did it solely to send a message. That was the first thing I needed to decide. I imagined that he’d given his men orders not to kill me, but did he demand that they take over the house and kill everyone else? Yes, he would have. He wouldn’t have sent all these men solely to deliver a message. I imagined he had two potential plans. He could either kill Vincent and take me back, claiming he did it for the sake of his family, able to take the territory as the Commission had promised. Or if the attack failed, it would be a message to me: Don’t betray him, or there would be consequences. That had to be what his play was. Regardless of if he won or lose, he’d still get what he wanted.
A loud boom came from the back of the house, and I straightened. Luca didn’t hesitate before running toward the sound, and I followed him a few steps behind. There weren’t enough men here to spare, so I knew we had to take care of this ourselves—at least until the other teams came and saved our asses. Ten minutes. We could hold them off for that long.
Luca turned a corner to the kitchen and fired two shots before diving forward and ducking behind the center counter just in time for a few return shots to fire. I came in hot behind him, firing my shots at the eight figures standing there. Two were already on the ground, and three more fell alongside the two fallen. Five down, five to go.
None of them fired back at me, going as far as lowering their weapons. I ran forward, firing one more time before one of the men reached me. Four more.
I knew my gun would be best at a further range, so I dropped it and balled my fists. They couldn’t kill me—none of them had dared to fire, so I knew that was true—but I had a feeling that fighting me wasn’t off the table. And Luca, still crouched behind the center island, was fair game for a bullet to the head, so I had to take care of this. Four men stood against me, and I straightened my spine, preparing myself for a difficult fight. I’d never had odds so out of my favor, but I’d make it work. I had to, because the alternative was having these four men come into the main part of the house. If that happened, we’d lose our advantage.
“Stand down, Ms. Genovese,” one of the men demanded.
I took a deep breath. “Fuck you.” And then I started swinging. All the years of training my dad had put me through had led to this moment, and I knew I could handle it. I threw punch after punch, obliterating one of the men in front of me and keeping the others from going past me. I could tell he was taking it easy on me at first, but as it became clear that I planned to take him down alongside the rest of the men, his swings grew more violent.
