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They looked at one another then headed for the trees.
As Ralph jogged closer, I tipped my head in his direction. “You’re walking us back to the house.” Then I moved toward Francesco. “I blame you for this. Sweep the area. I need to make certain there isn’t anyone else.”
“Not my fucking fault,” the kid dared to say.
“You pulled them off their detail. Why?”
When he became the one to remain silent, I fisted his shirt, dragging him onto his toes while I kept Madisen in my arms. “Talk. Why?”
“Because I had a better idea.” At least his damn voice sounded sheepish.
“As of right now, you’re nothing but a grunt soldier. You will be demoted permanently.”
“You can’t do that,” Francesco snarled.
“I can do any goddamn thing I want. Because I’m the boss.” I let him go and he backed away, flipping me off then running after the two men.
Gio shifted closer. “You okay, boss?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just pissed. Someone knew about this location.”
I didn’t need to see his face clearly to know he could tell what I meant.
With only a few people knowing the address of my estate, that meant one of two things.
I’d been followed back to the estate or someone had betrayed me.
“See if there’s any identification on the son of a bitch.” I nodded toward the body.
He shook his head. “You scaled that fucking fence with a busted shoulder?”
She laughed as she clung to me, her body shaking. “My hero.”
Her whispered words stuck an icepick in my heart. I’d been careless in not keeping her right by my side. “You do what you have to when it matters.”
“Get her back to the house. I’ll have the mess cleaned up,” he said gruffly. “Son of a bitch. What the fuck?”
“Bring the other asshole to me.”
“You got it.” He headed for the fallen assassin as I pulled her tightly against my chest.
“Oh, God. I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“It’s okay. Everything will be okay. Let’s get you inside.”
“It happened so fast. The guy was just there out of the shadows. “
“I know, baby. I know.” Anger unlike anything I’d ever felt rolled through me. The fact I was calm meant I’d shifted into a dangerous level of rage, the kind that could allow me to lose all sense of humanity.
If I had to guess, I’d say the two minutes the power was off was all he’d needed. Stephen had evidently been wrong.
Ralph stayed right behind us as l held her close, moving through the side gate. Only when I finally got her inside through the downstairs’ door did I take a deep breath. “Let Stephen know we’re back. Lock it down then both of you check the cameras. I want to see Rocky and Isaac. Now!”
“I’ll bring them.”
She pulled away from me and I headed into the bathroom, grabbing several towels. “Take it, Madisen. I need to get you warmed up.” As I wrapped a towel around her, she said nothing, still shaking from the incident.
I kept one for myself, tossing the others onto the weight bench. I rubbed my face as I paced the room, angrier than I’d been in a long time.
