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Timoteo nodded and raked his fingers through his hair as he stared at the woman in my arms. My woman. The one he’d endangered with his secrets.
“She’s alive.” I turned to Stefano. “Byrne has a panic room.”
As much as I wanted to, there wasn’t time to continue the fight. “Next time.” With one arm around her back and shoulders, and the other under her knees, I scooped her into my arms and stood.
Allegra lifted her arm and rested it against my chest. “Please, you need to kill him. He’s injured. He has one soldier with him.”
I paused. Tears slid down her cheeks. She wanted Byrne dead.
“Stef, call Emilio.”
A moment later, Emilio was on the speaker phone.
“There’s a panic room. Can you find it?”
“Hold on.” The echo of keys hitting the keyboard sounded through the phone speaker. “Allegra?”
“We have her,” Ant said. “Find Byrne.”
Within moments, Emilio had access to the power grid. “There is a ten-by-ten dead zone in the house. Find the central control room. You should see a lot of monitors. No windows. Near the rear of the house on the main level.”
Monitors lined the wall of the room we were in. “We’re here,” I said.
“The dead zone is on the left side of the room. Look for a keypad. I’m getting a pin code for the door.”
Several bookcases lined the left wall. A watercolor painting of Ireland hung in the center of the wall at eye level. Timoteo checked beneath the painting first. “Clear.” He laid his face against the wall. “Emilio, I’m not seeing a seam. Entrance has to be behind one of the bookcases.”
Stef began shifting items around on the bookcase. “I have a keypad.”
“Fuck,” Emilio cursed. “It’s going to take me some time to break the encryption.”
“How long?” Ant asked.
“Best guess? Six months.”
Silence hung in the room. There was no point in searching for the entrance.
“Burn it down.” I headed to the door. “Byrne dies tonight.”
Allegra’s arm curled around my neck, and her face rested against my chest. The warmth of her body seeped into me, drowning me in the scent of her.
I carried Allegra from the house. The night was soundless. No sign of police. As I suspected, the gun silencersconcealedthe battle from any distant neighbors.
“Did Knox get Dee?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” I said to her as I carried her to the vehicle. We were done with lies. “Orlando and Troy are with him.”
Tears leaked from her swollen eyes. I entered the code into the car door and the lock popped.
“I can stand,” she said.
I carefully set her on her feet. She climbed into the middle row of the SUV. The hoodie gaped, revealing the lace of her bra.
“Take off your hoodie.” I didn’t want her wearing anyone’s blood but mine. She slipped the cut shirt from her shoulders, revealing the full extent of her bruising. I shrugged off my suit coat, entered the vehicle, and closed the door. I kneeled on the floor in front of her, held her hips, and gently kissed the dark red trauma to her ribs.
Her fingers threaded through my hair. “I’m sorry.” Her voice slipped over me like warm rain.
I shook my head and tightened my hold on her. “This was my fault.” I rested my head in her lap. “Fuck, I thought I’d lost you.”
