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“Together,” she agrees without hesitation. “As long as you keep me in the loop.”
I fight against a small smile. “As long as you use your head instead of going off half-cocked without a plan.”
“Maybe. We’ll see how things go.”
I link my fingers together with hers, squeezing in warning before I lift her knuckles to my mouth again. Kissing her, absorbing her.
The guard sees me through the tint on his way over and all but leaps out of his skin, hurrying back to the house and opening the gate for us. The metal creaks open slowly, the hinges oiled but taking forever to part.
The long, tree-lined drive up to the house has always been my favorite part of this property. And it’s because of my pause, because my foot is lighter on the gas, that Isabella and I have the perfect view of the first explosion.
The front porch erupts in a shower of flames, each one burning bright orange and red with blue at the center of the blaze. The eruption is loud enough to have her clenching beside me. An attack on the house followed by the sharp and distinctive ping of automatic gunfire.
24
ISABELLA
The jolt of adrenaline shoots through my system hotter than the same flames lifting to engulf the front porch. Every piece of me goes tight, then drops, the cold chill sinking into every atom and molecule.
My stomach flips in a sickly wave, palms clammy.
“No!” The scream rips out of me. I lurch forward, slapping my hands against the dashboard.
Ricardo slams on the brakes and jerks the car wheel to the side hard enough to send me flying into the window. My temple cracks into the glass. He overcompensates for the maneuver and nearly smashes into the trunk of one of the young maples before flinging the car into reverse.
I glance between him, the house, back to him. “What are you doing?”
My voice is a screech, the syllables barely audible. My family is back there. My family is somewhere in the ruins of the front of the house, somewhere trying to fight the gunfire I hear as if it’s a song in my blood. My heart beats in time with every rat-a-tat growing softer with each tire rotation.
Someone infiltrated the compound and brought automatic firearms.
“It’s obvious. I’m getting you out of here.” His focus is solely on the road ahead. The gates swim back into view along with the startled guards with their radios to their ears, running up the driveway toward the gunfire.
“But the others are still there.” It’s hard to breathe, my chest compressing and growing heavier by the second.
The seat belt locks me down.
Ricardo ignores me, reaching out to press the computer screen on the middle console. A few quick taps and the call goes through, the person on the other end of the line silent as they wait for Ricardo to speak first. He holds up a finger to keep me silent.
How can I speak? I can’t even draw a fucking breath.
“Get everyone you can to the Balestra’s place,” he barks out to whoever is on the other line. “There’s been an attack.”
An attack.
The chill in me goes Arctic colder and takes root where it has no business rooting.
It’s an entirely different creature to hear him say the word out loud. An attack on my family. How did anyone get into the compound? How did they manage to set off an explosive, and who are the men with the guns? How many?
The questions race around and around in my head, and I barely notice Ricardo pulling over to the side of the road, only two blocks over.
“My men are close by.” He turns to face me and grips my chin, forcing my attention to him. It’s impossible to focus on him until he snaps his fingers. “Hey. They’ll be here in a matter of minutes. But you’re not staying. You’re not getting anywhere close.”
His voice penetrates the brain fog, and I grit my teeth. “Oh, yes I am. They need me. Get me a gun, and I’ll?—”
“You’ll what?” His eyes go hard.
“I’ll kill them all,” I say.
