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I strode toward the elevator as that panic inside me thrummed, and pressed the button. My men were beside me, like they were always beside me. We weren’t just the protected. We were family…we were Rossis. As the elevator started to move, I reached out by instinct and instead of pressing the buttons for the other floors, I pressed the button for the basement.
The other floors were for security…and women we wanted to bring to the island.
But I knew in my gut that wasn't where someone like me would be taken to be hurt…or worse.
A chill snaked along my spine as the elevator sank lower and lower, past the bright lights to slip into the darkness. Down in the cold and emptiness was where I’d end up. I knew that. Down in the dark where no one would hear me scream. The second the doors opened, I knew it was here, where…he was here.
We moved forward, striding through the gloom. A few lights flared…and in their harsh glow, I saw him. Marcus Baldeon…one of the Commission’s second sons lay on the floor, his eyes wide…staring at me as I came closer.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” Freddy growled.
But I barely heard him. I was moving closer, kneeling beside his body and touched his cheek. He was still warm…there was still…hope.
“Freddy,” I growled, and reached for Baldeon’s shoulder. Feeling for warmth.
Terror found me as Logan’s voice bellowed in the dark.
But I wasn’t listening to him.
I was seeing myself in the reflection of Baldeon’s unblinking gaze.
My face. My eyes.
My death just like this…waiting for me.
But the moment I touched that cold, empty void of shock inside me, something else pushed to the surface. A face…a beautiful, haunting face and fiery red hair.
The sound of the elevator doors opening seemed loud. “Step away, now.” The command came from behind me.
I lowered Baldeon's body to the floor and pushed myself upright, wobbling for a second before I caught my balance.
“Easy, brother.” Freddy was beside me, grabbing me by the arm and pulling us out of the way as Matteo Ristani, the Commander of Cosa Nostra Institute, stepped forward, then stilled.
He knelt and touched Baldeon’s neck, then scanned his body and the wounds, stopping at the knife embedded to the hilt into his thigh. The force it must’ve taken to do that was incredible. The cold, murderous rage to do any of this was alien. Who would do this? Who would come here while we were surrounded by protectors and kill one of our own?
I couldn’t think of a motive, not one as sadistic as this.
“Who found him?” the Commander asked carefully.
“I did.” I lifted my gaze to his.
“Did you see anything else?”
“Two men…or two others, I couldn’t get a good look, running from this building toward the beach. I heard the faint sound of a motor.”
“And they didn’t come after you?” The dark eyes of the Commander bored into mine.
Savage eyes.
Merciless eyes.
The Albanian, they called him, The Unbreakable behind his back. He was ruthless, controlling, and staring at me. I just shook my head. “No, they didn’t come after me.”
“Thank Christ for that,” Freddy grunted with a sigh. He glanced at the body, then looked away.
Orders were given and more lights flared overhead, brightening the basement in an instant. I took a step backwards, suddenly feeling the walls closing in.
“Rossi,” the Commander stopped me. “I’m going to need a statement.”
