“What’s the plan?” Matteo stepped back to reload.
I took his place and leaned across Lila. Bodies lay strewn across the stairs and over the banister.
“Is that you, Alessio?” Luca called out. His laugh answered when I stayed silent. “You’re not getting out of here. No more games. You can end this right now.” The slide of a round going into the chamber rattled in my ears as Matteo finished reloading and joined me. “You and the boy come out. Turn yourselves over to us, and everyone else walks away.”
“He’s lying,” Matteo spoke directly into Lila’s ear. “We have to get to the panic room.”
“Get ready.” Renzo shifted enough to show his profile. His mouth twisted into a grimace. “Go when I say. We’re going to push forward, all the way to the statue. I’ll hold them while you get inside.”
“Renzo, no.” Lila still covered Leo’s ears, but she leaned her shoulder into Renzo’s spine. “You’ll get yourself killed.”
He gave that infuriating one shoulder shrug. “I’m not important.”
“We want the heir, Alessio.” Vincenzo joined his brother on the stairs. “Turn the Cavallo syndicate over to us. That’s all we ask.”
“Like hell.” Matteo tapped Renzo’s shoulder once, our signal we were ready.
If I had a better idea, I’d offer it, but Renzo’s mad rush straight at the Verducci men was the last thing they’d expect. It might buy us enough time to reach safety.
“Stay low. Stay safe,” I whispered our motto loud enough for Renzo to hear.
His lips quirked in what passed for a smile. He’d saved my life multiple times. Matteo too. I owed them everything, and all I gave them was more trouble and more opportunities to die in my place. If anyone deserved to love Lila and be loved by her in return, it was the two men raising their weapons as they prepared to go to war alongside me.
We moved as a single entity, years working together giving us insight and instinct that guided every step. Renzo stood to his full height, his big ass body providing a shield for Lila to hide behind and a huge target for Vincenzo’s men. He rushed forward in a series of pounding strides.
“Hey, Luca!” Bullets peppered the top of the staircase from Renzo’s rifle. “Tell your father I said hello when you see him in hell.”
Luca’s feral scream ripped through the air and sent spider legs scurrying across my skin. “You fucking cunt. I’ll kill you for that.”
“Yeah?” Renzo unleashed hell with the rifle. “Better men than you have tried.” He ran while shooting, his pounding steps sending several of Luca’s men scurrying backward.
I pushed Lila along the wall with one hand, guiding her and Leo to the statue and shoving her down behind the wolf’s haunches. Her sobbing breaths wrenched my heart, but I had no time to comfort her.
Renzo’s steps slowed, the gunfire increasing.
I placed my hand on the panel. “Alessio Cavallo.” The scanner traced my palm, the blue light winked red, and a hiss of air puffed into my face. “Access denied.”
“What the fuck.” I grabbed Matteo’s collar. “It’s rejecting me.”
His mouth gaped open. “That’s not possible. They would’ve had to hack my system.”
I pointed at the red screen, the giant DENIED letters flashing eerily in the small space.
“I’m going to carve out your heart and feed it to you.” Luca continued to rage and curse at Renzo.
Silence met the promise, and a burst of worry twisted my bones. I shoved Matteo toward the screen. “Fix it.”
Matteo holstered his pistol and dragged the tablet out from beneath his shirt. His fingers flew over the screen in time with his curses.
I stepped around him, tried to smile at Lila as I passed her, and ruffled Leo’s hair. Renzo’s rifle barked out a short spurt thenwent silent. I dropped low and peeked around the edge of the statue’s base.
Renzo hunkered in a narrow space at the top of the stairs. He held a pistol in each hand, aiming and firing one at a time. Left. Right. Left. Once he ran out of bullets, there was nothing stopping Luca and Vincenzo from rushing the stairs and overwhelming him before he could reload.
Steps sounded from the other end of the hallway. Shit.
“Renzo,” I hissed, trying to warn him of the approaching danger. The pistol grip warmed in my palm, and I knew what I needed to do. I’d have to cover him from this side until he made it back to us. Even after Matteo unlocked the room. I had to stay here. I couldn’t leave him to fight this battle alone, not with enemies coming at us from all sides. “Matteo, get her inside. Protect them.”
Matteo’s head twitched upward. He took one look at me and cursed. “What in the bat-shit, fucking hell do you think you’re doing? You’re going in there if I have to shoot you myself.” As though to prove his point, the console flashed and the door opened. “Go.” He used the tablet to point into the gloom. “I’ll watch Renzo’s back.”
