Before I could defend myself further, one of our guys called Caspian over to inspect something. Thank god.
For the next hour, I tried to focus on work. The machines needed to be checked for any tampering during shipping, and all the paperwork had to be confirmed when inspectors came around to the casinos. With this being one of our legal operations, everything had to be airtight.
But the work was mundane, the kind of operation we could do in our sleep. Yet it required enough attention that I couldn’t completely lose myself in thoughts of Alisa.
Still, not so engrossing that she didn’t occasionally creep in. More than once, I tried to think over that day at the gym, with her naked below me, having the time of her life one second and then, nothing.
What exactly had happened? Had I done something wrong? Said something wrong?
But no matter how hard I thought about it, I only seemed to reach one conclusion. It hadn’t been about me at all, or even us. Whatever had been plaguing her mind had snapped, and she took it out on me.
What happened that day outside the courtroom?
“Earth to Dante.” Achille waved a hand in front of my face. “That’s the third time you’ve checked the same machine. You sure you’re okay?”
“Fine,” I grunted, moving to the next one. “Just tired.”
“From all that golf?” he tried to tease, but didn’t push further when I flicked him off.
I moved on to inspect the next machine, and with my brothers watching, tried to make sure I focused and didn’t goof up again. I needed it to look like things were normal, because if they caught wind of the secret I’d been keeping, I’d be facing a very angry family indeed.
Four years ago, it was Caspian who had discovered Alisa’s father, Marc Montes, had been digging into us. Though most of my siblings didn’t know much about how deep our relationship ran, Caspian did. He tried to be there for me, to the best of his ability, in the aftermath of our breakup. If he now discovered I’d put myself back into that complicated situation, with her father still being her father, he wouldn’t be happy about it.
Not one bit.
“Dante—” I heard Caspian call to me, and I turned, but just then, I heard it.
BANG.
“What the—?” I screamed, but just then, the glass shattered from the high windows.
“Cover!” Caspian shouted, jumping behind the nearest crate for protection.
In panic, I dropped low and drew my gun from the holster under my jacket.
Then, I heard them. Rounds and rounds of gunshots, all relentless. The windows kept shattering, and our men scattered to hide. I tried to follow the range of the bullets and earmarked the positions from where they were coming.
A few came from the catwalk above, while the remaining came in through the side entrance.
“Luca, Achille—take the ones above!” Caspian ordered. “Gio, Fed—with me on the side entrance. Dante—”
I placed a finger on my lip and met Caspian’s gaze, pointing to the side entrance. Caspian understood and nodded, permitting me to move.
But instead of going to the side entrance, I circled around toward the back, where I’d noticed the door had been left ajar. Something told me this was a setup and that our attackers were trying to trap us between the only two entry and exit points.
I ducked behind a forklift, peering around to see three men entering through the back.
And then I saw him. The fourth man, hanging back, giving orders. He wore all black, his face partially obscured by a ski mask, but I’d recognize those tattoos anywhere—a snake winding up his neck, disappearing into his hairline.
He’d been one of the men at the auction, standing guard while Alisa was paraded onto the stage like cattle.
My blood boiled. One of the bastards who’d put Alisa in danger, who’d tried to sell her to the highest bidder, was standing right in front of me.
Gunfire erupted from the main floor, and I looked over quickly to see that my brothers had it not only covered, but a couple of the intruders were on their knees being rounded up by our guys. Then, I turned back to the snake-tattoo guy and saw them all retreating.
I didn’t think. I just moved.
I sprinted low across the warehouse floor, using the crates and machines for cover, and kept my eyes on the man. He disappeared through the back door, and I followed, bursting into the alley behind the warehouse.
