Voices just outside the entrance reach my ears. Carina jumps up and points her firearm in their direction.
“Wait until they come inside,” I whisper. “If you shoot them as soon as the door opens, then they’ll make a shit ton of noise falling down the stairs. Hide his body with the tarp and then get behind that crate. You can take them out from that position.”
She scurries to do my bidding and then ducks behind the wooden container, while I put my arms behind my back. We both watch the door swing open and three of Nardone’s men file down the stairs.
“Fucking Fausto is always taking a shit. We probably should’ve checked there first,” the first man says.
Another snorts. “Right.”
As soon as the first man steps onto the ground floor, there’s a small pop and he stills. His body hits the floor with a thud that’s drowned out by the exclamations of the remaining two. Carina misses her next shot and it gives them enough time to draw their firearms. She nails one of them in the stomach when they charge down the stairwell, but the injury isn’t fatal.
Each man seeks cover, the one with the bullet wound diving behind the nearest crate. He grunts from the impact. The other returns fire at Carina and she presses a fist to her mouth to keep from screaming. The number of flying bullets is going to attract way more attention than I want, so I grip my hands together and slump to the side.
“Ah fuck, man. Did you kill him?”
“No!”
“Nardone is going to skin you alive if you did.”
“Silvestri’s brother is here! Help m—” Carina slaps a hand over her mouth and groans as though she’s really being subdued by another person.
Her brilliant ploy works. The two men make their way over to her position, using various items in the room to stay out of the line of fire. The heavy breathing from the injured one is shallow and from the way his shoes scuff the floor, he’s barely able to lift his feet. It won’t be long before he’ll die from blood loss.
When he gets close to me, I launch myself at his legs, wrapping my arms around the backs of his knees to cause his balance to shift. He flails on the way down and crashes into the crate right behind him. I shoot my gaze to the other one, who now points his weapon in my direction.
“Now!” I call out before rolling to my left.
Carina’s silencer discharges a shot and the telltale sound of a body hitting the floor comes shortly after. “Rafael?” Her voice shakes, no doubt from adrenaline, but there’s also a note of fear that strikes a chord in me.
I get to my feet and peer down at the man with the gunshot wound in the stomach. He lies unmoving, but I’ll leave nothing to chance. When Carina creeps to my side, I take the firearm from her and shoot him. Then, dash toward the stairwell, leaving her to follow.
We quickly reach the landing and I peer around the door before stepping out. She appears next to me. I don’t say a word to her as I make my way to the exit. The floorplan of the club isn’t complicated and didn’t require much brainpower for me to memorize it. The only real concern is running into more of Nardone’s men.
Pounding footsteps in the distance quicken my own, as well as Carina’s. We tear down the hallways and only stop to check around corners or to avoid being seen. And every time she presses her fingers to my shoulder in a light touch. That’s how I know she flinches when I shoot four more people, but she doesn’t say a word. Sometimes she touches me to offer another clip, since I’m dropping people right and left, and need more ammunition.
I step out from behind the safety of the wall and her fingers digging into my arm gives me pause.
“Wait. Not that way. There’s a secret tunnel that’ll take us to the neighboring restaurant.”
I look at her over my shoulder. “If you’re lying, I’m going to shoot you.”
“I know.”
It’s the determination in her gaze that makes my decision for me. When Carina is scared she makes foolish choices, but when she’s focused on something, this woman is a force to reckon with. Although, not too much for me to handle.
At my nod, she retreats into my shadow and I follow her whispered instructions. The walls change from drywall to stainless steel once we descend a handful of stairs, and the floor goes from tile to concrete. LED lights that are motion-sensored flare to life down the long underground hall, illuminating an image I’m not sure is real.
If I am hallucinating, whatever shit I’m on is potent as fuck.
“Hello, Mother,” Carina says breezily to the woman zip-tied to a metal gate.
My brows lift of their own accord at this. “Good evening, Blanca. Lovely weather we’re having.”
She makes a sound, which is futile considering she’s gagged, but I believe it’s begging of some kind. I have no compassion left in me for the Nardone family and she must see it in my face because the paling of her skin is still noticeable even in the bright lights.
A beep chimes and the locking mechanism shifts. Carina pushes the gate open and motions me forward. I don’t spare her mother another glance.
And if I had it my way, I’d never set eyes on another member of the Nardone family again.
