“Get them secured and meet me by the gate!” Spike orders behind us, practically shoving Riley inside ahead of him.
“Asher!” Riley cries out, voice cracking.
“Already inside, baby,” Spike assures her, pushing her toward safety. “Bree and Micah too.”
“I have my bomb experts en route to check the package,” Maverick calls as he enters behind us.
“You have bomb experts?” Abby squeaks…because apparently this is the moment for that question.
“Yes,” Maverick growls. “All packages go through them before anything reaches the house.All packages.Which every single one of my guards knows.”
His voice darkens.
“Someone was either lazy…or someone betrayed me. Either way,” Maverick finishes, voice low and lethal, “he will be alessonto anyone stupid enough to underestimate the Italian Mafia.”
Ushering Eli inside, I step around the inner bunker guards and guide him straight to the couch. He sits down carefully, eyes wide as he scans the room.
“This is the most modern-looking bunker I’ve ever seen,” he mutters, blinking around. “Well, I mean, this is theonlybunker I’ve ever seen, but still. I was expecting cots and shelves of bottled water. Not… this. This is like a luxury underground apartment.”
“And many, many rooms,” Riley says as she checks on Asher in the playpen. “Running water, Wi-Fi, a gym, and enough supplies to live down here comfortably for years.”
“Years?” Eli squeaks.
“Just a precaution,” I say, shoving a water bottle into his hands. “Listen, baby. I need you to stay here until I get back. Can you do that for me?”
“This is too much,” he pants. “Skip, I can’t handle this. Not the emotional kind…I mean physically. My bodywilldrop if my heart rate and blood pressure drop too fast. Which always happens after my heart gets to beating way too fast.”
“Pity,” I tease, dropping to my knees in front of him. “Makes me curious what’s gonna happen when I finally get you beneath me. Because I can promise you something, baby, your heart will beracing.”
“I…don’t…I mean, I’ve never…so it might…”
“Skip, we have to fucking go,” Spike snaps. “Wrap it up.”
Chuckling, I lean in and kiss Eli’s forehead.
“We’ll test that theory later,” I promise softly. “Riley can show youourroom. Get some rest.”
Then I push myself up and follow Spike out of the bunker, through the clubhouse, and out toward the gate.
“Was the package a timed bomb or did it go off when it was opened?” Bones asks Luca the second we reach the entrance.
“I don’t know,” Luca admits. “A guard at the front gate accepted the package and had someone bring it inside. Ten minutes later…there was an explosion.”
“Who was it addressed to?” Maverick asks, his voice flat.
“I was told it had no name on the package,” Luca says. “So it was most likely brought straight to Enzo.”
Maverick’s face tightens. Not only rage…but grief. Pure, unfiltered grief.
“Enzo,” he whispers. Then, quieter, deadlier: “Three children. Iwillget revenge.”
“And we’ll help where we’re needed,” Spike promises. “But first, let’s deal with this package.”
The ground vibrates beneath us a moment later. The unmistakable thump-thump-thump of rotor blades.
A helicopter drops straight into the compound like it owns the damn place, kicking up dust and wind.
“Just my men!” Maverick shouts over the roar. “I told them to rush and land as close as possible. They willnotland here again, brother. You have my word.”
