Calabrese soldiers. All of them.
“Targets are down!” one of them shouts. “Move in for confirmation!”
I try to reach for my weapon, but my arm won’t respond properly.
Everything hurts, and I can taste blood in my mouth.
Nearby, Bianca is attempting to reload with hands that shake from blood loss and shock.
We’re finished. We’ve lost.
And there’s nothing I can do about it. I can’t protect the woman I love.
The lead shooter raises his rifle, aiming directly at Bianca’s head.
She looks up at him, her steel-blue eyes defiant even as death approaches.
“Go ahead,” she says, her voice steady even though she’s looking down the barrel of a gun. “Do it.”
“Bianca!” I try again weakly, trying to get the shooter to get me instead. I’ll do anything to ensure she stays alive, even if it means my death.
Then the world explodes again, but this time it’s coming from our side.
Matteo’s men hit the ambush from three different angles, their assault catching the Calabrese soldiers completely off guard.
The street erupts in fresh gunfire as two dozen DeLuca soldiers engage the enemy with overwhelming force.
But even as backup arrives and the battle shifts in our favor, I can see that we’re badly hurt.
Blood pools beneath Bianca’s body, and my vision keeps sliding in and out of focus as I lurch forward to press my fingers against Dr. Schuyler’s wrist.
Her pulse is weak but it’s there.
The last thing I remember before consciousness fades is Bianca’s voice, barely audible over the gunfire:
“Did we…did we get her to safety?”
Then everything goes black.
22
BIANCA
The first thing I’m aware of is the pain.
It starts as a dull ache behind my eyes then spreads like wildfire through every nerve in my body.
My shoulder throbs where the bullet tore through muscle and sinew.
My thigh burns with a deep, grinding agony that makes me want to scream.
The graze along my scalp feels like someone’s holding a blowtorch to my skull.
But the physical pain is nothing compared to the rage.
It builds in my chest like molten lava, hot and consuming and absolutelydevastating.
Every breath I take feeds the fire, making it burn hotter and brighter until I feel like I might explode from the sheer force of it.
