“Shh,” he warned her not to draw attention.
Don Conti stared at Dianora as if he didn’t recognize her. “I was wrong about you.”
Dianora smiled.
Don Conti turned his back on his daughter to pick up the photo of her as she watched her brother bleed out. “You were a snake I should have killed when you were too small to bite.”
“You bastard.” Dianora reached inside her dress and pulled a pistol out of a hidden holster and aimed it at her father.
The guards shifted their attention to her a little too late.
Ringo and I struck as the shot rang out.
Don Conti stiffened. His body shuddered as if the echoes rippled through his flesh.
My guard hit the floor with his neck broken. I grabbed his gun and aimed it at Dianora.
Ringo’s guard had his throat slit. Somehow, they’d missed his weapon. Ellie took one look at the blood pooling on the floor, and uttered two sounds, “Oh, fuh—” her knees buckled.
Don Conti staggered forward, one hand catching the desk to hold himself upright. He turned to face Dianora. “You are no child of mine.”
Two things happened at once. Both Don Conti and Ellie fell to the floor. I grabbed the solicitor and pulled him out of the room as Ringo picked up Ellie and ran ahead.
Dianora saw us escaping and fired. I shoved the door partially closed and the shot bit into the ancient wood. The reinforced core trapped the bullet there, saving us all.
“Move!” I gave up on helping my father’s man and ran after Ringo, who was hampered by Ellie’s limp body.
He’d tossed her over one shoulder and had managed to steal the second guard’s gun, but it was useless as we ran because his hands were full.
“Cover me.” I slid ahead, hugging the wall of the curved staircase and leading the charge against Don Conti’s security. The first guard I encountered had crested the first turn. I shot him in the chest, then jumped on top of his body, riding it down the final half-dozen steps as I fired at his back-up. With one more shot to the first unfortunate’s head, I leapt free and fired two more shots into the mass of men who’d ran into the great hall.
Above me, Ringo laid down three well-aimed shots from the balcony, then hid his body from their return fire.
It gave me time to strip the guard of his gun and dive under the heavy oak dining table. I knocked one of the ornate seats over since the table itself was immovable.
It crashed to the floor loudly, and the men who hadn’t been wounded split their attention to drilling holes through my shield and avoiding Ringo’s aim from above. I crouched behind one of the two solid pedestals that held the table aloft and let them waste ammo for a few precious seconds.
Then I rolled from beneath the table, firing as I came up to one knee. The men dove for cover, and I slid behind the nearest body to secure his gun and felt along the line of his coat where I was certain I’d seen the hilt of a knife sticking out from under the flap.
Score. I pulled the blade and continued firing until the gun clicked once. Then I dropped that weapon and took the automatic lying at my feet. I laid down a line of fire that kept the men pinned until Ringo could carry Ellie down the stairs.
“Is she hurt?” My wife would kill me if something happened to her sister.
“Fainted dead away. She can’t handle the sight of blood.”
That was a problem. I quickly assessed the leaking bodies surrounding us. “We need to move.”
“I got a plan.” Ringo dipped his head toward one of the picturesque windows. The tempered glass was so thick, it distorted the light streaming through it.
“Seriously?”
Our discussion was cut short by a brave guard who peeked his head around the column blocking my shots. I fired a short burst at him and sent him back into hiding.
“Then what?”
“Run?”
“Carrying fifty kilograms?” Ellie likely weighed slightly less than Allie, but they were matched in build and height. So much so, they could easily trade outfits and fool most of my guards.
