The pilot descends fast, too fast, the skids slamming onto the helipad. Before the rotors even stop spinning, the doors are thrown open, and we hit the ground running.
The moment our feet touch the stone, chaos explodes toward us. Cat flies into Enrico’s arms with a sob. Violet practically leaps at Marcello, holding his face like she’s checking he’s really there, whispering frantic prayers against his mouth. Scarlet punches Toni’s chest before hugging him so hard he winces. Gigi stands onthe sidelines, watching, holding her husband Vito's hand. Sophia launches into Raf, and he catches her like he’ll never let her go again.
It’s messy. Loud. Emotional.
The air is thick with relief and tears, and curses whispered into hair and necks. I feel all of it.
The guilt. The fear. The ache in my chest.
Oksana isn’t among them. I knew that. Still. That damn woman.
I don’t wait. "Toni," my voice is gravel, "where’s your dungeon?"
He doesn’t hesitate. "This way."
I break from the group without another word, boots pounding up the steps and through the front hall, Raf, Enrico, and Marcello right on my heels. Toni leads us through two corridors, down a spiral staircase, and through a reinforced steel door. The deeper we go, the colder the air becomes. Damp. Stone. The scent of blood under it all.
At the bottom, in the dim yellow light of flickering bulbs, we find them.
Igio. One of Toni's men.
Bound.
Bruised.
Barely breathing.
Toni walks up to him, punches him hard in the stomach, so hard he might have dislodged his pancreas. Igio grunts.
Sasha stands, with his arms crossed, leaning against a wall. He has a shiner and blood on his shirt. He nods at me, then jerks his chin to the side, and my heart stops when I seeher.
Oksana stands at the sink, her back to us, calmly washing blood from her hands. Blood speckled along her jaw, across her cheekbone, staining the white collar of her shirt. She’s humming under her breath, something Russian, something low. She turns before any of us speak.
Her eyes land on me, and they soften instantly. "Hey, honey," she says with a bright, utterly casual smile. "Welcome back. How was your day? Did you guys catch any fish? Oh, wait, no, you went to feed the fishies."
She walks right up to me, loops a hand around my neck, and kisses me, slow and sure, like nothing in the world could shake her. I can't stop myself. I grasp her with all the restraint I can muster, trying to avoid breaking her bones while crushing her against me. The kiss is hot and consuming, and it tells me everything I need to know. She's alive. She's unhurt.
Behind me, the others fall silent. The kind of silence that happens when even seasoned killers can’t believe what they’re seeing. When she pulls back, there is a warm glow in her jade green eyes, before her face turns cold, all business again. Sharp. Focused.
"So," she tosses a towel aside, "here’s what I know."
We form a rough semicircle around her, hardened men bracing themselves like lieutenants waiting for orders from a general.
"Igio didn’t know much," she begins. "These Venezuelan infiltrators? We already knew that they are all individual Cells. Completely isolated. They don’t know each other, which is why we couldn’t trace their structure."
Raf nods, jaw still tight. "Tell us something we don't know," he challenges. If I didn't know and respect the kind of relationship the two of them have, I would bristle against his tone. Oksana only holds up her middle finger.
"Patience, I'm getting there—" she lifts her phone "—I got his access code before he passed out. And the nexthymndelivery. At least for Cappella del Corvo."
The room shifts. Every man goes still at the mention of the church the Cells are abusing for their own sick business. We've all done things that don't align with the Ten Commandments, but this? This is a desecration of the vilest kind.
"The Cells are going to pick up their hymns the day after tomorrow, have it staked out, and you'll get your rats." Oksana finishes. "In the meantime, the Venezuelan firewall will be down because of the restructuring within the Venezuelan organization." She winks.
Marcello chuckles under his breath in appreciation.
"So," she looks at Raf and me, "it's time for you boys to do your magic, you should be able to hack in and get all the things we need, including the names of every last Cell."
Toni whistles, low and awed. Enrico mutters something reverent under his breath, and Toni stares at her like she’s descended from the heavens and dragged vengeance with her.
