We would havedied if Bianchi hadn’t showed up. Doc, Adriano, Bill, and I were holed up in one of the underground conference rooms. We had the doors barricaded and about fifty guys were trying to smash their way in. I looked at Adriano and I saw it in his eyes—we were fucked. We were armed, but Parker’s boys had a hell of a lot more firepower. They were gonna break through the barricade and swarm us. I gripped my gun and prayed Eli found January, and somehow, impossibly, they managed to escape while we took as many of Parker’s guys into hell with us.
Then everything changed. Voices started yelling about the gates, we could hear people running away from us, trying to call Parker to work out what was going on.
“Trap?” Adriano offered, but I wasn’t so sure. They already had us cooked, they didn’t need a trap. Eventually, there was no one trying to breach the door. Everything seemed to grind to a halt.
“What the hell’s happening out there, boys?” I called.
“Go fuck yourself, greaseball,” was the only answer.
Doc was the first to leave the room. He guessed someone else was at the compound, or that somehow Archie or Eli had killed Parker. Either way, he was done waiting. He unlocked the door and foundtwo guysstanding guard. He killed them quick and was sprinting away before anyone could stop him. Cursing his existence, I followed, gun drawn, sure more chaos was just around the corner. What we found when we surfaced to the ground level was a bloodbath. An organized one.
Parker’s guys lay piled in neat heaps, as men in head-to-toe black military gear wiped up blood and spoke into walkie-talkies. I thought of Stormtroopers and wondered if sleep deprivation and pain had sent me around the bend. Then Doc nudged me. “Check out the tank.”
I thought he was exaggerating, but parked on the lawn next to a bunch of vans was a black Merkava V. “Who the fuck are these guys?” I asked. “The feds?”
“Nope.” Adriano had pulled up behind us, shotgun tucked under his arm. “See the vests?”
I squinted at the dude putting one of Parker’s guys on the corpse pile and read the gold JB embossed on his chest. My stomach hit the floor. “Bianchi’s private militia.”
“They must have smashed in the gates,” Doc said. “Smashed in the gates and brought fucking hell. No wonder Parker’s guys ditched us.”
I studied the hundred or so dudes wandering across the lawn and noticed they were picking up statues and pulling rose bushes up at the roots and carrying them back to the vans. “Are they…gonna try and kill us…?”
“No, Bobby boy,” Doc said with a laugh. “I think they’re here for what Parker owes Bianchi. We’re a sideshow.”
The thought sent a rush of blood to my head so hot I almost keeled over.Therapy, I thought.We all need therapy. Every day. Therapy and a vacation.
Adriano wrapped an arm around me. “Let’s go find January and Eli.”
“Okay,” I said softly. “Where’s Bill?”
“Probably gone to his brother, he said—”
“Good evening, gentlemen.”
We turned to see the last person I expected to find on Parker’s fucked-up lawn. Bianchi himself, flanked by two suited bodyguards.
My mouth dried over. “Mr. Bianchi.”
“Evening, Roberto,” Mr. Bianchi said, scanning the surroundings with calculated calm. “Glad to see you and your friends are alive.”
“I… Thank you.” I struggled to find the right words and since neither Doc nor Adriano seemed inclined to say anything it seemed up to me. “What… What is going on?”
Bianchi shrugged like a weekly meeting had run overlong. “Earlier this evening I became aware Mr. Parker had taken Velvet House hostage. Seeing as we already had an outstanding…issuewith Mr. Parker, I decided the time for subtlety was over.”
“That’s a pretty wild way to talk about a near-military invasion,” Doc said.
Bianchi smiled fondly. “Yes, it was quite an entrance.”
He focused his attention back on me. Bianchi is old school and without Eli around, I’m the one with the background most worthy of speaking to him.
“You’ll be pleased to hear we’ve contained Parker’s security,” Bianchi told me. “Now we’re looking for the man himself. Unfortunately, this abomination of a property is absurdly large. Do you have any ideas where he might be?”
“No,” I said quickly. “Have you found Eli or January?”
Bianchi raised a white brow. “Your young beauty is here?”
“Yes,” I said desperately. “Can I… Can we look for her?”
