As a security precaution, the back door to Bianca’s shop had a deadbolt and an electronic keypad lock.
Outside the Rosolini family, only two people had the keys and passcode: me and Vincenzo.
I pulled out my keychain, unlocked the deadbolt, punched in the code, and opened the door a crack.
Then I drew my gun and peeked inside.
A cluttered storeroom lay between me and the front of the shop.
Nobody was in the storeroom –
But I could clearly hear yelling at the front of the shop.
“Get out of here NOW,” Bianca shouted, “or I’m calling my husband!”
“Call him,” one of the track-suited goons said in a sinister voice. “We wanna talk to him.”
His accent was from Naples.
They’re Camorra,I realized in shock.
What the fuck is the Camorra doing in Florence?!
My heart started pounding –
But hundreds of hours of training with Lars kicked in.
I walked quietly but quickly through the storeroom, my gun held out in a shooter’s pose, my finger outside the trigger guard. I didn’t want to accidentally shoot one of the women.
“You don’t know who you’re fucking with, asshole!” Lucia yelled.
“You don’t shut the fuck up, bitch, I’ll be fuckingyouin just a minute,” another man shouted in a Neapolitan accent.
“Try it, asshole, and I’ll cut your dick off,” Lucia snarled.
I was almost to the partitioned wall that separated the back from the front when one of the men did something that made both women scream.
“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!” Lucia hollered.
“STOP IT!” Bianca shrieked.
Shit –
Does he have a gun?!
No time to play it safe.
I stepped out from behind the wall.
In a split second, I took in the scene.
Bianca and Lucia were to my right behind the counter.
The two thugs were standing 15 feet away amongst the displays.
One had a pistol pointed at the women.
The other held something he’d pulled out of the paper bag:
