“Should we even bother returning fire with this?” I gestured to the assault rifle I still held onto.
Lorenzo shook his head. “I wouldn’t bother, it’s not–” he broke off, frowning as his voice echoed in the sudden silence, nothing but the hiss of cracking glass.
We looked at each other, trying to decipher the stillness. “It’s too quiet,” I muttered, not liking that ‘calm before the storm’ feeling infiltrating my bones. Something big was about to happen and I hated not knowing what. “I don’t like this, Renz.”
“We’re too exposed here, let’s move.” Keeping low, he mounted the stairs to the fourth floor.
About to follow, muffled voices reached my ear, stopping me. “Please, we’re just–”
“Move!” a harsh command followed a loud groan.
Staying in the shadows with my back against the wall, I peered out one of the windows, watching a black clothed fucker herd our cleaning and kitchen employees with a gun. Lorenzo returning to the top stair, shifted my attention.
“They’re clearing the house,” I explained, jerking a thumb over my shoulder.
He frowned, descending to my side. “Why the staff?” He looked out, his expression visible concern. They were shepherding our people into a tight group in the courtyard. “I don’t like the fucking smell of this?”
As if to enforce his statement, the sudden whir of chopper blades echoed through the building. “I hope like fucking hell that’s Dario firing up our chopper,” I grunted, taking a step up.
The chopper was our only safe passage back to the mainland. All our boats would make for easier targets on the open water.
Dario came running down the stairs, deflating my optimism. “The controls are busted on our chopper and the one landing isn’t ours.”
“Fuck!” my brother and I cursed together.
“We need to end this shit.” Lorenzo raced down the stairs with Dario and I on his tail. When we reached the ground floor landing, he stopped us with a hand up then gestured to one of the windows that overlooked the courtyard. A row of armed men in full black, formed an arc behind our people, their weapons at ready and aimed our way.
“Fuck this.” Irrational as always, I took a step forward and Lorenzo grabbed my arm, his hold tightening when I struggled.
He answered my scowl with one of his no-nonsense ones. “Until we know what they want, you’re not fucking going out there,” he warned.
I took a steadying breath or risked punching him in the face. “What the hell are they waiting–” Bright lights suddenly flooded the courtyard, cutting me off. “Fuck me, these assholes cameprepared for a party,” I muttered, aware that didn’t bode well for us.
“Down!” Lorenzo’s warning rang out, his hand yanking Dario and I with him.
We dove for cover as the building lit up like the fourth of fucking July fireworks gone unchecked. Cheek to the floor, I glanced over at my brother. Only one thought blinded me. If anything happened to him, these fuckers would pay.
“Cease fire!” An authoritative voice I didn’t recognize, bulldozed through the chaos and immediately the gunfire stopped.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are, Remo.” Now that voice I recognized.
“Ajay,” I grunted, slowly sitting up.
Backs pressed to the wall, Lorenzo and Dario followed suit, dusting fragments of plaster, wood chips and glass off their clothes.
“I’m giving you one chance to surrender, Remo. Come out now, or I start executing your staff. One by one.” Ajay’s voice boomed across the courtyard, each word precise and controlled despite the rage I could hear simmering beneath.
Eyes on me, Lorenzo’s jaw tightened, his head slowly shaking from side to side, but he remained silent. We all did and the quiet lengthened, broken only by the occasional shuffle of movement outside.
Awoman’sscream piercedtheair and I shot up. Lorenzo and Dario rushed to their feet too. We all looked out a window. Mary, our cook, struggled against one fucker as he dragged her across the paving toward Ajay.
He grabbed her arm. “This is your fault, Rossi,” he shouted. “Their blood will be on your hands.”
Mary cried, thrashing against his grip. The rest of the staff stayed huddled together on their knees, their eyes wide with terror as they watched the scene play out.
Ajay’s fucked up face, twisted into a grimace before he pressed a gun to Mary’s temple. “You have thirty seconds before I start the countdown.”
Teeth grinding, I clenched my fists, debating whether he’d kill her. Mary had been in our employ for ages and the only woman who made me smile with every dish she prepared. “We should do something.” I glanced at my brother.
