Over the next week, our small army grows. Ricardo brings thirty men, all experienced fighters loyal to him.
Two other families, smaller operations that Lorenzo has wronged, add another fifteen between them.
We’re still outnumbered, but now we have a fighting chance.
Sophia works alongside me every day, planning operations, coordinating logistics, even training with the men.
I watch her transform from a woman running for her life into a warrior preparing for battle.
She’s magnificent, and I fall more in love with her with each passing day.
Our first target is one of Lorenzo’s drug warehouses on the waterfront.
It’s lightly guarded, which makes it perfect for a quick strike.
We hit it at three in the morning, moving fast and silent.
My men take out the guards while Sophia and I plant explosives throughout the building.
“Timer’s set,” Sophia says, her face smudged with soot. “Two minutes.”
We run, our footsteps echoing off the concrete.
Behind us, I hear shouts as Lorenzo’s men realize what’s happening.
Gunfire erupts, bullets whining past our heads, but we make it to the vehicles.
The explosion lights up the night sky, a massive fireball that consumes the warehouse and everything in it.
I watch it burn, relishing in the savage satisfaction warming me.
This is just the beginning.
“One down,” Marco says, appearing beside me. “Eleven more to go.”
We hit two more locations over the next three days.
Each strike is successful, each one bleeding Lorenzo’s resources.
But I know he’s planning his response.
He won’t take these attacks lying down.
I’m proven right when we return to our warehouse headquarters after the third strike.
Marco is waiting for us, his face pale, his hands shaking.
“Boss.” Something in his voice makes my blood run cold. “We have a problem.”
He holds out his phone and I take it, Sophia pressing close to see the screen. It’s a video, grainy and dark, but clear enough.
A man sits tied to a chair in what looks like a basement.
He’s been beaten, his face swollen and bloody.
But even through the damage, I can see the resemblance to Sophia.
The same dark hair, the same eyes, the same stubborn set to his jaw.
