Page 99 of The Masked King

“Nice try using Meggie to let you do this alone,” Gio says. “Like there was any possibility of me running to Sicily while you handled the Russians.”

“Are Meggie and the children safe?” I ask.

He’s right, I knew he would be here by my side, no matter how high the stakes. Running away would cost him the respect of every family member, every mafia connection we’ve ever made, everyone he has done business with around the world. But more important to him than that, it would be the end of any self-respect he has.

“They’re en route to Sicily. I’ve arranged for Sofia and Leo to join her there.”

The mention of my niece and nephew reminds me of someone else currently missing in action. “Bianca was here.”

Gio blinks slowly like it will help to place our sister’s name into context. “What happened?”

“We lost her.”

“She vanished, Gio,” Demi elaborates for me. “I don’t know how she got here, or why, but I had no idea she was involved in any of this until today.”

He nods once; we long ago stopped questioning Bianca’s reasons for preferring her chances alone. “She’ll show up when she’s ready; there are only so many places to hide when the Bratva are involved.”

I recall the foot soldiers in the soot-covered beds upstairs when I arrived. “You think they’re still inside the house?”

“They didn’t put up much of a fight outside,” Gio says.

“They wanted you to find me.” I realize that I’ve not explained my thought process to Demi when faint lines appear between her eyes. “I hate to break it to you, brother, but you’re the target.”

“Gio?” Demi seems to shrink away from him. “You were Brian?”

I loop an arm around her neck and kiss the top of her head. After all this time, these little gestures are so normal, I perform them without thinking. “That was all me.”

She peers up at me, her eyes large with unshed tears, and Gio clears his throat to get our attention.

“We should split up. You lead a team upstairs, and I’ll concentrate on this level and the basement.”

“The basement,” I repeat.

Inertia has allowed the pain of my ruined shoulder to crawl back inside my head, and I lean on Demi for support while I drag the layout of this property to the front of my mind. I don’t recall seeing the basement on the drawing plans Bianca gave me a year ago. It would’ve been the logical place to start a contained fire, and now I’m questioning whether she deliberately kept that piece of information to herself, because it would also be the logical place to hide a family when danger comes a calling.

“How many men did you see in the house?” I ask Demi.

“Half a dozen, maybe more. Everyone else was outside.”

I do the math in my head. “We killed maybe eight men upstairs. More in the foyer. But the bodies were moved by the time Malevsky vanished. Unless the basement is the size of the property and then some, it’ll be getting a little claustrophobic down there.”

“Not if it’s an escape route,” Gio says.

The phone call from Demi outside Gio’s apartment block cleared my head, but the concussion is coming for me with a vengeance again now.

“He’s mine.” I’m already following Malevsky’s route when he left us in the piano room. “Get Demi to safety.”

“Wait!” Demi’s voice follows me. “You can’t expect me to leave now.”

“We had a deal,” I shoot over my shoulder. “You promised.”

“Yeah, I lied.” She’s hot on my heels. “You can barely stand up, Enzo. I’m not letting you take on that fucker alone.”

“He won’t be alone. Demi,” Gio adds.

I glance over my shoulder at his small army walking behind him in formation and hope to fuck he brought more weapons than they appear to be carrying. Or maybe it’s the concussion blurring my vision.

I press on, opening doors without a thought for any potential Bratva ambush lurking in the shadows. I jump on floorboards testing their hollowness. I almost close the door to a large functional utility room when I notice a glint of metal from a hook set in the floor.