Page 42 of His Assistant

I move before either of them says a word.

“Where are you going?” Tomasso demands.

I ignore him and cross to the door. The outer office glows red too. Nina is still here, clutching her cell phone like a lifeline. When she sees me, I motion for her to get under her desk. I don’t know what the hell is going on, but if it’s tripped the alarm system, I’m not gambling with anyone’s life.

“Where’s Sofia?” I ask, getting close enough that we can hear each other over the alarm.

“I don’t know,” she shouts back. “She was just there.”

I look back at her desk. Her laptop is still open and hasn’t been signed out. Her purse is gone, but her water bottle isn’t. She hasn’t been without it the last two weeks.

Rafe comes up behind me, already on his phone. “The security feed is down from floors twenty-seven through thirty-two, but the elevator banks are still showing. She isn’t in any of them.”

“What about the stairwells?”

“The east camera is out.”

Of course it is. Because that’s the stairwell she uses when the bathroom on our floor gets too busy.

“Rafe, clear everything from the lobby up,” I order. “I’m going to find Sofia.”

“Dom,” he argues, shaking his head.

“Take Tomasso with you,” I tell him. “He should help with something. I’ll join you as soon as I get her to a secure location.”

“She may already be in a secure location.”

I don’t respond to his argument. I push through the door into the east stairwell, gun low at my side. The alarm is even louder here, echoing on the brick walls, bouncing around constantly. The red lighting cuts the stairs into ugly strips.

“Sofia?” I call. “Sofia, are you in here?”

“Dominic?” I hear her voice. She has to be at least two floors down.

The relief is short-lived. I hear heavy footsteps below us. They aren’t going down. They’re coming up. That means they aren’t my men.

I round the next landing and find her halfway between floors, pressed against the wall, one hand gripping the rail. Her face is pale, her eyes wide, but she looks unhurt. I glance down and see two men climbing the stairs, only two landings below. Shit, they’re fast.

One of the men is faster than the other and reaches our landing first. When he sees Sofia, his hand slides inside his coat, but I’m faster. I lurch in front of her.

“Stay behind me,” I command.

For once, she doesn’t argue with me.

“Put your hands up,” I tell the man, cocking my gun and pointing it directly at his chest. His hands automatically go up.

“Higher,” I tell him through gritted teeth.

His partner joins him on the landing but stops short when he sees me standing there holding a gun. He puts his hands up too.

“Sorry, Mr. Vieri, we’re lost,” says the first man.

“No,” I answer him. “You’re not.”

He glances toward Sofia. I fire into the wall beside his head. The concrete cracks, dust exploding from the impact. Sofia lets out a sharp yelp.

“Keep your eyes on me,” I say. “Both of you.”

The stairwell door above us bangs open hard enough to hit the wall. Two of my men come through, weapons drawn. The moment they see me, they rush in to take the two men down.