Page 228 of Diego

“Yes.” I have to.

Giacomo would have reacted the second communications failed, and he knows exactly what his priority is. Blair has complained more than once about how seriously he takes my instructions. Tonight I am grateful for every time he irritated her.

Mario looks over the group. “We assume they’re still trying to reach the house until we know otherwise. Nobody rushes the front. We go over the east wall, stay under cover, and work inward. Ricardo, you take Dante, Edoardo, and Alessio toward the garage side once we’re inside. Giovanni, Antonio, and Nico stay with them until Ricardo splits you where he needs you. Matteo and Tomasso are with me and Diego.”

Everyone listens.

Mario continues without raising his voice. “Our people secure the perimeter behind us and make sure nobody slips back out. We don’t chase anyone off the property while the house is still under threat. The priority is getting inside, clearing it, and reaching the lower level.”

Giovanni looks toward the wall. “Agreed.”

Mario checks the group once more. “If we have the chance to take someone alive without increasing the risk, do it. If they raise a weapon, end it.”

That is the only instruction anyone needs.

We start toward the lower section of wall.

The gunfire has stopped for the moment, which I dislike more than hearing it. Silence gives me nothing. I cannot tell whether Giacomo’s people have pushed the attackers back, whether someone is repositioning, or whether the fight has already moved inside my house.

I keep Blair’s face in my head anyway.

The last time I saw her, she was on my sofa with a laptop in front of her, pleased with herself because I had finally given her something useful to do. I kissed her before I left. A few hours later, the work I handed her put this property on someone’s radar.

There will be time to deal with the guilt later.

First, I have to get to her.

Mario reaches the wall first and looks back at the rest of us. “No bunching up. Two over, then cover the next pair.”

Matteo goes over with one of our people and drops silently into the grass on the other side. Tomasso follows. Once they signal clear, Mario climbs next.

I go immediately after him.

My shoes hit the ground inside my own property, and I crouch behind the thick landscaping lining the eastern edge. From here I can finally see part of the damage near the front drive. Backup lighting throws low illumination across the grounds, enough to show one side of the gate hanging inward and the front end of an SUV angled through the opening.

A body lies near the drive.

Another burst of gunfire cracks from somewhere closer to the house.

Mario drops beside me and studies the distance between us and the garage while the others come over the wall behind us. He waits until Ricardo and Giovanni are down safely, then signals everyone into their assigned groups.

“This way,” Mario says.

We move.

Backup lighting throws a low glow across the grounds, enough to reveal the outline of the house and the damage closer to the front drive. Most of the decorative lighting is gone, leaving stretches of the property dark between security lights.

The front gate is wrecked.

One side hangs inward from the stone pillar, and an SUV has been forced through the gap. A second vehicle sits farther back with its front end crushed. Several figures move near the drive, and one of them fires toward the house.

My security people answer from somewhere near the front terrace.

A body lies beside the damaged gate. Another is sprawled closer to the SUV.

Mario looks over the property, takes in the gunfire, the garage, and the distance to the house, then points toward the landscaping ahead. “We stay under cover to the garage. Ricardo, hold behind us until we get there. Nobody crosses the open ground until I call it.”

We follow him.