Chapter 86

I couldn't see his blond hair or his deep blue bottomless eyes searching for me. His presence was nowhere near his little brother.

Shots flew near Vadim.

Davina screamed with her hands covering her ears, eyes shut, and far from reality. She was taken by trauma and memories, lost in the bullets as the brick crumbled to dust as it fell.

Vadim turned, head low, back out into the open like a shield.

He was trapped.

I pulled my second gun from my shoulder holster and waited for him.

"Vodanovik!" I roared, pulling him from the slight cover as his head swiveled back to my voice.

An ice storm rippled in his chilling eyes, and I stretched out my hand to him.

Realization dawned, and Vadim's lips fluttered rapidly with violent orders. His eyes, while desperate, centered on my fist that signaled him to hold. His hands moved fluidly as he reloaded another magazine into his empty gun.

I looked out to bastards that had cornered my family into execution.

Gun cocked, left hand itching, and index finger burning, I flicked my fist down.

Once.

Twice.

I stretched my palm out and began raining hell. Alessandra clutched on to me, and I brought my hand back to her hair as the ear-splitting hammer of my gun released the massacre.

Vadim pushed bodies into the church, shielding them until his back retreated inside.

In the midst of assuring their safety, I had placed us both in grave danger.

I squeezed Alessandra closer to me, making us smaller to the whistles that soared past us. I acted out of pure instinct and rage.

Protect, protect, protect.

I pulled my gaze away from the curled body of white and red in search of Elio.

Hold! His hand implored with tension and snapping veins.

Hold?

We were sitting prey!

Cazzo!

I'd lost control. I'd been bested in my own city. My own wedding. At the doors of the church!

I'd been handed on a platter with an apple in my mouth.

I had been outplayed.

Alessandra was consumed in shock, deep in its grip.

Thunder tore through the darkening skies. Soil vibrated beneath us, rumbling our bones with bitter chills. My head reared back, and I felt the first drop.

The cry from above.

The icy bite of my sins.

The demon I would set free.

I dropped my head and cupped her face as rain fell over us.

My thumb ran over her cupid bow lips. My hands smeared the raindrops away as it streaked her bloody face. Her lashes trapped the water in flutters, and her eyes drowned in mine. They screamed for help.

Her eyes gasped for air, suffocating me in her own dread.

Fear stricken.

Paralyzing despair.

"Not now, Alessandra. I need you." My lips raced against hers. "I need you back, baby. I need the strong woman. The cunning. The outsmarting. The spirit. Come back to me. Come on." I shook her. "Damn it, Alessandra. I need you!"

Alessandra's eyes slammed shut, and she wept. Sorrow sobs shattered, her chest heaving. Despite the wrecking pain, she furiously nodded.

"That's right, Alessandra. Come back to me," filtered through my teeth. "Bring the raging wildfire in your eyes. Let me see the deep-green-forest blaze."

Her chest expanded and fell. Deep breaths filled her with strength, and her exhales pushed out the weak.

Eyes shot open in jaded fury.

I kissed her.

Urgent, wild, passionate.

"Take this, shoot on your way, and stay close," I rushed.

Alessandra nodded, clutching the gun with her delicate fingers, and then snapping into action. Her hands were filled with lace, silk, and tulle. She bunched the dress into a bundle, revealing her long legs. Her fingers slipped to her thigh, and she pulled out her blade, twisted it, she held it in a reverse grip. With one hand heavy with lead and another with sharp promise, both hands were filled with danger.

Alessandra tried to turn in preparation for our escape, but her legs caught the long train of her dress. Her body tossed, and she fell to the muck with a groan.

"Puttana!" The harsh curse fueled her ire, and she slipped her knife to the end of her feet. It sliced the fabric, and she tugged and tugged with no give of its strong train.

My eyes flew back to Elio, pushing her hands away. The loud rip muffled between the firing bullets, the howling thunder, and the heavy raindrops.

The dress was still long but wouldn't drag her behind. I wanted to cut it off and leave it by the forming puddles. But we had no time. We needed to move.

I needed to take her to safety and kill all those who had threatened her. Butcher and carve them with lead.

"No fear, Alessandra."

"None."

Elio signaled us to get ready.

We moved closer to the end.

"To the stone pillar," I instructed.

She nodded.

Elio opened his mouth to shout, "Now!"

"Go, go, go!" I yelled, and bullets sputtered in unison.

I shot.

Alessandra shot.

Hisses flew by my ear, whooshes disrupting near.

All aimed in our direction.

Rapid fire of automatic rifles against handguns.

Fire spread through my side, branding my flesh with burning metal and stunning speed. My body reared from the blow.

With my teeth gritting, I growled in pain and rage as I pulled the trigger. I hit my target right below his left eye. His body slumped to the ground, and I pulled the trigger again to shoot the man beside him, but only the clicking sound of the slide locking was in my ears.

I was out.

Empty.

I tackled Alessandra's body, taking her with me as I ran the last few steps toward cover.

I pushed her against the wall and searched every inch of her body.

She was unharmed.

"Dio." Her hands waved. They rolled over the tear in my suit jacket without touching it.

There was no time to fret. I discarded my jacket and vest. Red swept spreading over the white shirt, and I ignored the pain to reload my gun.

I looked back at her, but her eyes were trained behind me.

Fuck.

I followed her gaze while raising my gun.

He stepped out of the shadows.

Dante's long, scared face stepped forward, hands up.

"It's just me." Sweat, blood, and in labored breathing, he stood.

He tossed the automatic rifle to me, and I caught it with my free hand. Then he reached behind, bringing another from his back and tossing it again to me. I placed my handgun on my waistline and strapped one of the rifles onto my back, ready.

He had three more latched on to his back, and he picked one up for himself, then retrieved a knife. He twirled it into his palm, holding it tightly in the same position Alessandra held hers.

Aldo and Dante hadn't carried heavy gunfire. They came with handguns just like us.

It seemed Dante had collected prizes during his killing spree, and showered me with his medals. I couldn't turn them down. I needed ammo and gun power.

"Where's Aldo?"

He stepped back into the shadows. "Looking for Giuliani."

His weasel name alone caused my vision to blur deep in brutality.

"Father is dead," Alessandra whispered to him.

Dante had no sympathy for his father's death. But his eyes scanned her body, and his brows deepened after seeing the carnage and disarray of his sister's appearance.

"I know." His hand stretched out. "Come, I'll take you to safety."

I kept her from moving.

Dante's eyes narrowed in surprise. His mouth parted to speak, but it quickly shut.

"She's my sister." He sneered. Enraged by my distrust of her safety.

Had he looked around? It was hell on earth in pure daylight, out and in the open for everyone around to hear, and we were in the middle of it all.

And he thought I trusted him blindly for her safety?

"I kill in the shadows," he said calmly. "I move through the darkness and shield behind their clouds. I can get her to safety faster than you can. Don't confuse my cruelty for those I don't care for the two that I do."

Gunfire continued, and his eyes shifted to the open space for any upcoming threats.

"I could have killed you, Lombardi. Your back faced me, and you failed to see me. But that would only harm her, and I wouldn't hurt her." He stretched his hand. "We are on the same team, hers. Let her go, so I can make sure my sister lives."

Fuck.

How could I hand her to him?

Place such trust on whom months ago threatened my brother.

"The shadows are only big enough for one body," I explained.

Our attention shifted to my left. Elio was losing ground.

"Then I'll make sure it's hers."

I nodded.

"We don't have much time to slip away, Lombardi," Dante said, distracted by the large open courtyard.

I turned to Alessandra, her eyes already dreading my next words.

"No."

"I'll meet you shortly, alright?"

Her head swayed from side to side.

I stole a rushed kiss, unable to let her go without one last taste.

"No fear, Alessandra."

"I fear not for myself. I fear something happening to you. You are already bleeding, Massimo!"

"Lombardi," Dante warned.

"That's foolish. It's just another day. Now go." I pulled her head to my chest and placed her in Dante's hand.

"There's a secret passage that will lead you to a bunker. It's inside the priest's chamber. Alessandra knows the way. Look for the small door behind a large mirror. I'll find you both after."

"Who all knows?" he questioned its safety.

"Just us and my brothers," then I added. "Vadim could've taken a few already. He'll open the door for her."

"Got it."

"Go!" I ushered Dante.

His eyes thanked me as he tucked Alessandra into his side, and he disappeared along with her emeralds and white stained dress.

A part of me knew I should've never let her go.

Another knew we had no chance of coming out alive if we stayed together.

Then, why did I feel as if my demon wept?

MASSIMO

I crouched low on the floor and took cover.

One by one, I extinguished life.

One by one, they dropped to the ground.

My knees scraped against the grain floor while I moved from one corner to the other. Kneeling, then squatting.

Each time I shot two rounds into bodies.

Each time, we gained ground and pushed forward.

There were so many.

They. Just. Kept. Coming.

I had the manpower to take down syndicates. Miami, New York, and Chicago were the biggest in numbers. But my men were scattered and placed on the path we would have taken after the ceremony. Streets were crowded with soldiers as civilians walked aimlessly with hidden guns. Cars parked, waiting, and rows of soldiers waited minutes away from where the reception would have been.

The reception would've been flooded with made-men.

I had scattered my men!

I had it all planned.

I had it all laid out.

Yet, I stood feet away from the house of God. Committing sin on sacred ground, decorating the manicured lawn and its statues in red and sinful rain.

I had it sealed, perfected, or so I had thought.

Now we were outnumbered, and our men who traveled were most likely stuck in a fabricated disturbance, delaying their arrival and machinery.

Elio made it next to me. Dario followed him as he helped Rana walk into the shelter. Rana dropped to the floor, eyes shut in agony as his thigh bled in rapid gushes. A puddle quickly grew, and his sweaty face was tinted in ash.

"Get your belt!" I ordered.