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Then a shadow shifted in the entryway to the torture room, just enough for her to spot one tattooed arm.
“You and Alina claimed you owed me. I’m not so sure, but I could use some help. In the mood to kill some Barones?”
He stepped out into the open and gave her a single nod.
An army of two was better than one, but she still didn’t like their odds.
She shoved her phone away, shooting a nervous glance at the door that led to Montrell. “I guess you might as well show me the weakest spot in our perimeter then,” she said, moving toward Luka instead. “To do this, we need to sneak out of here.”
Luka couldn’t meet her gaze as he led the way, but that was fine. Better than fine. Her expression was somewhere between pissed off and struggling not to cry.
Vespa approached the front entrance alone. She hadn’t left all her weapons behind—like hell she would—but by the time she was escorted into the sitting room, she’d been disarmed. That was fine. She’d expected it.
Antonio didn’t look too badly injured when her gaze found him, though his eyes were livid enough to shoot sparks.
She bared her teeth in return. He didn’t get to be the one who was pissed off.
“Welcome, my dear.” Leandro Barone spread his hands, drawing her gaze to him and looking good like usual, if a bit too old for her tastes, and she finally saw it. She’d always thought he was attractive, and she had a type. Dammit, she hated feeling like an idiot.
“Fucking hell. You’re his old man.” She tried to shrug off the Barone soldier’s grip on her arm, even though she knew it would tighten. “Is that what this shit is about? Because I have to say, Cesare was a prick, and I’m not sorry I killed him.”
Barone’s smile sharpened. “I’d disowned him for a reason. When I received the report detailing the way you murdered my son, I was annoyed, but it saved me the trouble of doing it myself. I’d thank you for the effort, but he was blood after all.”
“Whatever. I’m not looking for gratitude. Why don’t you release Di Salvo, and we’ll get on with things.” She nodded toward Antonio, who was still glaring at her.
Barone’s gaze followed hers, his eyes turning almost thoughtful. “I considered offering you a more interesting choice. Montrell Coronella in exchange for the man you love.” His eyes cut back to her. “If I had, would—”
“Fuck no,” she said with a laugh.
Barone’s lips drew up in the facsimile of a smile. “Di Salvo must be mourning his fate, dying for someone who wouldn’t even put him first.”
Vespa shrugged. “He understands. I didn’t tell his brother about this for the same reason.” Her eyes met Antonio’s. His face was bruised around the tape that covered his mouth. Another Barone soldier pointed a gun at the back of his head. “We’re the same. Neither of us wants our most important person caught up in this mess.” Her lip curled as she glared back at Barone. “I’m just sorry Antonio got targeted just because he enjoys screwing me.”
Leandro Barone drew closer, not quite close enough to kick. “Such bravado. You certainly have impeccable taste, my dear.” His eyes shifted to Antonio before going back to her. “I considered letting Di Salvo go, but I must say, I’m curious. I want to watch your face as I order my men to kill him. Will it fill with grief?” He started to turn toward his soldiers.
“I killed your son!” Vespa shouted in panic. When his gaze narrowed on her, she nodded with emphasis. “With my bare fucking hands,” she added, her teeth flashing. She let the rage have free rein. “I killed all the men that night with my bare hands. Was your report clear on that?” Then she headbutted the man behind her and dug her nails into his gun hand to shift it past her body.
The dumbass Barone soldier shot Leandro himself, and the one pointing at Antonio was so fucking predictable. He lifted his gun from Antonio’s head to redirect it toward her.
She laughed as she dropped like dead weight, letting the soldier shoot the one staggering behind her as she kicked out the knee of a third. The odds were in her favor since there were only a handful of enemies present, less than the dozen she’d taken out the night she’d been naked and weaponless. She let her thoughts go, relying on simple reaction instead. Her teeth and nails succeeded in wrestling a gun away. She fired quickly.
Bodies littered the floor by the time she slammed and locked the door to the sitting room. It wouldn’t buy them much time. She crossed to where Leandro Barone writhed. The soldier’s bullet had gone into his chest. Vespa added one to his head. The Barone leader stopped moving.
“Should have fucking killed me when you had the chance,” she muttered, spitting on him.
She turned away, found Antonio struggling to stand, and hauled him away from the couch just before bullets sprayed the leather through the door. Their momentum caused her to lose her balance, but falling to the carpet under his weight was for the best with the number of bullets slamming into the room.
She ripped the tape off his mouth. “Shit, that probably hurt. Show me your hands and—”
His mouth robbed her of air as he kissed her.
She’d be lying if she said it didn’t give her a thrill, and she used one hand to pull him against her a little tighter even as she fired her gun toward the door to stymie the barrage.
He lifted his head.
“What the hell, Di Salvo? We don’t have time for that shit,” she complained, her heart racing.
He grinned. “You’re insane, and you obviously love me.”
