Page 118 of His Tesoro

I threw the bedroom door open. “Angelo! Guard Sofiya!” My wife was bundled up on the bed, Noodle beside her, a shocked expression on her face.

“Yes, Boss,” Angelo responded.

I tore out of the apartment. Who was attacking us—the Albanians? The Irish? I would not let them get my wife. I would protect her until my dying breath.

I ordered two guards to stay by the apartment door while the rest ran to the stairwell. The explosion had been on the east side of the building.

Fuck. Sienna.

I’d ordered her to stay in her apartment.

I tore down the stairs to her floor, relieved when I saw it was intact. I ordered one of my men to check on her while I continued down the stairwell. Acrid smoke filled the air as I neared my office. I went ahead of my men, barging through the door with my gun drawn.

My office was destroyed. The window was shattered from where an explosive had obviously flown in. But the room was empty besides fluttering paper and splintered furniture.

Warning bells sounded in my mind, but it was cloudy with exhaustion and pain. My shoulder was on fire, and when I glanced down, I saw blood seeping through my shirt. I must have torn my stitches.

My heart pounded, my gut telling me I needed to get back to Sofiya now. I called my men to me and ran back up the stairs. My watch vibrated and I glanced down at the alert—the fire escape alarm had gone off.

Fear like I’d never felt before flooded me as I threw the apartment door open and found it empty.

62

SOFIYA

We waited until the front door slammed shut behind Matteo before jumping into action. Angelo helped me out of bed and into my wheelchair before he slipped on the backpack we’d packed with essentials. Noodle’s harness was already on, and Angelo grabbed his leash as we hurried to the opposite side of the apartment to the fire escape.

Angelo threw the window open. “That will have set off the alarm. We need to move quickly.”

I stood from my chair, locking my knees to keep from falling. The room spun around me, and I leaned on Noodle to keep myself steady. Angelo squeezed his massive frame through the window and then reached for me, dragging me into the cool night air.

“Come on, Noodle.” I tugged on his leash. Noodle gave me an expression that told me he was very unsure about this plan. Angelo leaned forward and grabbed hold of Noodle’s harness, pulling him through.

“Maybe you should carry Noodle instead of me,” I said, eyeing the treacherous metal stairs.

“You first. I’ll come back for him if needed,” Angelo grunted.

The loud sound of an approaching helicopter made speaking impossible as Angelo quickly climbed the stairs, holding me to his broad chest. We reached the roof just as the helicopter was landing on the pad. I bounced in Angelo’s arms as he ran towards it. His hand covered my head when we neared the helicopter door where Leona was standing, a feral smile on her face.

Angelo lifted me up and Leona grabbed my arm, pulling me inside. I cried out when a sharp pain burst from my shoulder—she had dislocated it.

“Shit, Sofiya, are you okay?” Angelo asked.

“Go get Noodle,” I shouted. Angelo turned back to the fire escape just as a gunshot sounded from the other side of the roof.

Matteo was running towards us, fury in his face. His guards weren’t far behind them, and all had guns drawn, pointing at the helicopter propellers.

“We have to go,” Leona shouted.

I looked back at the fire escape just in time to see Noodle’s head pop over the roof’s edge as he struggled to pull himself over. Angelo cursed and jumped into the helicopter. Before the door was even shut, we were in the air. I screamed, trying to get to my dog, my best friend, but the ground disappeared from under us.

Angelo pulled me into a seat and buckled me in, careful to avoid my shoulder. He grabbed my face with both hands. My tears soaked his skin.

“I’m sorry.”

I couldn’t hear over the sound of the helicopter, but I read the words on his lips.

I held my hand over my chest, my heart shattering. My sweet Noodle. I had abandoned him.

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