Page 87 of Mafia Don's Secret Baby

“Where are you hurt?” he growled. I felt the rumble of his voice deep in his chest, but I didn’t release him.

“Callum. Where is he?” I asked immediately.

“He’s safe with Sophie. He’s safe. Waiting for you to come home.”

I’d never felt so relieved. Maybe it was my proximity to death, or maybe it was the pure relief of seeing him alive and well. But emotions and gratitude filled me so quickly that I didn’t know what to do with them.

“I love you!” I cried. “I love you so fucking much.”

His voice grew gentler as he spoke again. “I’ve always loved you, Lili.”

I squeezed him harder, bringing a hand down his arm as I moved back to see his face. He winced, and I paused, glancing down at where my hand rested on his forearm.

Blood covered my fingertips.

“Oh, my God.”

“I’m fine,” he said. The pop of gunfire came from outside the building again, and I glanced toward the window before he spoke again, drawing my attention. “Vlad is dead.”

“Aelita, too.”

I gestured at the body on the floor, but he didn’t look. He just nodded.

“We need to get out of here,” he said. “Anthony and Marcus are outside, and we have attacks happening all over the city. We need to be out before more people learn we’re here.”

I nodded and released him, but I eyed his arm again, finding that it was continuously oozing blood. We needed to get that taken care of quickly. But with all the gunfire outside the building, I knew there was a threat out there that was more significant to both of us.

“Who’s out there?”

He shook his head once. “We’ll find out soon.”

My heart sank as he admitted that this wasn’t a part of the rescue plan.

I pursed my lips and turned, grabbing Aelita’s gun from the floor before following behind him and out the office door. My eyes caught on a pile of soldiers leaning by the door. I recognized a few faces, covered in blood and peppered with bullets. They were all our men.

A deep ache filled my chest, but I stepped over them, careful not to step on them.

Matteo raised his gun as he took in the hallway outside the main room and checked both directions before glancing over his shoulder at me. “Keep close.”

I nodded as we made our way down corridor after corridor.

The only people inside seemed to be the men they’d already killed, lying with guns still in their hands.

The smell hit me as we moved down the basement stairs. Matteo didn’t react to it, but I crinkled my nose as it intensified. I saw the source within seconds. A wide sewer grate had been pushed open, and two of Matteo’s men stood inside of it. They stepped back as we climbed down the grate. One of them closed it behind us.

He guided me down the tunnel, our feet sloshing in a liquid I didn’t want to consider. Matteo didn’t falter as he led us toward another grate.

Marcus looked down at us as we came up.

“Thank God!” he shouted. “They had signal jammers, too. We couldn’t get through to you. Anthony is still on the roof. Another team came, and I called in backup. We’re buying time. Anthony can end it, and we’ll get out of here.”

I looked between them, hoping that this had been enough. Vlad and Aelita had been the ones with a vendetta.

Now that they were gone, it had to be enough.

Chapter Thirty

Lilianna Genovese

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