Page 48 of Home Free

“How could he know about the house?” Elise asked.

“I don’t know, but I’m guessing it has something to do with the mountain house,” Finn said.

It made sense. Other than the main house, all of the Murphy’s property were hidden by shell companies, but having the location of one would make it easier to find connections to others.

It had taken Achilles over a month, but he’d obviously found them.

She went to Finn and slipped her arms around his waist. “At least no one was hurt.”

“Yeah, but they could have been, and it’s my fault.”

“It’s not,” Elise said. “Whoever killed Fedir and Iryna started this. Wanting to hold them accountable doesn’t make you the bad guy.”

She pushed away the thought of Finn killing Eudorus. It was too much to rationalize right now. She was worried about her sister, her nephew, and while she understood Julia wanting Ronan to finish what he’d started with Finn, no amount of justice was worth the lives of Julia and JT.

She felt helpless, too far away to even be there for Julia, who’d always been there for her.

Ronan emerged in the hall, looking like he’d aged ten years, although Elise couldn’t be sure whether it was from the break-in or the fight with Julia.

“You go,” Finn said to him. “I can handle this.”

“Trust me, you can not handle Nico Vitale,” Ronan said.

Finn sighed. “Okay. We see Nico, then you fly straight home. I’ll take it from there, whatever it ends up being.”

Ronan shook his head. “Julia will kick my ass if I come home before this is finished.”

“I’ll go,” Elise said. “I know it’s not the same. I can’t protect Julia like you can, but I can be there at least.”

Finn put an arm around her shoulder and squeezed. She didn’t want to be away from him, but her sister needed her, and it was time for Elise to be there.

“That would make me feel better,” Ronan said. “Nick and Declan will be checking in, and I’m going to hire someone too, but nothing helps like family at a time like this.”

“Hire someone?” Elise asked. “Who?”

“A firm I’ve used in the past. They’ll keep an eye on the house — on you and Julia and JT — until we can get back,” Ronan said.

“Bodyguards?” Elise asked.

Ronan snorted, but there wasn’t any humor in it. “In a manner of speaking.”

Elise wanted to ask for more information, but she was anxious to get on with the day. “I’ll go get ready.”

She’d go to Nico Vitale’s compound outside Rome and make nice with the mob wife.

Then she was going home to her sister.

27

Finn looked out the window as the helicopter hovered over the compound below, its rotors drowning out everything else. They’d been given headsets when they’d boarded the chopper but hadn’t said a word to each other since the helicopter took flight over Rome.

Finn couldn’t speak for anyone else, but he wasn’t eager to let the leader of the Syndicate overhear anything they had to say to each other.

Finn had expected to drive, but Ronan explained that private vehicles weren’t allowed in or out of the compound. Finn couldn’t help wondering if Vitale was paranoid — justifiably or not — about car bombs detonating near his family.

They’d left the Ferrari outside the penthouse and walked to a private helipad. Vitale’s chopper had picked them up five minutes later and they’d risen like an eagle, the city stretching below, its ancient architecture merging with towering churches from the seventeenth century and modern office buildings.

It had taken less than half an hour to reach the compound, the main house as big as a Tuscan villa and surrounded by smaller buildings. An array of gardens and walking paths wound around the property, and a pool glistened like an oasis between the leaves of the trees that provided aerial cover.

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