Page 37 of Arranged Marriage By the Bratva

“Hold tight, Yegor. I am their Donna, and they’re going to let me in. This is my father’s house,” I say proudly, but I can sense the hostility in the air as the guards raises their guns.

“What’s your business here?” one of them asks, the muzzle of his gun, pointing inside the window of our vehicle.

“Our business is that I’m your Donna. I’m Elena Orlov.” The guard steps back, my pulse quickens as he speaks with the other guard, talking in Italian.

“This isn’t going to go well,” Yegor mutters under his breath as the guard returns, peering into our vehicle. There are six of us, and given how many guards are on ground, it may not be enough.

When he comes back, he makes his position clear. “You can’t come in here. You are Bratva now. We can’t let you in.”

“You will let me in! This is my family home,” I hiss at the guard who shakes his head as two other guards flock to the vehicle.

“You should let us in before trouble starts,” Nikk advises, raising his gun back at the guard. “This is her home, and she is still part of the Mancini household.”

I realize how Matteo has turned people against me in such a short period of time, and it’s going to take some work to get everyone back on side. Meanwhile, we don’t have time to argue with silly guard staff at the door.

Boldly, I open the car door, getting out. I’m not fearful of the guards, and part of that has to do with Nikk and his men providing back up. The guards are shocked, but I know the pin code to enter the gates. “You will let me in. I’m your Donna, not the other way around.”

“Hey, Vaffanculo! You can’t go in! You’re no longer welcome here.”

Nikk puts his men in position shielding me as I walk forward punching in the code, listening to the groan of the old gate opening.

The driver zooms inside the gate as I do a quick scan of how many other men are on ground. I count three of the roaches, pulling my gun and shooting before they have a chance to. There’s a long driveway to reach the house itself with beautiful gardens on either side.

With my adrenaline peaking and a guard running in hot pursuit, I take aim, shooting at his foot to warn him off as Nikk catches up, jogging beside me. My main objective is to get inside the house. I have the key, and unless Matteo has changed the locks, I’m sure it’s going to work.

“Are they gaining?” I pant, pushing forward as we run up a slight incline, getting closer to the house, slivers of light brightening the morning sky.

“No, my men are fighting with them, and it’s a good cover.” Yegor is out of shape, hanging at the back, but I know he’s a sharpshooter and part of the team. Where Nikk goes, Yegor does too, and truth be told I’ve grown fond of him. “C’mon, Yegor. Pick up the pace,” Nikk hisses as he sweats, but in no time we are on the porch.

“Shh,” I tell them both as Nikk covers my back, his body turned in the opposite direction to see where the men are coming from. Concentrating, I shine the light from my cell phone on the door, fumbling the old key around in the keyhole. The heavy oak door pops open as I kick it back, watching it swing on its hinges.

Matteo has to know I’m coming for him. There’s too much commotion from the guards, and all of it would have woken him up. Nikk shoves me behind him in one swoop.

“Let me cover you,” he says succinctly as I raise my gun, grateful for the shield as Yegor covers me from behind. Creeping forward in the shadows, all I can hear is the in and out of my heavy breathing. I keep my ears open for even the slightest movement.

Our footsteps are light over the peach-colored tile that runs up the middle of the house. To the first left is a study nook with a bay window, but we have more to contend with because I can hear the guards about to storm the estate.

A slick pool of sweat forms down my upper back, and now the bulletproof vest is itchy, but I keep my gun steady with a watchful eye. There’re pillars inside the house as well. It’s an old Italian’s blend of timber and stone. For such a big guy, Nikk is surprisingly light on his feet, and seeing him in action is sexy as hell.

Using my instincts, I stop when I hear a crackle from the left. Nodding my head to Nikk, I’ve got a split second to make a decision as Yegor feathers out from behind me, I don’t hesitate, knowing there’s a body there. I saw the bottom of the rug ripple.

“Fucker!” I spot the gun from behind the grand piano before he does with my eagle eye. The shot’s meant for him, probably so I have no back up from behind, but that’s not going to work out well for the shooter.

With a hard shove, I push Yegor to the left out of the bullet’s firing line, and sure enough it comes, whizzing right through the middle taking out a family heirloom vase instead, and it crashes to the ground. Reactively, I squeeze off a round, followed by Nikk, watching the shadow of a rat dodge the bullet and running in a crouched position through a passageway door at the back of the study into the next room.

“Was it him? I didn’t get a good look,” Nikk asks. “Nice work, L’vitsa,” he praises with a wink.

“Is has to be,” I whisper as we jog forward away from the front door where more trouble is on the way.

“Thanks, Elena, that makes up for you shooting me,” Yegor jokes as I flash him a quick smile. The next part of the house is the open plan kitchen and dining room, and there’s so many windows that if Matteo tries to hide, he won’t be able to stay hidden. There’s too much light, and the sun is showing itself over the hillside of Palermo.

The crunch of footsteps behind us grabs Yegor’s attention as he turns to shoot but stops when he realizes it’s our men. “Are they all dead?”

“No, not all of them, but we had to shoot a few. Sorry, Donna,” Turan, who I recognize, says, screwing up his face.

He called me Donna. Finally, Nikk’s crew are beginning to respect me. “That’s okay. If they wouldn’t listen to you, then you did what you had to do,” I reply. “Handle things on the ground floor,” I tell him. “We’re going after Matteo.”

“Done. We got it,” Turan replies as two others flank him, spreading out in opposite directions. I have to trust them to do their jobs. Nikk studies me for a quick second and I nod, flagging a finger to the left, where the dining room is. It’s a large room, and behind it is the kitchen, where a door leads to the outside. All the bedrooms are upstairs, and once we have to ascend the stairs, it’s going to be hard to find him.

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