Page 45 of Not Mine to Keep

I turned the next corner that led me down another barely lit hallway, and my world flipped upside down at the man standing on the other side, staring back at me. I didn’t need it to be lit up to identify him, to know who else was there with me.

“This is Four. We’re not the only ones here for the target,” I alerted the team as Rocco Barone made the first move, coming for me.

I snatched the blade from beneath my suit jacket and dropped to a knee as tonight’s “hiccup” came at me. I managed to duck and slide beneath his outstretched arm, then swivel around, getting back to my feet before he could stab me. Both of us were working with kitchen cutlery tonight. Of all the ways I’d imagined killing him over the years, and now ...

“Been a long time, Costa.” The motherfucker smiled and beckoned me with a flick of his wrist. “What are the chances we both crashed the same party?” When I didn’t follow his request, he charged my way. The guy was bigger, but I was quicker. “Guess we’re both here for the same reason. Not sure why you want to marry into the DiMaggios,” he went on, missing each time he tried to strike.

Unlike his wasted attempts to hit me, I managed to land a gut punch and an elbow to the face. After spitting blood, he grinned, enjoying this too much, and came at me.

My teammates were in my ear, trying to figure out what was going on, but I was too wrapped up in defending myself from a psychopath to share.

At some point in the chaos, we both lost our weapons, and Rocco managed to put me up against the wall, smashing one of the few lights there. Him getting the drop on me—not one of my finer moments in life.

I felt his breath in my ear as he leaned in and hissed loud enough to ensure my team could hear his voice. “Is Constantine here? He is, isn’t he? How’s he doing? Can he hear me now?”

“He’s mine,” Constantine ordered, and yup, he’d heard the fucker, loud and clear. “I’m on my way.”

I couldn’t let that showdown happen. Not tonight, anyway. I also couldn’t end his life now without jeopardizing the plan to use him to get to his father.

Anger and adrenaline allowed me to break free, and I managed to take a knee to secure my knife from the floor. Back on my feet in one fast movement, I set the blade against his throat. “Neither of us will getto Esposito if we exchange blows all night.” I hated myself for that, and for what I did next. Let him go and backed up.

Breathing hard, Rocco stared at me as if worried I was setting him up for a trap.

“What’s it going to be?” I lowered the knife to my side, needing to end this confrontation before Constantine arrived and killed him.

“I guess ... may the best man, or in our case,groomwin.” Rocco grabbed his knife and rolled back his shoulders, as if ready to throw down again with me anyway. But then he turned and went the way he’d come, which meant he had another route to get to the mark.

“I can see you on camera,” Izzy alerted over my earpiece. “Which means so can security. Get out of there.”

Shit.“I need a new way to him. A quicker route before Rocco gets to him first.”

“I’ll handle Rocco. Go after the target,” Constantine snapped out.

“This is One. Do not fucking pursue. This is not time for your revenge.” Sebastian paused before ordering, “Five, can you slow down Rocco instead?”

“This is Five. I’m on it,” Hudson said, and from the sound of it, he was on the move. Now Izzy had to direct the two of us to our marks before it was too late.

“This is Six,” Izzy said a few seconds later. “The HVT is barricaded in a room with two armed guards, his wife, and Target Two. There are two more armed guards in front of the door now as well.”

So much for the knife.

“You need to stand down,” Izzysuggested, and that’s all it was, because like hell would I back off.

“I can’t.”Or Armani picks Rocco, and I may not be allowed back at his house to get to Callie without fast-roping in from a helo while being shot at.I also had no clue whether Constantine was obeying Sebastian’s orders, because he’d been eerily quiet.

“Fine,” Izzy whispered. “But you can’t avoid the cameras with the only other route I can find to get you to the HVT.”

“It’s safe to say that no longer matters,” I answered as a guard rounded the next hall.

Sean appeared behind the guard, swiftly wrapping an arm around his neck. He slowly dropped him to the ground, then motioned for me to advance.

I nodded my thanks, then followed Izzy’s new instructions, taking off down another tunnel-like hallway, stacked rocks for the walls and concrete beneath my shoes.

“Stop,” Izzy abruptly shouted into my ear just before I went down the next hall. “You’re there. The target room is around that corner.”

I set my back to the wall, trying to come up with a plan armed with only a knife to go up against—how many men again?

My free hand curled into a fist as I tried to steady my breathing. At least I’d made it there before Rocco, which meant Hudson, instead of Constantine, was hopefully stalling him.

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