Page 102 of Wicked Truths

“What the hell?” I ask as my gaze moves over the front yard.

Several junk cars come screeching to a halt before several men wearing all black jump out, yelling toward the house.

They throw something at the front door, and a few seconds later, an explosion rips the door off its hinges.

Who are they and what do they want? Are they here for Jax? Or are they here with Tony and AJ?

Several of our men sneak around our cars to get closer, but the intruders spot them and start firing.

One of their men yells and the men immediately scatter. Some men run around the house while some continue to fire at us.

Damn, I guess the Rossi’s have all sorts of rivals.

Arturo pulls me to the side. “We can go through the front door and split up. When we are done with our sweep, we can exit through the staff entrance on the left side of the house.”

“How do you know where the staff entrance is?”

“Alexandra and I have been studying the blueprints for the house.”

What the fuck? Has he been planning this for a while? Did he think Francesca would do something like this? Is this about his wife?

I can’t throw a tantrum right now for not being in the loop, so I follow him to the far side of the house.

“It’s quiet over here. Too quiet.” I whisper as I look around for any bodies.

“The staff entrance is just around the corner. Come here when you find her.”

Gunshots and explosions sound all around us, but they are on the opposite side of the house.

“Maybe we should head to that side of the property. We might have a better chance of finding everyone.”

I need to find Francesca.

I need to make sure she’s still alive.

She has to be.

I can’t do this without her.

I can’t live not knowing if she made it out or not.

We make our way to the front door. No one is around, but it sounds like yelling upstairs.

“I’ll go up. You go right.” I say before heading toward the stairs. Luckily, I remember the gist of the floor plan from my last visit.

Taking the stairs to the second floor, I freeze as I see blood everywhere. There’s blood splattered on the walls and a large red puddle on the carpet. Someone was shot here.

My knee throbs, but I push the pain to the back ofmy mind and follow the blood down the hallway to the elevator. Running back down the stairs, I follow the blood trail from the elevator down the long hallway.

Is this the staff entrance?

The door at the end of the hallway is opened halfway.

Did someone just walk out there? Or just came inside?

My heart pounds as I get closer to the open door. Francesca’s lifeless body is on the ground, holding the door open.

“No.” I say as my heart stops.

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