Page 48 of Light Me Up

They collided in a tight embrace. “Oh,my God. Noah.”

“I’m here, angel.” His voice was rough with emotion. They had to get the hell out of there, but he just couldn’t let go ofher quite yet.

“What the hell just happened?” Her voice was muffled against his chest.

“Lella had a suicide vest. Later for that. Let’s get out of here.” He stepped back and gave her a once-over, to assure himself that she was OK.

That was when he saw the gun in her hand. He stared at it, astonished. “Where the fuck didyou get that?”

“Took it off one of Lella’s guys. Smashed his head with a painting.”

“Ahhh…OK.”

“I shot the other one,” she went on. “With this. Got him in the neck. Son of a bitch was trying to shoot at you. That was right before the lights went out.”

Holy shit.Noah was struck speechless for a moment. “Ah…thanks.”

“Anytime.” Caro slid the gun into her evening bag, which amazingly was still slung across her body. “I should probably get rid of it, but not yet. This place is crazy.”

“True enough,” he agreed readily. “We’ll deal with the gun later. Let’s go.”

He swept her up into his arms and sprinted for the stairwell. Heading upstairs, unlike the rest of the mob who crowded the stairwell below them, struggling toward the exits.

“Noah, are you crazy? Put me down!” she hissed.

“What, you think you’re going to sprint in those heels?”

“Fuck the heels! Just give me a second! I have the flats, remember?”

“Don’t have a second.” He took the steps faster. “After. As soon as we’re alone.”

“Oh, for God’s sake.” Caro twined her arms around his shoulders and hung on.

Chapter 17

Konig hit the ground when the bomb went off, sliding on the slick tiles.

He covered his head as the glass from the windows above shattered all around him. Then lifted his head cautiously some moments later, in the ear-ringing silencethat followed.

He squinted, trying to see. Lights were still on in some other parts of the huge Palazzo, which indicated that the damage was limited. Fuck. He’d wanted the Sala dell’Annunziata to be a blackened crater, but from the sound of the screaming that soon began, there were numerous survivors. Also unfortunate.

On the bright side, at least Lella had finished the job and vaporized himself.

Konig got to his feet. The door hanging open near the stairwell was the Blue Room, where Morelli had ordered Vilardi to take Gallagher. Konig eased inside, activating the flashlight function on his phone.

Vilardi lay by the wall next to the fireplace, his face covered with blood. As Konig watched, he stirred and moaned. Oh no. The worthless piece of shit was still breathing.

Not for long.

He looked at the gun in his hand, then dismissed the idea, sliding it into his pocket along with the phone. The job had started well enough. He shouldbe consistent.

He grabbed the younger man’s limp body by the back of his shirt collar and his belt and heaved him up with a grunt. Vilardi was a big, heavy man, but Konig was bigger. Bigger and stronger than all of them. Stronger than everybody. He always had been.

He began to swing Vilardi backwards and forward, like a battering ram, and bashed the top of Vilardi’s head against the marble fireplace. A wetcrunch…another…another. Konig dropped the man and checked on his work withthe flashlight.

Vilardi’s brains were spilling out of his caved in skull. Problem solved, tracks covered, business expensespared. Onward.

He was almost out the door when he heard the voices coming toward him. Heading up the stairs, not running downstairs with the rest of the howling mob.

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