Page 77 of This Thing of Ours

Loud popping filled the air, cutting her off mid-sentence, followed by Christy/Chrissy screaming in her ear.

At first, Gabby assumed someone had shot off some fireworks early, which she found strange because it wasn’t near dark yet. But then she felt a body collide with hers—Marco’s body. She’d know it anywhere. He took them to the ground and rolled, so his body covered hers. And with a sickening truth, she realized what was happening.

They were being fired upon.

Objects shattered around her. She wasn’t sure what because Marco had her head completely covered, but she felt the vibrations of them hitting the ground. The various noises were deafening and blended to create one disjointed sound. Though, she found, if she concentrated hard enough, she could differentiate between some of them. The whoosh of helicopter rotors. The stuttering of machine gun fire. The tinkling sound of shattered glass as it hit the concrete. The thumps of bullets hitting wood. The roughly growled shouts. The echo of lingering screams. Marco’s breath rasping in her ear.

She found herself growing lightheaded, her heartbeat growing louder and louder in her ears and drowning out the other sounds around her. Thinking Marco’s weight was to blame, she opened her mouth to tell him she couldn’t breathe, only to discover she’d been holding her breath. She took in lungfuls of air and the arms surrounding her tightened.

“I’ve got you, cara mia.”

She believed him. How could she not? His body covered hers from head to toe.

Just when she thought she couldn’t handle the situation one second longer without completely losing it, all went silent except for the low hum of the helicopter fading away.

She felt hands on her face, and she opened eyes she hadn’t realized were closed. She was greeted by Marco’s face hovering above hers. “You okay?”

She did a mental calculation, discovering nothing pained her. “I think so. What about you?”

“I’m fine.”

That answer didn’t lessen her concern. “My definition of fine or yours?”

He frowned. “What?”

Gabby clarified. “Are you hurt? Bleeding?”

He shook his head. “No.”

She closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. “My definition then.”

“You sure you’re okay?” Concern blanketed his expression.

“Yes, I’m fine.” Now he had her saying it.

“Okay. I need to go. Check on everyone.”

Her family! Panic replaced the fog of denial she was living in as her brain switched back on and the horror of what had just happened finally started to sink in. Nico. Olivia. Oh, God, Angelica. Had she been outside or in the house? She couldn’t remember. How could she have forgotten them even for a second? She felt like the lowest form of human being. A lump formed in her throat and she nodded, pushing against his chest, unable to form words, but telling him to go.

He kissed her softly on the lips, whispering, “I love you,” against them before rolling off her.

Marco’s face was replaced with the underside of a wooden table. She hadn’t even noticed he rolled them under it for cover.

She scurried from under the table’s protection and did a quick scan trying to pinpoint if anyone needed help. She looked around her, feeling numb. Though she’d heard it, she still wasn’t prepared for the amount of destruction she encountered.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

“We’ve gotta findthis fucker.” Nico’s voice was low, his words intended for Marco’s ears alone.

Marco couldn’t agree more. He looked around at the destruction. The place was fucked up. Almost every window along the back of the house had been blown out. And that included the ones on the second level. Holes and scars marred the siding. The concrete walkways were chipped along with the tile edging the pool.

Thankfully, none of the women or children and only two of their men had been hurt thanks to the protective patio cover that most had been standing under. And of the two men who had been injured, neither were serious. Frankie had taken a bullet to the arm, and Dino got clipped, taking off part of his ear. He’d been a lucky fucker. A few more inches to the left and he wouldn’t still be around, producing the racket he was currently making.

“Fuck, Dino. Shut the fuck up. You sound like a girl.” Slight pause. “Fuck, man, I take that back. Even girls don’t bitch as much as you.” Apparently, Ricky’d had enough, too.

“Fuck you, Ricky. Like you wouldn’t complain if half your fuckin’ ear was gone.”

“I don’t know what you’re bitchin’ about. They were too fuckin’ big to begin with. Fuckin’ Dumbo.”

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