Page 95 of Ruined in Vows

“Get the fuck inside before he kills you on these steps.”

A long moment passes then Nico speaks, his tone low and cold. “I’m going to make sure that son of a bitch dies a slow death.”

“Keep it together, Nic. You’re a smart man, and he is purposely provoking you.” Matteo murmurs and I’m glad he is there right now.

Matteo is right, Riccardo is baiting Nico, no doubt hoping he will lash out in front of the commission. Little does he know, the commission are already aware of the asshole's traitorous ways and will not back him.

“I’m good,” Nico breathes out, sounding more composed.

“Right.” Matteo snorts derisively.

“Is everyone in place?” Nico ignores his friend.

“Yeah. Just like we planned,” Matteo shoots back, impatiently.

“Good. Because it's go time,” Nico throws out, then speaks to me through the small microphone on his jacket. “Dante, we are good to go. Let’s move. Elio, Tommaso, have your teams secure the side entrances.”

“Right assholes, we are up.” With my order, the two in the front both shut up.

Pushing the door open, I climb out of the vehicle, Leo and Enzo behind me. Glancing at them both, I pin them with a serious look. We have one shot at this, and I will not fuck it up, so they both need to understand the severity of the situation. Not that I think they aren’t taking it seriously, but I want to instill it one more time. “The snipers surrounding the church are in place. They will be watching our every move and guarding us from their positions on whatever surrounding building they are hidden in. As expected, Romano also has his own soldiers guarding the perimeter. We will take care of the back of the church while Nico has two other teams securing either side. Understand?” I ask, looking between them.

“Nico went over it several times. We’ve got this, Dante.” Leo rolls his eyes in exasperation, grabbing his gun from his pants pocket.

I want to chew him out for his attitude toward me – I am pretty sure, if this was his wife we were talking about saving from the hands of a monster, then he would be acting just like me – but I let it go. For now.

Nodding, I click the silencer in place before signaling to Leo and Enzo, who is holding wire cutters, to follow me.

As a unit, we move toward the wired fence at the back of the church, mindful to keep hidden enough that we can take out the soldiers before they even spot us. With careful instruction from the tactical team watching our every move, we make quick work of breaking through the fence and climbing through.

“Two guards out back. Both are currently distracted by something on a cell phone. This is your chance.” Gregorio, a hacker of Nico's, murmurs through the earpiece. He is pulled up in a van across the street, overseeing and coordinating everything.

Signaling with my fingers to the two men behind me as the guards come into view, we approach almost silently, taking out the two soldiers with one quick shot to each head – thank god for silencers.

They drop to the asphalt like the sacks of shit that they are.

“You’re clear, Dante. I cannot see any other soldiers in the area,” Gregorio rumbles.

Shoving the door to the back entrance open, we step inside the old church quietly. “Use the chains and padlock the door up. I don’t want to leave any openings for Riccardo to escape if he gets the chance,” I order.

Enzo removes the backpack from his shoulders, opening it up and pulling out what I requested. During one of our many meetings about how today would go down, I pointed out that I wanted Riccardo to have no chance of getting away and we came up with a solution. We would chain and lock every working exit.

Enzo makes quick work of threading the chains through the metal door handles and pulling it tight enough that even a mouse would struggle to get through, before locking it down with the industrial sized padlock.

“Done,” he grunts, turning to face me and Leo.

Nodding, I say. “Nico should be waiting on the steps. He needs to keep up appearances for Riccardo’s sake. We will hide out in the minister’s office until Nico tells us otherwise.”

We start down the long, dark, cold hallway toward the office. It was with Nico’s foresight that we got copies of the building’s layout from an associate of his that owes him a favor and whoworks in The Department of Buildings in the City. It’s the reason we know the layout of the building so well.

“What is happening with the women?” Leo asks. Confusion furrows my face, and I look at him, raising a questioning brow. “I mean, surely there are women and children here?” he elaborates.

Exhaling a weary breath, I pin him with an impatient glare. Despite managing the refurbished Gentleman’s Club that Nico owns, he was in every one of our meetings. “You know what is happening. The other families are going to do all that they can to get them out safely,” I say, irritated. “If anyone gets left behind, I am hoping they will be smart enough to lay low until we have disarmed the Romano soldiers. Once we have done that, we will secure Riccardo and then take him to one of our warehouses. In doing that, no innocents get caught up in the crosshairs.”

“Right. I remember.” He yawns.

“Are we keeping you up?” I ask derisively.

He shakes his head, his eyes widening in fear when he spots my ire. “Sorry man, long night.”

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