Page 22 of Ruthless Guardian

Or at least, that’s what he assures me.

“So how is this going to work exactly?” I murmur as his fingers fly over the keyboard.

“It’s simple.” He steers me toward the front row of the small theater and pulls me into the seat beside him. “I’m going to film us like this, then set it on a loop. So if your crazy guard decides to spy on us, he’ll see us sitting right here safe and sound all night.”

“So we’ll have about two and a half hours.” Luckily, Serena’s apartment is only a three-block walk from the penthouse.

“Right.”

“And the distraction?”

“Set to go off in about two minutes when Johnny heats up his nightly cup of Joe.”

My lips slide into an easy smile. “You’re brilliant, you know that, right?”

“I never could have done it without you and your intel.” He pinches my cheek, the annoying habit one that he picked up from his father. My uncle Nico has always had an obsession with my cheeks since I was a kid. Now Matty does it as a joke.

Opening the security app once again, I toggle to the camera in the kitchen. “We do make quite the devious team.”

Right on cue, a loud explosion booms through the phone’s speaker.

Raf whips the theater room door open, his eyes wide and gun clenched in his fist. “Stay here and do not move.”

“Will do.” I shoot him a reassuring smile.

“And lock the door behind me.”

So predictable. I rise, pretending to do as I’m told, and the moment he’s out the door, Matteo springs up alongside me.

“Hurry, we only have a few minutes before he’s back.” Tucking my tote under my arm, I grab Matty’s hand and drag him down the hallway to my parents’ bedroom.Papàhad taught me long ago never enter a room without calculating your exit strategy.

Thanks to my dad’s paranoia, there are two elevators out of this penthouse. The one hidden in his room is a direct ride to the garage where Matteo’s car is waiting. We race into my parents’ bedroom and head straight for the secret exit.

My heart punches my ribs as the sleek elevator doors glide closed behind us.Come on. Come on. The security app always loses signal in the elevators, so we’re flying blind. Just a few more seconds...

The elevator dings, and the doors slide open. I race out with Matteo by my side and find Jackson, Matty’s younger brother at the wheel of his new ruby red BMW. It’s a perfect match to his bright hair. “Damn, you guys took long,” he grumbles.

“Sorry, my guard is kind of tough to shake. I didn’t know you were coming to the party, Jax.”

“I’m not. I’m just the designated driver.” Though Jackson is nearly my age, he rarely hangs out with the cousin crew. Matteo says he didn’t get the Valentino-Rossi gene, he’s all Vanderbiltlike his mom, preferring to lay low than paint the town red with the rest of us.

The video feed comes back online, and I catch a quick glimpse of the guards filling the kitchen. Smoke darkens the frame, but I can clearly make out Raf with the fire extinguisher.

“Hard to shake is the understatement of the year,” Matty mutters.

We pile into the car, and Jackson guns the engine. As we pass through security, I drop down behind the front seats as my cousins wave at the guard.

The moment we hit Park Avenue I heave out a breath of relief. We made it. “Holy shit, I can’t believe that worked!” I cry out.

No sooner are the words out than a familiar voice blasts through the speaker on my phone. I glance at the camera, at the loop playing of Matteo and me in the home theater. Raf’s voice booms through the speaker as does the pounding of his fists on the door. “Are you okay, Isabella?”

A hint of guilt creeps in at the fear lacing his tone. Am I imagining it?

Dismissing the insane thoughts, I press the speaker button on my phone as Matteo watches warily. “Relax, Raf, we’re totally fine. What happened out there?”

“Nothing. A fuse ruptured in the microwave. There was a little fire, but it’s all under control.”

“Great, then I can go back to watching my movie.”

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