Page 99 of Naughty Santa Daddy

“Santa’s delivering your presents,piccolino.”

Amos grins.

And the shooting starts.

Chapter 17

Andi Rhodes

Andi Rhodes

Massimo

“Amos!”

Hadley’s scream pierces through the sound of gunfire as I shove her and my son to the ground, covering them both with my body. Fear like I’ve never felt slices through my heart, tearing the black muscle into ribbons while bile rises up the back of my throat.

Pull yourself together!

“Get inside,” I demand, my tone brooking no argument as I roll off of them.

For a split second, Hadley hesitates, and I worry that she’s going to choose now to be obstinate, but then she wraps herself around Amos and hauls him into her arms as she stands. I watch as she rushes to the front door of the cabin and carries him inside, slamming the door behind them. Then I grab my gun out of my holster and force myself to focus on the problem at hand.

A bullet whizzes past me, and every muscle in my body tightens. “Who the fuck is shooting?” I bark while returning fire.

“No clue,” Big John replies from his crouched position by the SUV. “Sniper, I think.”

“How the hell did anyone find this place?” Emilio demands, his voice tight.

At the moment, that’s the least of my worries. There will be time enough later to figure out the how and why. Right now, I need to know who and where. The thought enters my mind that Emilio was the last person to leave the cabin, other than myself and Big John, which means he could be a traitor. But I quickly dismiss it. We’re brothers, and he’d never turn on me.

“It has to be Gio,” Big John yells as the windows of the SUV shatter.

Rage burns my blood, and if it were possible, I have no doubt it would boil right out of my veins. I scan the area searching for any hint of where the shooter is, and a glint of sunlight off of something metal catches my attention.

Gotcha!

“Northwest corner,” I yell to my men. “Center of the treeline.”

I aim my gun, as do Emilio and Big John, and we all fire simultaneously. When the shooting at us doesn’t stop, I know we missed our target. Unfortunately, Gio knows all of the organization’s moves and how we operate when we’re under attack, so taking him out isn’t going to be easy.

A grunt from behind me pulls my focus, and I spin around with my gun steady in my grip.

“Drop it,” the man pointing his own weapon at Emilio’s head snarls. “Or your brother dies.”

“Don’t, Mass,” Emilio says, his voice steady and calm. “You know as well as I do, giving them what they want won’t stop the bloodshed.”

No, but eliminating each and every bastard trying to take us out will.

Rather than lower my gun, I tilt my head as if to consider my options and squeeze the trigger. The man threatening Emilio crumbles to the ground with a hole in his forehead.

“None of our own dies today,” I snap, shifting my attention to the continued fire of the sniper.

Hadley

“I’m scared.”

I tighten my hold on Amos as I carry him up the stairs, following Greta to the ‘safest place on Earth.’

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