Page 25 of Untouchable

“Who were they?” I finally ask, voicing one of the many questions that have been playing on repeat in my head.

Alessandro is quiet for a little while before he shrugs a shoulder. “I don’t know. It wasn’t a random attack, obviously. Anyone that was able to just blow into the house like that had to have been studying our rotation schedules and security.”

“Why did they do it?”

“Could be anything. Maybe they wanted to kill everyone, maybe they wanted to steal something or maybe they just wanted to send a message.”

“What kind of message?”

He looks over at me seriously. “That the Mariano’s aren’t untouchable. That there will always be people in the background waiting to take advantage of any opportunity they can get.”

A heavy feeling settles into my stomach as everything really starts to sink in. I almost feel stupid for living with my head in the clouds all this time. Growing up, I never thought about what my father really did for a living. Never thought about why some nights he wouldn’t get home until the early morning hours and some days he would be gone altogether. I never felt intimated by the dozens of men always milling about the house, following me everywhere I went, protecting me.

It was all so natural, so normal. I always felt completely safe. Even as I got older and became more aware of what our family really did, what it meant to be a part of the Mariano Family, I still thought we were all safe. Looking back now I don’t think that I fully took everything seriously. I never thought that anything like today could be my reality.

The last time anything even remotely like this happened that I am aware of is when Alessandro and Aunt Tasha were kidnapped years ago. But even that was more about Tasha since it was her family that did the kidnapping, and I was honestly too young to remember it all. The only things that I do know about it is from what Alessandro has told me over the years in confidence and even he was a little too young to remember everything fully.

For a couple of years, he had nightmares about it. He was locked in a closet while Aunt Tasha and her cousin fought their family, and in his dreams, no one ever came for him. He was locked in that closet forever. It used to break my heart when he would open up to me. All I ever wanted to do was make all his hurt go away. Erase every painful memory and replace it with a good one. Well, that was before. Things are different now.

A few hours later we are pulling up to the Jacobson estate somewhere in Pennsylvania. I don’t know much about Steve Jacobson. He is a wealthy businessman that typically attends the same events as my father. I know that he primarily lives in New York so this must be a second home of his. Apparently, he is wealthier than I had originally assumed if he has his own jet and airstrip.

When we pull up to the wrought iron security gates, I am surprised when they just open without us even having to explain who we are or why we are here. Alessandro seems to be equally surprised and instantly on edge as he reaches down and grips the gun in his hand tightly. His eyes actively search the driveway as we creep down it while I do the same.

We follow the driveway to a fork and hook a right to where we saw the airstrip when we were pulling up. When we crest around the house, I see a jet sitting in the middle of the paved strip. I know I should let out a sigh of relief that we are almost out of here, but something feels…off.

“Alessandro, this isn’t right. Is it?”

His eyes flick to me quickly before they go back to scanning our surroundings. “No, Princess. Something is definitely not right.”

We come to a stop about 200ft away from the jet. We sit there in silence, waiting. Soon a man comes from the cockpit and waves at us as he makes his way down the steps. Alessandro looks at me for a minute and then back to the man before looking back at me.

“Stick to me like glue.”

I nod my understanding and open my door at the same time that he does. Alessandro draws his weapon as he walks towards the man cautiously, while I quickly get behind him.

“That is close enough! Who are you?” Alessandro calls out.

The man throws his hands up in the air and freezes mid-step, a strained smile on his face as his eyes flick back and forth between the drawn weapon and Alessandro.

“Bill Andrews. I am Mr. Jacobson’s pilot. I was told you needed a flight to Rome.”

I furrow my brows. Why would we be going to Rome when everyone is on their way to Hawaii? I know that my family has a home there. Maybe we will go and hide there until we figure out what exactly is going on.

Alessandro starts to slowly lower his gun when I reach over and squeeze his bicep. Alessandro’s eyes snap down to me as my eyes focus more on Bill. He is profusely sweating, and his smile seems to be getting more strained by the second. He looks downright scared shitless, and I know it isn’t just because of Alessandro.

Slowly, my eyes move to the inside of the plane where I see a shadow pass by a window. My eyes narrow as I look for any other sign of movement.

“Princess, wha-”

“Shh,” I say, silencing him as I focus.

Another shadow appears, this one at the window closest to the door. Flicking my eyes down to the floor in front of the top stair I see another shadow and it all finally clicks.

“RUN!” I scream as I yank on Alessandro, hoping to God that he will follow.

I only make it two steps before the sound of gunfire rains down around us. I see Bill drop to the ground, a bright red spot expanding by the second across his chest. Alessandro and a bald man inside the plane begin firing at each other. I rush to take cover in the car when a man comes seemingly out of nowhere and scoops me into his arms.

A deep chuckle rasps from his chest as his arms band around me so tight that I swear my ribs are about to crack.

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