Page 111 of Scarlet Angel

“Scarlet!”

He comes into view, a gun in hand, eyes wide.

“Drone attack,” he says, turning, gun pointed skyward.

What in the hell?This is Massimo’s revenge. He’ll kill us all.

“Come on. Let’s get you to the safe room.”

“No.” I halt, and he snaps his fingers.

“Now!”

“You’re not sticking me in a room. They’re here for me.”

“This isn’t the bloody Grigi.”

He grabs my wrist and tugs. I stumble but follow behind, matching his pace.

“You’re wrong.”

“No, I’m not.”

It’s the second time in one day a man has growled at me.

“Who is it then?” I snap.

“My old mates.”

“They have military drones?”

“They have everything.”

Another explosion rocks the house.

The place shakes again.

"What are they bombing?" My voice comes out high and thin.

"Nothing. We're shooting them out of the sky."

Another explosion rocks the house, and I grip Nick's arm. In Italy, violence came with warnings: a look, a word, a chance to make amends. But this? This is chaos. English chaos. Technology. Death from above that gives no chance to negotiate, no opportunity to surrender.

"Won't the police come?" I try to sound calm, but my heart pounds so hard I taste copper on my tongue. The tremors in my hands spread until my whole body shakes. I've faced death before, but never like this—never so impersonal, so mechanical.

"I'm sure they're on their way."

Nick's voice is steady, controlled, but his grip on my wrist tightens. For the first time since Vincent, real fear—not anxiety, not worry, but pure terror—floods my system. Because if Nick is afraid...

Dio mi salvi. God save us; we might not survive this night.

CHAPTER29

NICK

“You’ve got company,” Ash says into my ear.

“No shit,” I mumble, my hand wrapped around Scarlet’s wrist like she’s hanging off a cliff.

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