Page 125 of Deception

“I will always come for you. At your command.” The innuendo deepens my voice as I pull her into my chest, reveling in the feel of her body against mine, back where it belongs.

“Aless, more men are coming. We have to go.”

“Uh, problem…Ero blew up the car,” Ciro says.

“I stopped the minigun,” Ero corrects him.

“By blowing up the car. Thanks, by the way,” I add.

My brothers regroup, circling up around us. Isabella looks from one to the next.

“Thank you all.”

“Sorry we didn’t get here sooner.” Adriano gives her a stern nod.

“Let’s move. Maybe one of the vans is less burny,” Ciro shrugs, snatching an assault rifle off of one of the bodies.

We move out, staying in a tight formation, Isabella in the center, her gun pointing over my left shoulder. More vehicles skid to a stop as we reach the stockyard, men pouring out. One steps forward, raising his hand.

I lock eyes with him, but mutter to my brothers, “On my signal. We need to break through. Stay ready.”

“I was born ready.”

Our group slows near the gate, pausing as the leader steps forward.

“We don’t want to fight. We’re just here to delay you.”

“What the hell does that mean?” I shout back.

The dark-skinned man laughs. “He just needed to keep you busy for a while.”

“You tell Dom?—”

“No need. He’s already got what he wants. All of us have.”

It dawns on me, the scope of the plan. The specific nature of the raid, taking Isabella. It was all one big distraction. We went rogue at the most crucial moment.

“And what is it you all wanted?” Ciro quips.

“To kill the Diamante brothers.” A dozen guns lock on us.

“Well. You can certainly try.”

28

ALESSANDRO

We're halfway back to the compound when the first calls come in.

Every one of us is wrung out, drained. The last fight took it out of us.

They really had no idea who they were dealing with. It was a wholesale bloodbath. Mostly thanks to the twins. Funny how so few people ever notice them. Or when they vanish in the middle of a long-winded speech.

After finishing them off, we stole a van, booked it back toward the compound. All was well.

That is, until members of my family start calling, reporting kidnappings all over the city.

The first is from my cousin Leo, panicked, telling me that someone's kidnapped his daughter. I try to put him at ease, telling him that we're working on it. That we’ll do everything we can to bring her home.

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