Page 110 of Last Shot

Max swept the hair away from her eyes; Vittoria’s skin was clammy with sweat. She was still looking at Grey.

‘Not who you ... think ...’ Her eyes flickered.

‘Mum,’ Luca choked out.

Ariana and Forrest were still there – frozen in the terrible ice of a moment they weren’t supposed to sink with.

Vittoria closed her eyes.

‘NO!’ Frankie screamed. ‘No! No! NO!’

Max couldn’t help it – in the blackness of her thoughts after what she’d just seen, after what Grey had said – all she could think was:

Two down.Four to go.

36

Max

No one could decide what to do with Vittoria’s body. Luca wanted to carry her with them, but Grey wouldn’t let him. Frankie simply wanted to lie there next to Vittoria, but Max managed to uncrumple her into a standing position. Forrest and Ariana stood off to the side, seemingly unsure whether to offer comfort or stay as silent, non-intruders. Why hadn’t they left?

All Max knew was that they all had to get out of here. Downstairs. ‘Where are the others?’ she asked as Grey tried and failed again to contact another guard.

‘With Jett. We need to get Luca and Frankie to them. I’m trying to contact him – I don’t know which passage he’s taken them to.’

‘How do we know they’re still alive?’ Luca’s eyes were red.

‘We don’t,’ Grey said, ‘but we are going to act like they are.’

‘Switch with me,’ Max said to Frankie, pulling at her dress. ‘Quickly.’

Grey caught onto what Max was doing and wrestled the hoodie from the limbs of the unconscious guy on the floor, chucking it at Luca.

‘No way,’ the Barbarani boy croaked.

‘I’m keeping you alive,’ Grey said. ‘Put the hoodie on. We need to find your brother and sister, and to do that we need to hide in plain sight. We have no idea who’s behind this. For all we know, every single guest who was here tonight is in on this plan.’

With shaking hands, Luca and Frankie obliged. Max was so numb that she didn’t care she was standing in front of the group in Nella’s G-string and black strapless braagainas Frankie tossed her the baggy hemp dress she’d been wearing. Frankie was clearly too distraught to comment on the unethical material of Nella’s red dress that did not fit her but would prove enough of a distraction for anyone targeting her.

Grey was glaring at the hemp dress, which fell to Max’s upper thighs. Clearly he was thinking what a liability she’d be in such a ridiculous get-up. But how this was different from the red dress, which was arguably more restricting, she wasn’t sure.

‘The whole family’s the target,’ Max whispered as they made their way down the staircase, hands linked like children on an excursion.

‘Yes,’ Grey said. His hand was warm and clutched hers with such intensity it was almost painful.

‘Why the different weapons?’ she hissed. ‘The gun for Giovanni but the darts for Vittoria and us?’

‘And the security.’

Their group stopped as Luca, behind Max, pulled back. One of the security guards – a young redheaded guy who’d argued playfully with Max about the superiority of union over league before the gala started – was lying facedown below the wine cabinet Max had leant against as she’d realised Kaine Skinner was not the threat.

What use was there in saying it now?

Grey bent down and extracted a dart from his back – the same type that had hit Vittoria.

‘Blow dart,’ Max said. ‘They probably shot him before Giovanni. The blow darts are silent.’

‘So why kill Giovanni with a gun?’ Ariana asked.

---