Page 65 of Rotten Men

I’m about to follow the eagercaposwhen, from the corner of my eye, I watch Gio run along the mansion’s gate in the opposite direction.

“The fuck he’s up to now?” I mumble under my breath, forsaking my original plan of accompanying the soldiers through the iron gate, and follow my rebellious brother instead.

“Gio!” I whisper-yell, but he just continues to run in front of me and then stops abruptly, throwing his leather jacket over the iron fence wall. “The fuck are you doing?” I mumble, watching him pull himself over and land on his feet like a sly cat.

“Are you coming or what?” he asks, cocking his brow at me and then running into the black night.

I grunt, exasperated, but follow suit just the same. Of course, I don’t land on my feet as gracefully as he did, and I worry that the thud could have been loud enough to raise suspicions from the guards. I run in the direction of my mischievous friend, and when I catch up to him, I pull his elbow back, halting his steps.

“One of these days I’m going to kill you, Giovanni,” I bite out, but the cocky bastard just smiles his shit-eating grin back at me.

“You’ve been saying the same thing since we were eight. If you haven’t done it by now, you ain’t gonna. Admit it, big guy, you love the shit out of me.” He smirks proudly.

“Don’t test that love, brother. Not when Red is on the line.” His smile drops off his face, and he gives me a stiff nod. “So what’s the plan? I assume you have one.”

“Just follow me,” he replies. He saunters his way through bushes and trees, with me always at his heels, until we reach a familiar wall of ivy leading up to Selene’s bedroom balcony.

“Try not to fall, yeah?” Gio goads as he pulls himself up, reaching the top with minimal effort.

“Fuck,” I mumble under my breath. Using feline acrobatics was not how I envisioned I’d storm through the castle to save my queen; I’m more of a ‘smash the doors in with my ogre-ish fists’ kind of guy. But I’ll resort to about anything to get inside. With a bit of struggle, I’m able to effectively climb the wall without alarming any patrolling guard on the ground. When I jump onto the balcony, Gio is already inside Selene’s childhood room, keeping the double door windows wide open for me, with his arms crossed over his chest and a roguish grin plastered on his face.

“Took you long enough,” he chides, but I just give him the finger and bypass the cockystronzo.

“Now what?” I hush, walking toward the door.

“Now we find our girl and pray Vincent is still alive,” he mumbles behind me, placing a silencer on his esteemed gun. I take my knives from their confinement, holding them both in his face.

“Try to keep your trap shut and silence any other motherfucker who comes in our way. Don’t want to cause an uprising when it’s only the two of us in here. The rest will join us soon enough, but until then, keep sharp, Gio.”

Gio gives me a mocking, silent salute with his gun, but his arrogant grin is no longer center stage on his face. He knows just as well as I do that we have only one shot at getting this right; any mistakes may cost the lives of the ones we love.

I open the door and walk the empty corridor, my hackles on alert and my eyes scrutinizing every corner. Everyone must be downstairs, which means that’s where the action is. We have to go through the spiral staircase that leads to the foyer, but it leaves us vulnerable as its supporting beams are not wide enough to conceal us from anyone crossing past the main floor. However, luck is on our side, and we manage to take the last step without being detected.

But Lady Luck is a fickle mistress, and what she gives with one hand she takes with the other. No sooner are we headed towards Silvio’s study, where the devil must be having his audience, than the door opens. I grab Gio by the arm and hide us both in the alcove before they have a chance to see us. We watch as two men lead Vincent out, restrained between them. Giovanni’s eyes sparkle in delight when all three men pass us none-the-wiser of our existence. Before I have time to instruct him to follow me so we can take the men down, Gio takes two steps in their direction, and with their backs still to us, shoots both in the head with perfect precision. Vincent is able to grab onto one of the guards before he hits the ground and I just barely manage to run and slide myself under the other corpse. I push the body away from me, seething to punch the fuck out of my brother.

“That was stupid, Giovanni,” Vincent hushes under his voice as he pulls on the dead guard and hides him in the alcove. I do the same with his associate, too enraged to say a word.

“You mean I should have let them take you to God knows where, instead of blowing their brains out?” Gio replies feigning hurt.

I grab on his lapel, no longer in control, and I grunt, “Two dead stiffs hitting the ground hard is not what I call being discreet, asshole!” Gio just pushes me away unrepentant.

“Geez, when did you become such a worry wart?”

“Fuck it. I’ll kill you right now,” I murmur, aggravated while the asshole just smiles at me.

“Enough!” Vincent reprimands and starts walking in the opposite direction than the one we were headed. Gio’s brows purse together, showing the same perplexed look as I must have.

“Vince? Where’s Selene?” Gio questions.

“The Butcher’sstudy,” Vincent replies, attentive to every step he takes and any other guard who might show up suddenly. Gio jumps in front of him, halting his next step, putting his hands on his chest.

“If she’s back there, why the hell are we going this way?” he barks furiously.

“Because Jude needs me more, and I promised her I’d save him first,” he replies icily, pushing past my errant friend.

“But Silvio will kill her if we don’t stop him,” I argue, blocking Vincent.

“The Butcheris dead,” he answers evenly.

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