Page 33 of Taken By the Mafia King
Like rats in a trap.
“That’ll be our next stop,” Giuseppe de Luca replied, sounding more than a little bored. “Light it up. This one goes first. Then set fire to the next two. I don’t want anything left but ash.”
I stepped out of the darkness, my gun tucked behind my back. An audible hush of surprise swept across the warehouse as I startled Giuseppe and the six men he’d brought with him.
I tilted my head to the side, smiling like the demon they knew me to be.
As if on cue, the bay door shut and snapped closed, locking them inside with the Mano Della Morte.
“Shit,” one of Giuseppe’s guys hissed as he backed up a step.
Giuseppe, on the other hand, fumed, pure rage burning behind his dark brown eyes.
“I take offense to you assuming I’d gotten sloppy.” I rolled my shoulders and then my neck.Crack. They cocked their pistols and pointed them at me, but Giuseppe hadn’t even touched his gun yet. Through the wall of adamant rage I noticed a sliver of regret, maybe even fear behind his eyes.
I grinned. “I think you boys are lost.”
One of my men jumped out of the darkness and all hell broke loose. Gunshots rained down, coming from all directions, and I sidestepped out of the path of dozens of bullets. More of Giuseppe’s men forced their way through what remained of the garage door to the left of the bay we’d kept unlocked for this very purpose. Let the gunfire draw them to their deaths. Trap them in a warehouse filled with empty crates and old storage containers. Cut off their exits, and burn the place to the ground just like Giuseppe had planned.
Why?
Because every other boss would see just how far I was willing to go, and just how much I’d sacrifice, to keep what was mine.
Burning down my own warehouse with my enemies inside was child’s play. I’d do worse if I had to. Hell, Ihaddone worse.
“Where the fuck did he go?” Giuseppe bellowed through the smoke.
Tommaso moved beside me as we wove through the crates and debris, our guns firing with practiced accuracy, darkened figures falling in the wake of our bullets.
My right-hand man disappeared into the smoke and gunfire as I charged forward into the fray. Not many bosses fought beside their crew. I had to give credit where credit was due.Giuseppe was here, which meant he was already twice the boss his father was.
The bay door rose, and the grinding of thick chains broke through the fading gunfire. Smoke rushed out of the warehouse and into the night, rolling over the blacked-out SUVs left idling in the parking lot. I stepped over several bodies before I reached the edge where the concrete met the asphalt. Giuseppe jumped into one of the cars, barely making it inside before the car sprayed gravel in its haste to get away. I fired one last shot through the back window, then let my gun fall to my side.
My crew moved out of the darkness, some of them hacking from the smoke.
I started barking orders, and within minutes, a headcount had been completed on both sides. I wasn’t sure how many men Giuseppe brought here, but they were leaving ten short.
Only one of my crew was fatally shot, but one was enough to ignite a burning rage in my gut.
That fury only heightened when a sharp cry and shouts of alarm rose up. I turned and saw another man lying in a pool of blood. A fist tightened around my insides.Fuck.
One of my men rushed forward. “Who is it?”
I already knew, and I was already running to his side.
CHAPTER 27
SERA
Idreamt of black lace and red velvet. Of a warm body gliding over mine. Everything about space and time was nothing but fragmented glimpses of a man I wasn’t sure I recognized, but his voice, full of smoke, want, and pure unadulterated longing, felt so out of place.
Shouts broke through my slumber and I sat straight up in bed, the memory of the dream fading into nothing as a huge commotion rattled the house all around me.
Gooseflesh rippled over my arms as I slowly crawled to the end of the bed and perched on my knees, the silk chemise and robe I was wearing bunched and wrinkled over the curves of my body as I strained to listen.
More shouting broke through the silence. What was going on? Were we under attack? Given that I was in serious danger just being in the presence of the Mano Della Morte, why was I so calm and assured that that same man would protect me from whatever was happening downstairs?
I went to the door and rattled the knob. Locked, of course. I banged on it, shouting for anyone who might be standing nearby.
