Page 66 of The Fortunate Ones
CHAPTER 28
SKYE
They were okay.Luca’s voice had been steady and strong as it had come through my comms. I was glad I’d taken that second to put them in before leaving the house. Otherwise, I’d probably be standing here wondering if I’d just lost half my men. My gut twisted at the thought, and I quickly pushed it down. They were all safe. Diego had warned them in time, and now they were on their way back here. Where half a fucking army was coming in to infiltrate our home.
I knew Crimson Rose had a lot of resources, but seeing the convoy headed up the road really put into perspective how much power they had. There were four armored vehicles heading our way. I didn’t know how many people were in there but I was assuming between 15-20. They weren’t trying to hide or cover their tracks; they probably expected us to be half dead and distracted. Typically, only two of Leo’s team watched this entrance at a time. Instead, we already had a dozen people here, including me, and more on the way.
They sure weren’t taking any chances though. They knew we’d be a formidable opponent and were prepared. I ordered two snipers to be positioned high in what I’d always called lookout towers, but were essentially wooded platforms hidden inthe trees. I positioned myself in a place where I had a clear view of the convoy, and had one of my favorite toys at the ready; a grenade.
“Snipers, at the ready. Start taking them out as soon as you have a good shot.”
“Copy.”
.Just then, I heard tires screeching to a stop behind me. The cavalry was here. I didn’t move from my position, but I did look back, taking in my men with my own eyes, confirming they were whole and well.
Maverick was out first, headed right to me. There was dirt smeared across his face, and maybe he had a slightly limp, but he looked fine. Luca and Wes were next and in similar disarray. They were all pissed and ready for a fight. I grinned. Crimson Rose thought they were untouchable. But they had never gone up against Il Fortunato before. I couldn’t wait to show them what a mistake they’d made.
One of the snipers made their first shot. There was the familiar sound of a bullet whooshing through the air and then impact. A scream and tires screeching. Then another shot took someone else out. That was my cue. The snipers were both aiming for the vehicles toward the back. I would aim for the ones toward the front with the grenade, and then our guns would take out the stragglers that managed to survive.
I glanced at Luca as he came to stand beside me. He nodded once, eyes tight. It was time.
“Brace yourselves!” I screamed, “Three, two, one!” I pulled the ring and threw the grenade. It landed a few feet in front of the first vehicle. They either didn’t see or didn't have enough time to stop. Either way, there was a pause and then BOOM!
The vehicle exploded, screams, burning metal and flesh. The force of it nearly knocked me to my feet, and one of our team barely avoided some of the wreckage hitting them. It wasblinding at first, but we couldn’t hesitate not for a moment. One man was crawling out of the wreckage, already shooting. The two vehicles in the middle stopped as the occupants all climbed out with high power rifles, shooting at us. Someone took a shot at us but they immediately hit the ground as the sniper got them in the head.
Half of us ran out of the gates, taking the fight to the survivors. The rest would stay and take out any strays we missed. These fuckers weren’t getting onto our land, not if I had anything to say about it. Snipers were still working, taking out their targets one by one. A bullet whizzed by my ears, missing me by a millimeter. I shot the fucker in the head and then turned around and took out two more that were aiming at Luca. Wes was next to me, taking shot after shot. He was a deadly sniper, but he was equally competent with any gun, as he proved now. Luca, Maverick, and Leo's team was just as lethal.
“Hey, boss, do we need to keep any of these fuckers alive?” I screamed over the din of bullets flying and screams. Thank fuck the Castellano estate was in the middle of fucking nowhere. I couldn’t even imagine what the neighbors would be thinking if they heard this.
“No!” Diego interrupted in my comms. “They’re likely all low-level grunts that don’t know shit. I’m in their servers. Ari and I did it. I have everything.”
My eyes briefly met Luca’s before a bullet whizzed by my head. I quickly ducked behind one of the trucks that had been abandoned.
Luca’s voice carried clearly over the chaos. “Shoot to kill. No survivors!” There was a general call of agreement, and then it was on. I couldn’t even explain what happened for the next few minutes, or even how long it lasted. When I was in a situation like this, I always went into this place in my head where my only focus was my target. I was aware of everyone around me.I could hear their voices and even process orders, but it was all background noise. All I saw was the gun in my hand and the person I was aiming for. It was a weird sense of calm where nothing else mattered. When I was in this headspace, I lost all concept of time. I aimed to kill and I didn’t miss.
Then it was over. I stood panting over one of the dead bodies as my mind slowly came back to the present. There was carnage all around us. They had packed at least twenty-five men in those vehicles. If Diego hadn’t given us that heads up we would’ve been too spread out, overpowered and fucked. But the way it worked out, they hadn’t stood a chance.
I was covered in blood. Was it mine? I didn’t think so. I had no idea how many of these kills were mine. It didn’t matter. It was over. They’d tried to get through and destroy our home and our lives, but they’d failed. They always would against us, when we were together.
I scanned the area, breathing a little easier as my eyes fell on Luca first, then Mav, and then Wes. Leo was here helping one of his team up off the ground. They looked like they had been shot in the arm but were still conscious and talking coherently. In fact, it appeared our side hadn’t had any casualties.
Luca was barking orders. Crimson Rose had sent a much smaller convoy to the front, presumably as back up or to clean up anyone who survived the explosion, but the team that we had kept there had taken care of it. Luca was sending people to scour the property and to check for any other Crimson Rose goons that might’ve been sent our way.
Maverick and Wes helped the injured around them. I snapped into action and started checking bodies. That was rule number one: always check to make sure your target was actually dead. Don’t assume anything.
This was a shit show. We’d need a cleanup team and I didn’t know what else. Extra precautions and more security. TheCrimson Rose wouldn’t take this lying down. I could only hope that whatever Diego had found was our smoking gun; otherwise, we’d never have a minute of peace.
After a while, large arms wrapped around me. I smiled as Maverick buried his face into my neck, enjoying the scratch of his five o’clock shadow.
“Hi.”
He smiled against my skin. “Hi. How’re you holding up?”
“Good. Are you okay? You almost fucking blew up!”
Maverick laughed. “Yeah. I don’t want to do that again, thanks very much. But I’m okay. Twinged my leg, maybe. Could’ve been worse.”
I winced. Yeah. He could’ve been in a thousand tiny pieces across our front lawn. I couldn’t believe they’d implanted a fucking bomb inside Verlice.
