Chapter 7 - BULLETS IN THE PINE FOREST
“Get to the cellar!” Alessandro shouted over the deafening rattle of gunfire.
He fired three rapid shots toward the tree line, dropping one of the advancing assassins instantly.
“I’m not leaving you!” I yelled back, scrambling behind the heavy stone chimney.
“Serena, move!” he grabbed my arm, hauling me toward the rear kitchen door.
We tumbled inside just as a grenade landed on the front porch.
Boom!
The shockwave blew the front door off its hinges, filling the house with smoke and flying debris.
Flames licked at the living room curtains.
“They want us dead,” I coughed, wiping soot from my face.
“They want me dead,” Alessandro corrected, his face twisted into a mask of pure, unadulterated fury.
“They thought eliminating me would give them control of the syndicate.”
He pulled a hidden tactical radio from his belt.
“Marcus! Code Red at the lakeside cabin! Send every available unit from Rome immediately!”
“Boss, we’re twenty minutes out!” Marcus’s voice crackled through the static.
“Hold them off!”
Alessandro slammed the radio down.
He checked the clip of his Beretta.
Only four bullets left.
“Listen to me, Serena,” he said, grabbing my shoulders and forcing me to look into his eyes.
“There’s a panic room beneath the kitchen floorboards.”
“Get inside and lock it.”
“What about you?” I asked, my heart hammering wildly against my ribs.
May you like
“I’m going out the back,” he said, a grim smile touching his lips.
“It’s time I taught the Moretti family what happens when they touch what is mine.”
