“Of course,” Lennox says, turning to Mick. “I know your work. It’s impressive.”
“Same to you,” Mick responds with a curt nod of his head.
Lennox gives an awkward smile before stepping back and indicating to the spare tables and chairs throughout the room. “Make yourselves at home and I’ll show you our tech.”
And just like that, Mick’s eyes light up like it’s Christmas morning and his team flies in like toy soldiers and starts setting up their equipment before we can even step out of their way. They all seem to get along, and I quickly realize they don’t hold that same animosity as what the fighters and the direct family members do. These guys are more like brains for hire. They come, they do their job, and they get the fuck out before they can get dragged deeper into this bullshit world.
Roman and I walk out after giving instructions to get us the information we need as soon as possible, and just as expected, an hour later, we have a full map of Giovanni’s estranged mother’s property and details on how to infiltrate it.
Lennox is still working on getting heat signatures and has promised that by the time we get there, we’ll have that information. In the meantime, Mick has set everyone up with communication devices and explained how they’ll be watching our backs and guiding us through, while also demanding this upgraded tech for the DeAngelis warehouse.
Within ten minutes, there’s a convoy of SUVs peeling out of the Moretti residence. I sit beside Marcus in the backseat, Roman and Levi in front, the four of us sitting in silence as our bodies don every type of weapon that could possibly fit on our black tactical uniforms. Well mostly, I stuck with the pants and boots because they look fucking fire and paired them with a cropped black tank.
Holsters curl around my arms and thighs while my hair is pulled back into a high pony, plaited right down to the very end. I feel like I just stepped out of a sexy assassin movie—but the boys. Holy mother of all things sweet and sexy! They look like sex on legs, I can barely keep focus. I’ve never wanted to jump them more.
Apparently, I have a thing for men in uniform. Who would have known.
With Giovanni’s estranged mother’s property being heavily guarded, we don’t dare pass the property, instead we pull off into the nearby forest, our headlights going off as our convoy of SUVs trail through the too narrow hiking trail.
We come to a stop, and as we wait for our teams to come together and wait for instruction, I notice the very moment the sun dips down behind the mountains in the distance. It won’t be long until we lose what little light remains, and while attacking in the dead of night holds all too many memories for me, it’s exactly what Giovanni expects of us.
Roman holds his hand to his ear. “Mick, you hear me?”
There’s a short pause as the soldiers around us fall into silence. “Right. Where’s Lennox at with the heat signatures?” Roman questions, his gaze off into the distance, staring toward the home where his son—our son—is being kept.
“Good, and the kids?”
Another pause.
“Okay. I’ll check in when we’re at the boundary.”
Mick mustn’t reply as Roman immediately addresses the waiting army. “Heat signatures suggest possibly fifty armed guards surrounding the immediate house, a further twenty-five inside the home, and a few sporadically outside of the property gates. Giovanni was last seen two hours ago in the main dining hall. However, he has not been detected on any of the surveillance cameras since. If you find him, the goal is to capture him alive and bring him back to either myself or my brothers. If your life is in immediate danger and it is imperative to make a kill shot, then take it.”
“The children?” one of the Moretti soldiers asks.
Roman nods. “Lennox has determined through heat signatures that the three children are located in the upper west wing of the property. You’re looking for two girls, ages eight and ten, and a newborn, less than three months. There seems to be someone watching over them. At this stage, it can not be determined whether this is an innocent nursemaid hired solely to tend to the children, or if this is a trained guard. Keep your eyes open. Are there any questions?”
“If we get our hands on one of these kids? What do you want us to do? Keep them safe while helping our brothers or bail?”
“Bail,” Marcus says as though his soldier should have known better. “You have been brought here to do two things—find Giovanni and save those children. If you happen to get your hands on them, you communicate through your earpiece with a confirmation of the child and give your location. The men closest to you will be responsible for watching your back to ensure you get out of there with the child unharmed. If you have one of those three children in your arms, your job is not to watch your brother’s back. It is to take care of your own.”
The soldiers nod, understanding it for what it is—the children’s lives above theirs—and not one of them disagrees.
“Alright,” Roman says, keeping his eye on the dimming daylight. “I trust everyone studied the blueprint of the property on the ride over and knows where they need to be?” Every last man confirms just as we all knew they would, and with a determined nod, Roman says, “Good. Let’s move.”
The soldiers take off into the thick trees, moving with the kind of stealth that the boys were trained to have. They break off into small attack groups and I watch with awe. They take their mission seriously, and it’s clear that they were trained by only the best this world has to offer—both the DeAngelis family and the Morettis.
There’s no doubt in my mind that tonight, we’re going to win. There’s no way we can’t. We have surprise on our side and come fully loaded with a team that Giovanni would never be able to obtain, no matter how hard he searched and who he had to threaten to make it happen.
I stick between Levi and Marcus, and a thrill travels down my spine watching Marcus’ eyes light with the excitement of the impending bloodbath he’s about to create. Hell, with each step he takes, I’m almost certain that he forgets about the reason we’re here just a little bit more. But I know that when it comes down to it, Marcus will do whatever it takes to save those kids, even if it means escaping without spilling even a single drop of blood, no matter how much he might hate that.
Roman walks ahead of us, his shoulders back and his head held high with fierce determination. He won’t fail tonight. Not after everything he’s suffered through to bring him to this point, his head is in the game, and no matter what risks he has to take, he will get what’s rightfully his.
The trees begin to thin and as I look left and right, I don’t see a single body, but I know they’re there, completely surrounding the property and waiting on Roman’s instructions. There are twenty small groups and we stand in silence, listening through our small earpieces waiting for confirmation that every last group is exactly where it needs to be. The wait seems to go on forever as some of those groups have to make it the whole way around the perimeter of the property and to the other side, but we’ll wait as long as it takes.
As we stand hidden in the bushes, we get a good feel for the property, watching the guards who stand on the outskirts of the gates, peering into the trees and missing every last one of us. Lights are on inside the house, and we take note of where people are inside as Mick and Lennox feed information back to us, detailing the location of all the guards.
A grin pulls at the corner of my lips and Levi glances down at me. “What’s funny?” he murmurs, keeping his voice low.