66
SCAR
Irina skidded to a halt in front of the windows at the front of the foyer. Her face with a mask of rage, she pulled open the door and ran out to the driveway.
“Irina!” I yelled, chasing after her in determination. I’d meant what I said.
She wouldn’t leave this house or me. She could deny me her body, but she’d never be able to take back the heart she’d already given.
That was mine and mine alone.
“Madison! Where are you, you fucking little LIAR?!” she screamed, the shrillness of her voice sinking into my bones. My body tensed, feeling the absolute agony in her words tear through me.
Little liar.
Oh, fuck.
I burst through the open doorway, watching as Irina pumped her arms and legs to carry her faster to the gate at the end of the driveway. There was too much distance between her and the head of blond hair that I knew had to be Madison.
The girl spoke animatedly to the guard at the gate, her face a mask of fear as she glanced back at Irina over her shoulder.
My wife was too lost to her rage to see the glint of metal in Madison’s hand, the shine of silver glinting in the light streaming in through the window of the guards’ booth, as she raised the familiar knife.
She plunged the tip into the side of Christian’s neck, Irina’s racing steps halting when she watched blood spurt free from the wound as the man staggered to the side.
He crashed his hand to the control board, trying to catch himself as Madison yanked the knife back and shoved the side of his face. Pushing him aside, she didn’t spare a moment to watch him topple over and land face first on the floor.
She hit the button to open the gates, darting out of the booth and racing for the opening gateway that would give her the escape she needed.
“Irina!” I yelled, terror filling me as the first car approached the now open gate. Madison ran past them without a moment of fear, watching as they increased their speed and zoomed up the driveway. “Get in the fucking house!” I shouted, hoping Yavin would hear my voice from inside.
Hoping he would alert the emergency line.
Irina spun on her heel, running toward me as if her life depended on it.
Gunshots rang through the air at the gate, the security that remained to guard the Bellandi Estate engaging with the intruders as one of their men hopped out of the passenger side of the first vehicle and took control of the booth.
Finally wrapping an arm around Irina’s side and tucking her into my body, I pulled the gun free from my holster and shoved her in front of me. “Go!” I yelled, the need to see her safe taking control over everything else.
The house didn’t matter. The gunshots ripping through the siding and shattering windows were irrelevant. Getting Irina, Ivory, and Luna to the network of tunnels beneath the estate was all that I could think of.
Fire tore through my calf, the familiar feeling of a bullet sinking into my skin setting it on fire as I stumbled, shoving Irina forward.
Don ripped the door open as we approached, letting us stumble into the momentary safety the house offered. “Get them to the tunnels,” I instructed, hauling open the closet next to the front door.
Irina watched in fear as I pulled open the false door, shoving my handgun back into its holster in favor of an assault rifle. I tossed Don a handgun from the storage, handing Yavin another assault rifle as he rounded the corner.
Ivory and Don led the way to the entrance to the tunnels, Luna’s eyes wide with fear as she clung to Ivory’s torso. Smaug perched on top of Luna’s shoulder, snuggling into her neck as if he could offer the little girl comfort as the only home she’d ever known was ravaged by bullets.
“Go,” Yavin said to Aoife, reaching down to put his fingers beneath her chin. He tipped her face up, braving her temper for a quick kiss before he pulled back and loaded his gun. “We’ll buy you some time.”
“Yavin,” Aoife whispered, shaking her head in a moment of vulnerability that was so rare to see in the spitfire of a woman.
“Go, Mo shíorghrá,” he said, turning her and pushing her to follow Ivory and Don.
“I won’t leave you,” Irina said, glancing back toward the door as bullets bounced off the other side of the steel-reinforced wood. The small window to the side of the door shattered in, the bullet crashing into one of the priceless vases from Matteo’s grandfather’s time in Chicago. “Come with us.”
I sighed, leaning down to touch my forehead to hers as her eyes filled with tears. I nodded, stepping away from the door as Yavin and I moved to follow the women.
The house would be lost soon enough, the cars filling the driveway too much for the forces that had remained behind. Matteo’s tip on Murphy’s location had meant half the men left to hunt him down.
Leaving us vulnerable.
Yavin and I hurried with Irina down to the basement where the others waited on the other side of the secret door to the tunnels. “I love you, cuore mio.” I said, making Irina’s tear-filled gaze snap to me. I realized she’d thought I intended to go into the tunnels with them. She’d thought I would escape with her, but Yavin and I were all that remained inside. The rest of the men outside the house were caught in the bloodbath.
It was up to us to pick off any who found their way indoors until the others came. It was up to us to buy the women time.
“Don’t you dare say goodbye to me right now, Scar,” Irina threatened, shaking her head as I exchanged a look with Don. He nodded, grasping Irina’s wrist and tugging her back into the old tunnels that ran beneath the house. “No!”
“Fly free, Butterfly,” I said, closing my eyes as Don hit the control panel on the sliding door that concealed the entrance.
The sound of her scream cut off as she was torn from my view, but I felt it in my bones. She’d have forgiven me for killing her mother with time as the shock wore off, but this—this she would never forgive. She loved me enough to live for me.
But what would she do when I was dead?
Yavin and I looked at one another, a brief moment passing between us as we sent our women to safety. And then we turned back to kill those fuckers who had threatened them.