We all step into the elevator and get off on the roof, one floor up. It’s gorgeous up here with a huge pool, a restaurant, and outside tables. I love this place. The ambiance at night is perfectly romantic as it overlooks the most beautiful part of Milan.
“This is amazing,” Juliet says at long last, and I don’t blame her. “But isn’t this unsafe?” she asks. I’m sure her mind is racing through scenarios. We don’t have much cover and it’s dark.
“One might think so,” I reply with a devilish grin as I hoist my bag further up my shoulder.
Just as night falls, I hear the fire alarm go off in the hotel.
I nod to Riccardo and Flavio as we fist-bump each other and give a nervous chuckle.
“Do or die,” we say in unison, as everyone on the rooftop gets up to evacuate, leaving their dinners and drinks behind. I’m thinking this is going to be an expensive night, losing the revenue from all this food, but fuck it. I peer over the edge of the roof onto the street. It looks like the hotel has about emptied with minimum chaos, but hopefully enough to throw off or slow down Commissioner Manara.
“You know, Gio Conti is going to be like a fish swimming upstream,” I snicker.
“Yeah, poor fuck,” Flavio grins.
I put Juliet behind the bar and make her promise she will not get up, no matter what.
Only the pool shows any semblance of normalcy. The ambient lights at the outdoor restaurant and bar are further in the distance and the rest of the roof top is empty.
The guys and I have all taken cover when the elevator doors ding open.
“Come out, you fucking scumbag,” Conti rasps. I’m sure Juliet must be scared to death, but we agreed she was safest with us. I hope she covers her ears soon as I forgot to warn her.
“Fuck off, old man,” I taunt him.
Conti’s men shoot off a few rounds of rapid-fire machine guns and I’m wondering how we’re going to compete with that, though we’re not totally naked out here.
“Yeah, if you want your daughter back, keep walking,” I call out again.
Conti and his men duck behind trash cans for cover, then there is a flash bang and my ears ring. Gunfire is exchanged again as we’re shooting in all directions like in an old-fashioned western.
I hear a squeal and my heart is in my throat. Someone has picked up Juliet and is carting her around like a cat by the scruff of her neck. She tries to fend off her foe to no avail and the man exclaims, “Got her.”
He drags her to Conti, who is still alive and not among the few dead men on the ground.
“Ahh,” he drawls, pulling Juliet in front of the pool. The lighted water never looked so inviting and yet so deadly at the same time. “Dante, you son of a bitch, show your face. I got your woman.”
I come out to face Juliet and I pray Riccardo is in place. He was a crack sniper back in the day.
“You’re such a cowardly scumbag,” I sneer at Conti over the pool. “You take women and children and sell them into sex dungeons, and now, you’re willing to kill your daughter.”
“Shut up, Dante. I can and will do whatever I like. That’s what made me the richest and most powerful don in all of Italy.” He grabs Juliet by the hair and, with a knife to her throat, holds her in front of him as a human shield.
Juliet is shocked, but her survival instincts are taking over as she looks to me for direction. Her eyes meet mine.
And that’s when I wink at her. She takes it as a moment of opportunity, using her elbow to jab Conti as hard as possible in the ribs, and makes to get away. A single bullet flies through the air unseen and Conti drops, but not before three more shots are fired that kill off the last of his men.
Juliet is on all fours on the ground, and after a quick look to make sure my men are all right, I run to her and pick her up, frantically checking her over to make sure she’s not been nicked.
“I’m fine. Is he dead?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Can we get out of here?”
“I’m sure there will be tons of questions when the cops get here.”
“Yeah, about that . . .” For a moment, I’m quiet. “I taped the entire ordeal for Manara, and we used ourselves to lure him here. They wanted me to get Conti to confess to his crimes, but when you were held hostage, there wasn’t time. We’ll destroy our guns and not talk to the police or anyone else. We don’t know who shot him. Remember, Juliet, it’s all a blur and you were in shock.”