“I am stopping your wedding, no matter what.”
Her lips purse together. “How?”
“I’m going to make your brother back down.”
Her eyebrows hitch up her forehead. “I’m not sure how. Massimo is as stubborn as a mule.”
“I have a plan.”
“What is it?” she asks.
“It’s best you don’t know the details.” She would put a stop to it if she knew that I’m drawing them here for a fight. One man against the Morrone mafia may sound crazy, but I’m not worried.
She kisses me suddenly, and her soft, pillowy lips against mine feel like heaven on earth.
The panic I’d felt when Arch told me she was getting married has driven me to this point, but with her lips against mine I can finally relax, to a certain extent.
Roaring engines catch my attention outside and Camilla freezes against me, eyes going wide as she pulls away. “They’ve found us. We need to run.” She’s about to turn away, but I grab her wrist and pull her against me.
“No, this is part of my plan.”
Her brow furrows. “Are you crazy?”
“Trust me, malishka. I know what I’m doing.”
I hear the engines shut off and then counting in my head, twenty seconds later, the explosion rocks the entire building. A group of Morrone men come barreling into the warehouse, all guns blazing. And the bomb I set up explodes, sending them all to the ground.
Camilla screams, pulling away from me as her eyes go wide, watching the carnage unfold. The bomb will injure people, but it’s unlikely to kill. “Oh my God. Did you just kill men from our famiglia?” She stares at me in a way I never expected to see her look at me like, as if she thinks I’m as insane as everyone else.
I have to give her the benefit of the doubt. She doesn’t know my plan. I shake my head. “Just wait and see.”
I’m not sure whether it’s my calm attitude, but she seems to settle down, glancing toward the entrance.
Massimo Morrone appears through the smoke and debris, with Leo Morrone following him. And a few of their men behind.
“Get behind me,” I hiss.
Camilla glances between me and her brothers a few times before finally moving to stand behind me.
“Nitkin,” Leo says, narrowing his eyes. “Stop this madness now.”
I recognize Leo from the academy, but Massimo was before my time. He’s not that much younger than me at thirty years old, meaning there’s only five years between us.
I pull my gun out of my pocket and aim it at them, which results in a gasp from Camilla as she tugs at my top.
“What are you doing?”
I stiffen. “Quiet, Camilla.”
“It’s not me that needs to stop the madness, Leo. You are the one trying to force Camilla into a marriage she doesn’t want.” I tilt my head. “Cancel the wedding and it all ends right now.”
Massimo cocks his gun. “Let this go or you’ll regret it.”
I arch a brow. “How about we settle this the traditional way?”
Massimo exchanges a glance with Leo, who gives him a shake of the head, but the don of the Morrone mafia is being watched by his followers. “Bring it on.” He shrugs off his jacket and passes it to Leo.
I came prepared wearing a sweater and joggers, which will give me the upper hand in a fight for range of movement.