Chapter 27

Luca’s POV

“This is the last place Trey could trace him to”, Sergio said, as we walked around an empty warehouse. I combed the area, looking for any sign of Marco. I’m extremely grateful that Mara was able to subdue my anger, because if she hadn’t, I would have already lost my shit by now. Marco is obviously no longer here.

As I walked into the last room, I noticed an empty chair in the middle of the room. Small puddles of blood surrounded the chair. My blood ran cold when I noticed the message written on the wall, in what I assume was my brother’s blood.

‘121 Pine Hollow. Come get him’

“Sergio, gather the men. We leave at once”, I commanded venomously. “Yes, boss”, Sergio growled, as he walked out. I crouched down and touched the blood. It was still wet, telling me it was fresh. “Let’s go”, I ordered gruffly, as I turned and exited the building. Carlo had already entered the address into the GPS, before I even had the car in gear. I tore out of the parking lot, burning rubber the whole way.

“The soldatos will meet us there”, Sergio said, from the back seat. The GPS said forty-five minutes away, but I made it in twenty. When I pulled in, six other cars pulled in too. My soldatos. I studied the log cabin, surrounded by mountains. The wind whistled through the tree tops, yet there was no sound or movement coming from the cabin.

My men and I unloaded and strapped down. “Satellites show at least eleven bodies”, Trey said, standing at the back of my car. “That shouldn’t be a prob-“, Carlo’s words were cut off by rapid gun fire. Everyone ducked for cover, but I noticed that, at a minimum, five of my soldato’s fell to their demise immediately.

I maneuvered around so that I could return fire. My men followed suit. We were able to take out four men, before they had to reload. “Move in”, I commanded, leading the way up to the front door. I motioned for half of my men to fan out around the cabin, blocking off the exits.

Sergio kicked in the door, letting me enter first, with my weapon drawn. I instantly dropped the first guy in my path. The second one fired off his gun, skimming my arm. I hissed and flattened myself behind a hall, my brothers doing the same. I thought about Mara, and how upset she is going to be when she sees my arm. I closed my eyes and took a steady breath. I’m going home to her tonight, and all of my brothers will be with me.

With that image in mind, I rounded the corner and fired my weapon. The bullet cut through the corner he hid behind, catching him in the shoulder. He fell from his hiding place, clutching his arm in agony. He tried to raise his gun, but I planted a bullet between his eyes before he could.

I motioned for us to push forward. As we continued into the cabin, two more guys appeared and started shooting at us. We returned fire, but not before Carlo got hit in the leg. Carlo collapsed to the ground, crying out in anguish. One of my guys made quick work of pulling him to safety. I rested easily, knowing he would be protected, as we continued. Sergio and I dropped both of the shooters at once.

We pushed forward, knowing at least three were left. We were unsure though, because we could hear gunfire coming from the back of the cabin. We ran toward the commotion, intruding in on a full blown gun fight happening around my brother’s head. He was undoubtedly cut badly, and had passed out from blood loss.

My stomach twisted at the sight of him. I used my advantage of the men’s backs being turned to me, and put a bullet in the back of each of their heads, dropping them promptly. Sergio and I rushed to Marco’s side. We untied him, then lifted him together.

Once we got to the front foyer, we noticed one of the soldatos put a tourniquette on Carlo’s leg to stop the bleeding, while another stood guard. “Get him up, let’s go”, I demanded. They nodded and followed my orders. Sergio held Marco in the backseat, keeping pressure on his wound. While, Cal put Carlo in another car and followed us closely.

For the entirety of the twenty minute drive home, I called the nurse and doctor that we have for these types of situations, to no avail.Visit - .net to read the complete chapters for free. The calls kept going to voicemail. I growled and slammed my phone against the steering wheel, shattering the screen. Fuck! Now, I can’t even call Marabella. Dannazione (God dammit).

My emotions were in overdrive by the time I barreled into the driveway. Rex came running out to the car. “Help Cal with Carlo”, I instructed, as I jumped out of the driver’s seat and yanked open the back door, to help Sergio with Marco. Sergio and I each had one of Marco’s arms over our shoulders when we busted into the front door.

I immediately made eye contact with a startled, wide-eyed kitten, who sat perched next to my sleeping mother. Mara fixed my mother’s covers, making sure we didn’t wake her. She carefully stood from the couch. She placed her fingers over her lips to motion for us to stay quiet, as she tip-toed toward us.

I stood frozen, watching her, grateful that she can help me think this through. I know she could see the agony in my eyes as she approached. She looked at Marco, then behind us at Carlo. She scanned the rest of our bodies looking for injuries, before her eyes met mine in question.

“Piccola, I can’t get ahold of the nurser or doctor. I don’t know what to do”, I admitted, choking slightly. “Shh”, she cooed, cupping my cheek. “Take them to the infirmary”, she instructed quietly. I swallowed hard and nodded, doing as she said.