Before Cassio can respond, a massive black SUV crests the hill behind us, its high beams blindingly bright in the rearview mirror.
"Contact rear!" Dante shouts.
The SUV rams us.
The Maybach shudders violently as the heavy grill of the pursuing vehicle slams into our rear bumper. I cry out, sliding across the floorboards. Cassio grabs the fabric of my dress, hauling me back and wedging me securely behind his legs.
"Keep us steady, Dante!" Cassio orders.
He rolls down his window, the only one not completely compromised by gunfire, just three inches. The freezing rain and howling wind blast into the cabin. Cassio leans his upper body toward the crack, extending his arm holding the 1911.
He doesn't spray wildly. He aims with precision.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
I hear the pop of a tire blowing out behind us, followed immediately by the screech of metal and a loud crash as the pursuing SUV loses control and slams into a parked car on the side of the road.
"Target down!" Matteo shouts.
"Keep moving!" Cassio barks, rolling the window back up, his chest heaving. He looks down at me, his dark eyes fierce and uncompromising. "We’re five minutes from the estate, Noemi. The gates are heavily armed. Once we’re inside, they can't touch us."
I nod frantically, clinging to his leg, the fabric of his trousers damp with rain.
We take a sharp corner, the tires squealing in protest, the scent of burning rubber overpowering. The road begins to incline, the familiar winding path leading up the coastal cliffs toward the Vellutini compound.
"I see the gates!" Dante yells, relief flooding his voice. "Gianni has men on the road!"
Through the cracked windshield, I can see the flashing tactical lights of Cassio’s soldiers mobilizing near the massive iron gates of the estate. Safety is less than half a mile away.
But the Bratva didn't come to play a game of tag.
A sudden, blinding flash of light erupts from the tree line on the right side of the road, elevated on a ridge overlooking the cliffside drive.
"Sniper!" Matteo screams.
Everything happens in terrifying, agonizing slow motion.
The sharp, deafeningCRACKof a high-caliber sniper rifle tears through the storm. This is military-grade hardware designed to punch through armored vehicles.
Cassio doesn't hesitate. He doesn't look for the shooter. He doesn't brace himself against the seat.
He throws his weapon aside, grabs my arms, and violently hauls me up from the floorboards, pulling me flat across the backseat.
"Cassio!" I scream.
He throws his entire massive body over mine. He cages me completely beneath him, pressing me deep into the leather cushions, wrapping his arms tightly around my head to shieldmy face. He becomes a human Kevlar vest, covering every single inch of me with his own flesh and bone.
The heavy sniper round hits the Maybach.
It punches through the reinforced glass of the passenger side window like a hot knife through butter.
Shards of ballistic glass rain down on us like a thousand razor blades. I feel them biting into my arms, slicing across the exposed skin of my back where my dress is open. I squeeze my eyes shut, screaming into Cassio’s chest, the noise so loud it drowns out my own voice.
The car swerves violently. Dante fights the wheel, the Maybach skidding sideways across the wet asphalt before slamming heavily into the stone retaining wall of the cliff.
The airbags deploy with a concussive blast.
And then... silence.