My phone beeps in my hand. A missed call from Liam. My heart races and anxiety digs through me at the thought of something happening to Ava. I go to dial him back, not caring about Augustu, when a text message comes through.
Liam
911 at Dante Romano’s. Kenzi after Kendra. Come quick.
“We are done here.” I stand abruptly from my chair, passing the phone to Dante as I button my jacket. “You are obviously not going to help and have very little self-preservation. So, we will talk at a later time. Say goodbye, Leon.”
Leon nods at his father and turns toward the door.
“That’s right,” Augustu sneers. “Follow after your master, you littlecagna.”
With a snarl, I lunge forward, ensnaring Augustu’s shirt collar in my grasp, and yank him toward me. He is sprawled over his desk, the angle forcing his head back. His face is red and splotchy as fury rolls through him.
At his furious scream, the door to the office flies open, his guards storming into the room, but we are ready. With my onehand still on Augustu’s collar, I draw my Beretta from the small of my back and aim it at the door. Dante and my men follow suit. My eyes never leave the man in my grasp.
“Your son is ten times the man you will ever be,” I growl at him, lips turned up in a vicious snarl. “Insult him again, and those will be the last words you ever utter. Understood?”
Augustu pales at my words but remains silent, defiance still sparking in his eyes.
“Understood?” I roar in his face, my hand tightening on his collar, choking him.
“Yes,” he gasps, clawing at my hand. “I understand.”
I tighten my grip just a little, holding on to him for a few more seconds to make sure he gets my point. Then I release him. The old man sputters and chokes as he rights himself. He glares at all of us but keeps silent.
Good. If he utters another word, I am liable to kill him, and that is not a headache I need at the moment.
“Let us go,” I command as I stride through the door. Augustu’s men part like the Red Sea as I move past them, none of them wanting to risk drawing my ire. We have already wasted precious time, and I am in a hurry to get to Dante’s house. The extra time is worth it, however. It is my job to ensure my men know I have their backs and will defend them.
“He’s growing bold,” Leon mutters as he opens the driver’s side door to the Mercedes and climbs in. “It’s going to be a problem,” he predicts when I take my place in the passenger seat. Dante is in the car in front of us, and Vas is in the one trailing behind us.
Leon pulls out of his father’s circular drive and speeds down the suburban road toward the highway after Dante. Picking up my phone, I dial Liam.
“Please tell me you’re on your way,” he whisper-shouts into the phone. I can hear yelling in the background and the sound of something shattering.
“We are getting on the freeway now,” I tell him. “Less than ten minutes.”
Liam breathes a sigh of relief. “Might want to try and cut that in half,” he warns. “I’m not sure if I can keep either one of the girls from shooting Kendra if she keeps running her mouth like she is.”
“Khristos,” I groan, telling Leon to step on it. “What the hell are they even doing there?”
“One moment they are talking at the dining room table, and the next, Kenzi is rushing out and Ava’s crying,” Liam informs me. “The next thing I know, Ava’s got this grand idea that Kenzi is going after Kendra, and she wasn’t wrong. Bridget caught it a little late because the intrusion came from within our own building. Looks like Kenzi hacked into our database to find her location.”
Rolling my eyes, I groan, the frustration mounting. “Explains why she suddenly showed up this morning without an explanation.”
“I was hoping it was to reconcile with Ava,” I grumble, wincing at the sudden pitch of the vehicle to the left as Dante takes a sharp, sudden curb. “Fuck, he drives like a loony bin.”
Leon chuckles.
“If it makes you feel better, I’m pretty sure they are reconciled,” Liam coughs awkwardly. “It just might be over Kendra’s dead body instead of a nice cup of coffee.”
“You could put an end to it, you know,” I point out. We are pulling into the Romano compound now.
Liam snorts. “I am not getting between an assassin and her target. Go for it.”
Coward.
We watch as Dante throws his car into park in front of the house and dashes from the driver’s seat and through the front door.