Twisted Pride (The Camorra Chronicles 3)

Nino was faster. He held up his phone with the live recording of the affected area. Four men had put a ladder over the fence, laid a wooden board over the electric wires, and climbed over the wall.

I stood, drawing my gun and a knife. Nino shook Kiara awake then turned to Adamo. “Take Kiara into the panic room. Shoot for the kill, no questions asked.”

“What’s the matter?” Kiara whispered. Nino shook his head, kissed her, then pushed her toward Adamo, who grabbed her hand and tugged her along, his own gun pulled.

“I’m going to turn off the lights on the premises,” Nino said. “We can ambush them more easily that way.”

I nodded. “Savio, go get Serafina. I want her in the panic room as well.”

Savio frowned. “I want to kick Outfit asses.”

“Savio,” I snarled. I couldn’t fucking believe the Outfit really dared to attack our mansion. It wasn’t Dante’s style. Way too risky.

With a glare, Savio ran up the stairs. Nino entered the code into his phone that was connected to our central control system and blackness fell upon us. It took my eyes a few seconds to adapt. Moonlight streamed in through the windows, and soon my brother and our surroundings became more than abstract shapes. I stepped up to Nino.

“They’re heading toward the north wing,” he said. The cameras had night vision, so we had no trouble following the attackers’ progress. A blond head was among them, and I had a feeling I knew who it was. Samuel had come to save his twin, probably without his Capo’s orders. If they were here on Dante’s plan, they would have retreated the second the lights went out. That they still continued with it meant someone who didn’t care about his life was the leader.

“Come on,” I said. Nino and I crept into the garden, past the pool, in the direction where the attackers were headed. “Samuel is mine,” I said quietly.

Nino didn’t say anything, only shut down his phone so the glow of the screen wouldn’t give us away. We reached the corner of the north wing and both crouched down. I peered around and found two men, one of them blond, working on the terrace door to Savio’s domain while the other two scanned the area, guns pointed ahead. They had turned over the table and were half hidden behind it. It was massive wood. Maybe it would hold back the bullets.

“Two alive, Samuel and another,” I ordered. Nino gave a terse nod. He’d give me a lecture later. He was pissed that we were being attacked because I’d brought Serafina here, that I’d put his wife in danger.

Nino and I raised our guns and began firing. Whoever our opponents were, they weren’t the best shots. The first went down almost immediately. The two at the terrace door dropped behind the table and began firing as well. Eventually we ran out of bullets. The fun was about to begin. Nino pulled his knife. Clutching my own knife, I ran toward the remaining three attackers. Two went for me, one for Nino.

Samuel slashed his knife at me, and I blocked it with my own. The other Outfit fucker jabbed toward my stomach. I dodged that attack as well and rammed my blade into his thigh. He went down with a cry, but I grabbed him by the collar and jerked him up to block Samuel’s next attack. His knife went straight into his companion’s stomach. Before Samuel could attack again, Nino grabbed him from behind, one arm locked around his throat, the other over his arm with the knife. I dropped the Outfit bastard and jumped forward, hitting Samuel’s wrist and breaking it so he would drop the knife.

He grunted but didn’t drop the knife. He struggled like a madman, and Nino lost his balance. Fuck.

They both landed on the ground, Samuel on top of Nino. Grabbing my gun, I lunged at Samuel, grasped him by the throat, and hit his temple with the butt of the gun. With a groan, he went slack. Nino shoved him off himself. I touched Samuel’s throat to make sure he was alive.

“Did you keep your opponent alive?” I asked Nino, panting.

“Of course. I knew it was unlikely that you’d not kill at least one of them.”

I chuckled. Nino stepped up to me. “If we torture him slowly, send pieces of him to his parents and Dante, the Outfit will do our biding. I can’t imagine they’ll risk losing both Serafina and Samuel.”

“I don’t think he acted on Dante’s orders.”

“Probably not. But Dante won’t abandon his nephew because he tried saving his twin.”

I nodded. “Take the other survivor into a cell and wake him. Find out everything he knows. I’ll send Savio to join you or else he won’t stop bitching.”

“What about Samuel?”