A loud shriek from the back of the house makes me shudder. “Maria!” I struggle against the man in front of me. “Don’t you fucking hurt her!”
He smashes the gun across my jaw, a shock of pain exploding across the side of my face. “You’re not really in a position to give orders, sweetheart,” he growls, his hand moving from my shirt collar to my neck. He clasps it tight, cutting off my air supply.
I choke down as much oxygen as I can, my fingernails slicing at his hands, and Sofia runs up to him, clawing at his jacket to pull him away from me. He whirls around and smacks her in the side of the head with his gun.
“Get the fuck away from me, bitch! I will blow off your goddamn head!”
I use every sliver of energy I have and drive my knee right into his groin. A strangled yelp follows and he pitches forward, doubled over low enough for me to kick him in the temple. He crashes onto the floor next to my uncle, rolling over and pointing the gun at me. He swings his hand around, firing off shots that ricochet into the sheetrock behind me.
“Massimo!” I scream. The shower spray is still running, but maybe he can hear my cries through the water.
I duck down as Sofia spins around and grabs a crystal vase full of flowers, hurling it at him, the heavy crystal cracking against his head. It doesn’t shatter when it hits the floor, though. He groans, squeezing off a few more shots into the air. I grab the vase and slam it into his skull.
His hand falls limply to his side, the gun slipping from his grip. I grab it, adrenaline coursing through me. I gasp for air, my heart leaping into my throat, thudding with such force I can barely breathe.
“Sof, run up there and get Massimo. I have to find Maria!”
The other two guys are loose in my house, doing God only knows what with my baby sister.
“Give me the gun!” Uncle Frank says, rolling to his feet. “I’ll find the other guys.”
I grit my teeth. “Don’t you have your own gun? The one you could have used to stop them from invading my fucking house?”
His eyes narrow. “I left it in my car. I didn’t think I’d need it.”
I push past him, running around to the conservatory. The door to my father’s office is open and I creep toward it, the gun in my outstretched hand.
“No!” Maria cries out. “Don’t!”
An explosion shatters the air and my breath stills. Time has slowed to a stop, and with every step I take toward the office and the impending doom that awaits me there, it feels like I take ten backward.
It’s almost a dream-like sequence. Through my blurred vision, the distance between me and the office stretches for what seems like miles, and every time I move closer, it stretches farther away.
I have to get to her.
I have to save Maria.
My legs wobble, my knees quake, but still I force myself to move. I am assaulted by fear, paralyzed by dread, when another scream reverberates between my ears. I suck in a breath and force my legs to run when Massimo grabs my arm, pulling me toward him.
“Are you okay?” he whispers, stroking the side of my face.
I shake my head, my eyes flooded with tears. He pushes me behind him and advances toward the office, his own gun in hand. “Stay there,” he mouths at me.
He slowly peeks his head around the side of the door and a flurry of bullets follows, forcing him to jump out of the literal line of fire. He crouches low and then runs past the office, using the door as his shield. He fires off retaliatory shots and a loud thump follows.
“They have Maria!” I scream, finally finding my panicked voice.
Massimo darts into the office and Maria calls his name, her tearful voice making my throat tighten with a thick gaggle of tears. I clutch myself as the bullets puncture walls. A loud crash follows and Maria lets out an ear-piercing scream.
Bang! Crack! Pop!
The smashing of glass follows, and out of the corner of my eye I see one of the attackers running toward his car like his ass is on fire. “He’s getting away! Massimo!”
I run to the office, Sofia right on my heels. I stop short in the doorway, a lump of panic rising up my throat. Maria is on the floor, shivering against Massimo’s bare chest, tears streaming down her face. He holds her, rocking her quivering body next to a bloody body…the attacker who wasn’t lucky enough to escape out the window.
A cold rush of air blows into the splintered frame and I run toward them, wrapping my arms around my sister. “Oh my God, are you okay?”
Maria nods, her teeth chattering. “T-they had guns t-to my head,” she sputters through her body-quaking sobs. “T-the one w-who got away w-was going through D-Dad’s desk.”
“Did you see him take anything?”
Maria shakes her head. “N-no…”
“Is she okay?” Uncle Frank asks.
I turn to look at him. “Does she look okay to you? Do any of us?”
A deep red flush washes over his cheeks and I’m suddenly reminded of the time when we were being shot at and he dove to the ground to protect his own ass.
“Kristina, I know you’re upset but what was I supposed to do? They had guns on me—”
“You do anything you need to do to keep your nieces safe,” Massimo growls, getting up and stalking over to my uncle. “You don’t fucking invite trouble into their goddamn house.”
“This has nothing to do with you!” Uncle Frank yells. “You’re the help, understand? How I handle things with my nieces is none of your damn business so fuck off!”
Massimo’s eyes blaze with pent-up fury and he grabs the collar of Uncle Frank’s jacket, shoving him backward against the wall so hard that the framed pictures on either side of him crash to the floor, glass shards scattering over the hardwood.
“I am here to help, you’re right about that. But don’t you ever condescend to me again or I will fuck your shit up beyond repair. That’s what I’m paid to do. Handle threats to your nieces. And if I feel like you’re one of them, I will destroy you.”
“Don’t you talk to me like that. You have no idea who you’re dealing with!”
“An amateur?” Massimo retorts.
I should stop Massimo from assaulting my uncle, but the reality is, he really messed up this time. And he’s proven to me for the last time that he is in no way equipped to help us at all.
He is a fucking imbecile, just like my father always said he was.
And he is always going to prioritize himself over us.
“Kristina, please. I know I messed up and I’m sorry. I should have had my gun. I should have put up a fight instead of letting them break in like that.”
Maria leans her head into my chest and I stroke her back. “Just go,” I say to my uncle, not bothering to look up at him. “I can’t do this right now.”
“You can’t be by yourselves. One of those guys got away. What if he comes back? We don’t know what they wanted and they went straight into your father’s office. What if they had something to do with the murders?” He wrings his hands together. “Just give me another chance to do what you need, to keep you girls safe.”
“Massimo is here so we’re plenty safe. If the guy comes back, we will take care of him.” I lift an eyebrow. “The same way we took care of the other two guys.”