I kick off my rain-soaked shoes and then walk through the villa on a hunt for them. I find Talia in Zoe’s bathroom, running her a bath. Zoe splashes from her little seat inside the tub. With Talia’s blond hair curtaining her face as she looks down at the little angel below her, I can’t help but think she looks like an angel herself. And Daddy is from the depths of the Underworld. Somehow, our opposites attract. When she sees me, she grins, and her brilliant blue eyes glitter with love. It’s a punch to the chest every time she knocks me over with her intensity. There’s no questioning our feelings anymore.
“Someone is soaked,” Talia says, smiling. “Why don’t you go grab a hot shower and we’ll eat after? I’ll preheat the oven to cook a frozen lasagna once I’m done with her bath. It won’t be homemade, but it’s better than getting out in that weather.”
I walk over to her and kiss the top of her head. I ruffle Zoe’s dark hair. “I’ll make it quick.”
“Any news?”
“A lead on Niles. Maybe some other shit, but I won’t know until Basil and Adrian check it out.”
She purses her lips together. “Are we safe?”
“Of course.”
Her brows pull together as though she doesn’t believe me. It makes me bristle, but I don’t let it get to me. After the hell she’s gone through, she’s allowed to have anxiety. One day, hopefully, it’ll fade completely. I quickly shed my soaked clothes and breeze through a shower. Since we’re not going anywhere, I pull on a pair of gray sweatpants, some socks, and a white T-shirt. Talia likes it when I’m dressed down. With my hair still wet and messy, I pad through the house to find her in the kitchen, Zoe propped on her hip.
“Here, hold her,” she instructs.
I take my baby, who now smells sweet and clean, bouncing her in my arms as Talia peels the plastic film away from the lasagna and sits it on a tray. She then busies herself with making a salad while the oven preheats. Zoe and I walk over to the window where the storm seems to worsen.
Boom!
Thunder crashes loud and hard enough the windows rattle.
“That was intense,” Talia exclaims from behind me. “This storm—”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
My blood runs cold. Thunder doesn’t sound like that. It doesn’t hit that quickly either. What the fuck?
“Get in the closet,” I bark out, grabbing Talia’s arm and rushing her through the villa as the booms continue.
“Kostas,” she cries out. “What’s happening?”
“We’re being attacked.”
“W-What?”
“Turn the lights off. Hide in the closet,” I bellow as I grab my phone from the bedroom. I dial Adrian and he doesn’t answer. When I call Basil, he picks up. “We’re being fucking hit.”
“We’re five minutes out and I have Caymon on the other line. He says Aris’s Porsche is at the front. Explosives are going off near the front entrance. Bold ass motherfucker,” Basil huffs. “Want me to take him out, Boss?”
“No kill shot. He’s mine. I want him in the cellar,” I bark out.
Basil says something to Bronn and then grunts, “Bronn says Caymon’s men have the Porsche surrounded.”
“I’m on my way.” I hang up and shove my phone into my pocket.
I stalk into the closet to find Talia and Zoe watching me with wide eyes. I shove my feet into a pair of tennis shoes and shove my suit jackets aside to get to my gun safe. After punching in the code, I pull out a Glock, check the magazine, and then hand the weapon to Talia.
“Shoot first, ask questions later,” I hiss before turning to pull out my AR-15. “They have Aris’s Porsche surrounded.”
“Be careful,” Talia cries out. “Please.”
I rush over to her, planting a kiss on her lips and then one on Zoe’s soft head. “Shoot anyone who walks through that closet, Talia. I have my phone. Call me if you need me. I’ll be back as soon as we have that motherfucker detained.”
As I leave, I turn off all the lights, to keep them safe under the cover of darkness. The doors are all locked and I slip out the front into the pouring rain. Wind violently whips at me, slashing me with rain and soaking me to the bone. I sprint through the downpour, racing toward the front of the hotel under the cover of shadows and between buildings. I’m not letting my guard down for an instant.
“Boss,” Caymon hisses from between a building. He stumbles out, holding his side. “It’s a fucking—”
His head explodes in front of me as he collapses to the dirt. I lift my AR and turn toward the direction the bullet came from. Spraying bullets into the trees, I try to mow down the attacker. This isn’t Aris’s style, which means he has his men doing his dirty work. Someone grunts from the trees and I charge after them.
I tackle the man and lay a hard punch to his kidney. He groans, attempting to roll away from me, splattering us with mud, but I’m stronger. I flip the man and shove the barrel of my AR against his Adam’s apple, making him gag and cough.
Niles motherfucking Nikolaides.
The urge to shoot his head right off his spine is strong, but I need answers. I kick him hard in the stomach, making him howl.
“Get the fuck up and walk,” I bellow.
He groans and unsteadily makes his way to his feet.
“Turn.” As soon as his back is to me, I poke the gun in between his shoulder blades. “To your left.” My phone buzzes and I quickly answer it. “What?”
“It’s Adrian,” he barks out. “Where are you?”
“Walking Niles to the goddamn cellar. Where are you?”
“Standing behind the Porsche. We can see them inside. A man and a woman. Call it and I’ll put a bullet in their heads.”
“No,” I growl. “I want my brother alive. I’m going to tie down this fucker and then I’m on my way.”
“Hold on,” he bites at me as he talks to someone. “No fuckin’ way. Basil has Phoenix.”
That traitorous motherfucker.
“Tell Basil to bring Phoenix to the cellar to keep his daddy company and to watch them both. You keep Aris there.”
We hang up just as I storm into the groundskeeper’s house with Niles leading the way. The groundskeeper sits on the sofa, soaked to the bone, holding pressure to his stomach as blood blooms over his hands. He gurgles out something to me, but it’s too late. Hot pain slices through the back of my arm, just as I’m turning. Whoever nearly stabbed me in the goddamn back, missed a deadlier hit when I moved at the last minute, but it still hurts like a motherfucker. With my gun still trained on Niles, I swing out with my leg, taking down my assailant. They hit the ground with a loud grunt.
I sling the AR to the guy’s face and pop him right in the mouth with three bullets. Niles tries to run, but I crack him hard in the back of the head with the butt of the AR. He falls hard on his knees but doesn’t go completely down.
“Get your ass down those stairs or I’ll kick you down them,” I roar, shoving the barrel into his back. “Move.”
He groans and curses all the way down to the cellar. I force him into the chair and tie him tight enough around his wrists, his hands turn purple. I’m about to head back upstairs when Basil and Bronn manhandle Phoenix down the steps. His face is beat all to hell, but he’s raging like a beast. Not taking any chances, I stay until they get him subdued with an elbow to the face and tied down.