Chapter 18 - PUT IT DOWN
The gun looked enormous in Nina’s hands.
Carla stopped breathing.
“Nina, baby, don’t touch it.”
Dean froze on the floor.
Massimo’s face went white.
Nina stared at the weapon like it was a strange toy she did not understand.
“Put it down,” Massimo said softly.
Dean moved one inch.
Massimo’s voice became thunder.
“Don’t.”
Nina looked at him.
“Bad?”
“Very bad.”
She immediately dropped the pistol.
Marco stepped from behind the greenhouse door and kicked it away.
Dean laughed bitterly. “You said alone.”
Massimo pressed a hand to his bleeding shoulder. “I lie to traitors.”
Dean’s face twisted.
He reached inside his jacket.
Marco fired.
The bullet hit Dean in the thigh.
He collapsed screaming.
A small remote detonator fell from his hand.
Massimo looked at it.
“What did you wire?”
Dean laughed through the pain. “Everything.”
A red light blinked on the remote.
Marco swore. “Move!”
The first explosion came from the mansion.
Windows blew outward in a flash of orange.
Carla grabbed Nina.
A second explosion ripped through the west wing.
Dean grinned from the floor. “Your empire’s burning.”
Massimo looked at him.
Then at Nina hiding her face in Carla’s shoulder.
Something inside him settled.
“Let it.”
Dean stopped smiling.
Massimo limped toward Carla.
“Get everyone clear.”
Marco radioed the security teams.
The third blast hit the garage.
Flames climbed into the October sky.
Anthony came running from the tree line with two guards.
“The account servers!” he shouted. “The records!”
Massimo did not even turn around.
“People first.”
Anthony stared at him as if he had become someone else.
Maybe he had.
Sirens grew louder in the distance.
Dean looked toward the road.
For the first time, real panic crossed his face.
Massimo noticed.
“You scared of cops now?”
Dean spat blood and smiled.
“Not cops.”
May you like
Then black SUVs appeared beyond the burning gates.
Bellandi SUVs.
