Arkady was finishing up on his headset when the video call from Croatia came in. He took it off, threw it out of the line of sight. Scrambling back to his customary chair, he nodded at Nik. "We're a go."Nik connected the call. "Agent Horvat, hello.""Hello, Ms. Pelaez. Mr. Penn. Counselor Amatucci."We all nodded. Agent Rosetti's alert came through. Nik got her connected as well. After the second round of salutations were completed, Horvat got straight to business. "If we've all seen the same footage, there's no point in trying to determine what variances there might be. We need to determine the signals as quickly as possible. It might be worth our while to attack while the compound is in disarray."Agent Rosetti nodded. "We concur. We'll be behind your teams, Horvat. There's simply no changing that. But we could be there within the hour. Provide aerial back up as needed. We've reached out to the Italian Army. They're willing to supply us with two Blackhawk helicopters with
"Nest to Exfil Two. Nest to Exfil Two," Arkady's voice sounded in my head. "Exfil Two, copy. Go ahead Nest," Striker said. "Targets are at secondary location. Counselor, Fancy Pants, and Rogue are en route."I looked at Striker, gave him a nod. "Exfil Two en route to secondary, Nest.""Copy that, Exfil Two. Nest, out."I couldn't get anyone to hear me over the sound of the waves, so I just held my tongue. If something was happening to the girls, I was definitely going to be there. The fact that Nico and Foster were heading there didn't bode well. Using sign language, I asked Striker, How long?He shot me what looked like a thumbs up. In American Sign Language, it was the number ten. I nodded. I could hold out for ten more minutes. Hopefully. If someone thought to hurt my baby or Jaz, they were going to be in for a very rude awakening.
We rocked up to the secondary house. With the interior lights off in the SUV, we all exited the vehicle. I made sure to make as little noise as humanly possible. Although, given the four of us, it was definitely me who could be heard over the still sounds of the night. Foster handed me a gun as we all met at the front door. "I'll go in first. Two second delay."Everyone nodded and lined up. All around us, the night was still and calm. It made the hair on the back of my neck rise up as chill bumps raced down my spine. And it wasn't because of the temperature. Something was very wrong.We made our way down the cobble path, our faint shadows the only witnesses to our journey. Right at this moment in time, I was wishing I had thought to grab up a set of the comms. Flying by the seat of my pants was never something I aspired to. Clear, concise, thought out plans were my bywords. Foster eased against the side of the house. I took up point on the other side. Kara and Tore stoo
Faint shouts came from the back of the house. Amara had fainted in my arms, exhaustion weighed down her delicate features in the purplish splotches of color under her sunflower blue eyes. Everything inside me fought against handing her off to someone else, but my daughter wasn't the only person we needed to save. Handing her to Marco, I pulled my gun from my holster and made my way to the back of the house. Inhuman shrieks sliced through the air just as what felt and sounded like thunder crashed down the steps. With a prayer to the heavens, I started making my way down the stairs. At the base of them, I saw a confusing pile of limbs, dark clothes, what looked like a white blanket, and a spreading pile of blood. "Get them up. Get them up," Foster barked. "Doc, get her prepped. We're out of time. I'll make sure she stays down this time."I rushed down the rest of the steps, hoped Foster wouldn't shoot me. I couldn't exactly announce my presence in a way he would understand. Ju
The ringing of my phone pulled me out of a sound sleep. Slapping at the infernal buzzing, I managed to catch it before it fell off. Foster's name showed up on my screen. My heart started racing as my chest clenched. "Foster," I said."Nico's been stabbed. Four times. The doctors are working on your sister. We can't get the bleeding to stop in one of the wounds."I shot up in bed as everything washed from my mind but the problem that was in front of me. "I need a picture. I can't help without looking at it.""Video calling."I flicked the button and bit back a scream. Thrusting the blankets back, I got out of bed. Ran from the room. "MAGS!"The house erupted into chaos. Mags met me in the hallway, looking wide awake even in her rubber ducky jammies. I gave her a rundown, told her what I needed. She shoved me towards the conference room. "We'll get you set up, keep talking." She pulled her phone from her pocket. What she said was lost as I focused back on Foster.
Seven hours later, we rushed into the hospital. Momma and Papa hot on my heels. "Domenico Amatucci," I said to the charge nurse in the Emergency Department. "Relationship?" she asked in a bored tone of voice. "Fiancée; these are his parents." I gestured to Momma and Papa. "Third floor, recovery."She was still speaking when I raced for the elevator sign I'd seen on our mad dash in. Jumping into the elevator, I slapped the OPEN button to hold the car for Momma and Papa. They rushed in behind me."You're so fast, figlia," Papa said, his breath panting. "I'm on a mission, Papa. No one's stopping me today." I counted the floors as they were highlighted over the door. As soon as the elevator car rocked to a gentle halt, I was pulling on the doors to get them to open. Following the signs that Momma translated for me, I made my way to the next nurses' station. "Domenico Amatucci. I'm his fiancée and these are his parents." I didn't give her time to delay me. "Room 325."
Standing in the hospital room and holding the baby of my sister was almost more than my heart could handle. The little girl was the picture of health. The glow of health shone from her pristine skin. Sparkled in her stunning blue eyes when she could be bothered to open them. Her snuggles warmed my soul and captured my spirit. "Want to hold her?" I asked Willow. "You need to get some practice in."Willow's eyes widened. She nodded. Shook out her hands. "Yeah." She nodded. "Yeah, that would be good.""Do you want to stand or sit?" I asked her. Willow looked at Ryker. His eyes widened as he shook his head. "I've never held a newborn. I'll be sitting through mine."Willow's laugh was a little strained. "I'll sit, too."Walking over to them, I put the baby in Willow's arms. Helped her adjust her hold. "You're a natural, momma."Willow's entire face relaxed and a sense of wonder filled her mossy green eyes. "She's perfect."I nodded, even though she wasn't looking at me.
I blinked against the low light. Wondered if this was heaven. Since there were no hot women in scanty clothes, I was going to go with no. "Hey, Counselor," Jessa said softly. I turned my head, felt everything inside me bunch and relax. "This is even better than heaven."Her smile was drenched in tears, but she shook her head. "No. Just the VIP room in an Italian hospital." She grabbed my hand, wrapped hers around it. "You scared me, Dom."My heart pinched. She rarely called me that. I could count on one hand the number of times it had passed her lips. "I had to save Jaz. I promised you I would." My mouth felt like it was full of cotton and metal shavings. I tried to swallow. Felt my throat catch. Jessa reached to the bedside table. Grabbed up a cup. When she dipped her fingers in its depths, she came back out with an ice chip. She slid it between my lips. Sighing, she put the cup back down. "You're more important than her. Than her baby." She grabbed up my hand again