Page 36 of Twisted Throne

I heard more gunshots coming from outside. Either Ricky, Bear and the rest of the men were here, or me and my guys were in serious trouble. But that wasn’t my concern; my job was getting to Gia. Get the asset to safety, then the men, then wreak a little revenge if there was time.

In between the shots, I heard a muffled scream from overhead.There.

I went through the door the dead asshole had used and spotted a set of stairs. I took the steps two at a time. It was always so simple at times like this. They had something of ours and I’d kill anyone who kept me from getting it back.

There was a small landing at the top with three doors leading from it—two opening on bedrooms, one locked tight. I headed to the single closed door, making no attempt to be quiet. Whoever had Gia, they could hear me even over the racket downstairs, and I liked that. I wanted them to know I was here. And death had come with me.

I burst through the door, then ducked to the left as a bullet whizzed through the doorway and hit the drywall of the hall. “Killed in the crossfire” was still a loss for us and a victory for the Sabitinos, so I couldn’t fire back until I got my bearings and could make sure that I wouldn’t hit Gia.

The room was small and smelled musty. Emilio was to the right of the door. Behind him Gia sprawled on a filthy mattress on the floor, her hands behind her back, tied to the rusty radiator on the wall.

Merda.

I didn’t have a clean shot without risking hitting Gia, and he knew it.

“Ah, ah,” he tutted, his gun pointed at my head. “You wouldn’t want to hit thesignora, now would you?”

I didn’t lower the gun I had pointed at him, but I knew he was right. Over his shoulder Gia stared at me, eyes wide with fear, silently pleading with me. I remember what it was like the first time I was in a firefight; I thought I was going to puke on Angelo’s shoes. But at least I’d had a gun.

“Borelli. I thought that you might have had something to do with all of the commotion outside,” Emilio said, sounding remarkably calm.

“Fuck you,” I snarled.

“Gia and I were just about to get to know each other, but we’ll have plenty of time for that later.” His cold laugh sent icy spears of fear down my spine that I hadn’t felt since I was a kid.

“Now drop your goddamn gun or I’ll put a bullet in both of you.”

I had no choice. I lowered my gun slowly to the floor and kicked it away from me. I was mentally calculating how long it would take me to pull my second one out of its holster.

“I’d always heard you were a dangerous man, Pauly. But I always had a sneaking suspicion that you were just a pussy from the wrong side of—”

Before he could finish, I hurled myself forward and delivered a sharp blow to his wrist. The gun dropped from his hand and skittered across the floor. Before he could regain his balance I had him on the ground.

His head hit the wooden floor with a thud. My fist pounded into his face. Blood spurted from his nose and it broke with a loud crack. He struggled underneath me, and the coppery blood scent drove me on. I continued to rain down blows to his face and head, not stopping until Gia called out frantically from behind me.

“Paul! The door!”

I whipped around and saw another one of Sabitino’s men in the doorway. I rolled off of Emilio and reached out for his dropped pistol. From my knees, I put a bullet in the goon’s gut before thecazzocould get a shot off. He dropped to the floor. I scrambled upright and stepped over Emilio’s prone form to where the thug lay in the doorway, hands clasped over the gaping hole under his ribs. Blood gurgled out of his mouth as I pressed my gun to his head and pulled the trigger.

Gia screamed just as I began to turn. Something hard cracked across the back of my head, and blackness billowed across my vision. Staggering, I fell forward onto my knees, head spinning. Something scuffled behind me, Gia grunted with effort, and footsteps pelted past me out of the room. I lost them in the chaos of gunfire below us.

“Paul! Are you okay?” Gia cried out. Somehow she was on her knees now with her hands in front of her. She’d gotten one hand free from the radiator. Blood showed around her wrists and under her nails where she’d torn at the ropes. The foul mattress was disarranged, kicked away where she’d struggled to reach Emilio’s gun.

“I’m fine.” I paused, looking to where Emilio’s gun lay, just out of her reach. “What would you have done if you’d reached it?”

“I-I don’t know.”

I knew I was making her uncomfortable, but I was genuinely curious.

She didn’t say anything more. Before I could push her on it, I noticed that the noise from below had quieted. I stepped out into the hallway just as Frank appeared at the top of the stairs.

“All Sabitino’s men are down,” he reported. “Ricky took a bullet to the shoulder, but we had no losses. He’s headed to Doc now.”

“What about Emilio?” I snapped.

“No sign of him,” Frank replied. “He’s not one of the men down.”

Goddamn it, he made it out.