CHAPTER 86 — SERPENTS IN THE GARDEN

CHAPTER 86 — SERPENTS IN THE GARDEN
DONOVAN’S POV

I moved instantly to place myself between Violet and this new threat, my hand on my gun even as I assessed our position. 
Marco stood frozen by the window, his own weapon has been forgotten in his shock. Laura had dropped the tablet and her eyes are wide with fear as she backed toward the wall.

“Who are you?” I demanded,  as I watched more of the armed men pour into the compound.
“And what the hell do you want?”

The silver-haired man smiled, but there was no warmth in it. 
“I am Alessandro Volterra and what I want is exactly what Marco promised me, a partnership in the control of the Gray Circle, and the Lancaster heiress to legitimize my claim to power.”

“Legitimize?” Violet stepped around me with her chin set high despite the danger surrounding us. 
“You think marrying me will make your criminal empire legal? That’s delusional even by this family’s standards.”

Alessandro laughed.
“Marriage isn’t really necessary to make it legitimate my dear. Just your bloodline. With your DNA and my resources, we can build something far more powerful than any crime family in history, as legitimate as a global enterprise that controls everything from real estate to pharmaceuticals and even to governments.”

I saw Damien reach for his weapon, but I shook my head slightly, not yet. 
We were outnumbered, outgunned, and we still had Marco’s detonator to worry about.

“What about our deal, Alessandro?” Marco finally found his voice, stepping forward with his gun raised again, but though this time it was aimed at the Volterra leader and not at us. 
“You said you’d help me take over the city!”

“And I will,” Alessandro said calmly, as if Marco wasn’t pointing a weapon at him. “After I eliminate the competition. And that's including you, Marco. You’ve served your purpose by bringing the Lancaster girl to me, even though I came myself, but let's just say you brought her to me. But now it’s time for you to step aside.”

Before Marco could react, one of Alessandro’s men moved with impossible speed, disarming him and slamming him against the wall. The detonator clattered to the floor, and I lunged for it, but Laura was faster, she snatched it up and immediately pressed the button to arm it before I could reach her.

“Nobody moves!” she shouted, holding the device high above her head. 
“One step, and we all go up in flames!”

The room fell silent. Alessandro’s men lowered their weapons slightly, but their fingers stayed on their triggers. 
My brothers and I stood frozen while watching as Laura’s hands shook with the weight of what she held.

“Laura, don’t do this,” I said quietly, moving toward her slowly, carefully. 
“We can still fix this. Remember what we had together.”

“What we had?” she laughed, but tears streamed down her face. 
“You all don't remember what you and I had, why should I? You chose her over me! All of you! I came back from the dead, I have been training for years to be strong enough to come back to you, to be able to stand by you, and you threw it all away for a woman who doesn’t even belong in your world!”

“Laura,” Alistair’s voice came from the doorway, and we all turned to see him standing there, he's looking all bloodied but seems to be unharmed with two of his men behind him. 
“The tunnels aren’t sealed. Your modifications actually created a secondary route we could use, so we’re not trapped.”

I saw hope flicker in Laura’s eyes before she hardened her expression again.
“It doesn’t matter. Alessandro’s men have the compound surrounded. Even if you get out, they’ll hunt you down one by one.”

“Maybe,” Violet said, stepping forward until she was just feet from Laura.
“But you don’t have to help them. You can still choose the Einstein brothers, choose the family that loves you, even when you make mistakes.”
"I wasn't talking to you bitch." She snapped at Violet.
"I slowly move forward towards her. "Don't do this Laura, you still have us and you know that."

Laura’s grip on the detonator loosened slightly. 
“You don’t understand,” she whispered. “Alessandro has something on me. Something he’ll release if I don’t do what he says.”

“Then let us help you,” Damien said, his voice softer than I’d heard it in years. “Whatever it is, we’ll fix it together, we owe you that much.”

Before Laura could respond, Alessandro moved forward, his hand lightning-fast as he snatched the detonator from her grasp.
“Enough of this sentimental nonsense,” he said, pressing the button to disarm it and tossing it aside like it was worthless. 
“I’ve gotten everything I need from this little drama. Now, Violet, you’re coming with me.”

His men moved toward her, but my brothers and I were already in motion. Damien tackled two of them before they could reach her, his movements brutal and efficient. 
Alistair grabbed Laura and pulled her to safety behind a heavy desk as gunfire erupted throughout the room, even though she betrayed us, I'm sure he wants to give her a benefit of doubt and I will want to hear what she have to say for herself too. But that can wait.

I threw myself in front of Violet, shielding her with my body as bullets whined past us, shattering the window behind us and sending glass raining down across the floor.

“Move!” I shouted, pulling her toward the broken window. 
“The terrace, we can get to the escape route from there!”

We scrambled through the shattered glass onto the stone terrace that's overlooking the valley below. 
I can feel the freezing cold night air as it blows against my skin, and I could see Volterra men swarming the grounds below with their flashlights cutting through the darkness like searchlights.

“Over there!” Violet pointed to a narrow path that carved into the mountainside, it's barely more than a goat trail that's hidden by rocks and foliage. 
“Rosa told me about it, it's leads to an old shepherd’s cabin where we can hide.”
I wonder how Rosa knows all she knows, but that's a question for another day.

We ran with my hand tight in hers as we navigated the treacherous path. Behind us, I could hear gunfire and shouts as my brothers held off Alessandro’s men. Alistair’s voice crackled in my earpiece and it sounds strained but clear.

“Donovan, we’ve got them pinned down for now, but they’re bringing in reinforcements.
Get Violet to safety and meet us at the rendezvous point by the old church in San Gimignano. We’ll hold them off as long as we can.”

“Negative,” I said, pulling Violet around a sharp bend in the path.
“We’re not leaving without you.”

“Damien’s already on his way to flank them,” Alistair continued. 
“Just get her the fuck away from here Donovan.”

I cursed under my breath but didn’t argue, he was right. My priority should be keeping Violet safe. We reached the shepherd’s cabin minutes later, a small stone structure hidden among pine trees and boulders.
I pushed Violet inside, barricading the door with a heavy wooden table before turning to assess our situation.

The cabin was sparse with just a bed, a wood stove, and shelves lined with canned goods and dried meat. Through the small window, I could see flashlights moving through the trees below, getting closer every minute.

“We can’t stay here long,” I said, moving to the wood stove to start a fire to create smoke that would hide our position from aerial surveillance.

Violet moved beside me, help me gather some kindlings. “They’ll find us eventually,” she said quietly.
“Alessandro won’t stop until he has me.”

“I won’t let him take you,” I said firmly, pulling her close against my chest. “I’d die before I let anyone hurt you.”

Just then, we heard a knock at the door, I reached for my gun, moving to stand between Violet and the door as I called out.

“Who is it?”