by Jack Porter
Despite myself, it was an interesting revelation. “And yet, you still draw breath. You still sit there in your office, spewing shit from your face hole.”
Dario Gambetti barked a harsh, grating laugh. “Yes, indeed. And that’s the crux of my story. That’s the reason my name is so important, and yours means so little. It’s the difference between you and I. Because as a Gambetti, I am never alone. Should I need it, I can go to those who share my last name, those who wield real power, and ask for their help.”
At the cocksucker’s words, I felt a sense of foreboding grow in the pit of my stomach. I thought I understood where this old bastard’s story was heading.
This time, I didn’t interrupt. I let him continue to talk at his own pace.
He did so, his voice almost a sneer. “There are people in my family who command powers beyond your comprehension. When they learned of my plight, they granted me a gift. The amulet you saw me wearing when we met. And that was enough. The assassins my rivals sent after me couldn’t get through. They couldn’t hurt me, and neither can you. End result? I’m still here. That rival is not.”
I really didn’t like where the story was heading, but at least now I knew for certain that Azrael had been correct. Somewhere in the Syndicate sat a man or woman with a demon at their side. A powerful adversary, still hidden in shadows.
And, unfortunately, it seemed that this man, this Dario Fucking Gambetti, had that person’s ongoing support.
“Do you have a point?” I demanded. “Or do you just like reliving ancient history?”
Once more, the crime boss barked a laugh. “You know, you really are an asshole. You’re rude, and altogether too brash for my liking. It’s like you wander around with a huge chip on your shoulder. And you’re too pretty by far. Despite all that, I might have liked you, but you had to go and murder my nephew.”
Chapter 44
I had to admit, Dario’s words caught me by surprise. “Your nephew? Who the fuck was your nephew?”
In my head, I went through my list of victims, but couldn’t figure out which of them might have been related to Dario.
“You knew him as Megadeath #4.”
“That piece of shit? He was trying to kill me!”
“So?”
“So you would have preferred that I just lay down and die?”
“Personally, I don’t give a shit. All I care about is that you killed him, and for that, you will pay.”
I was seething. Of all the stupid, dumbass reasons this man could have it out for me, I hadn’t expected petty revenge to be it. Yet it made a certain amount of sense. Dario Gambetti’s request for a meeting had turned up on the same day I’d killed his nephew. That the selfish son-of-a-fuck had kidnapped my women and used them as bait to try and kill me didn’t seem to matter.
I frowned, piecing it together. It also explained, in part at least, how Megadeath #4 had learned where I lived. If Dario Fucking Gambetti had a file on me, then there was no reason on this earth why he shouldn’t share that file with his nephew. And here was me and the girls living in Megadeath’s home.
As far as revelations went, Megadeath #4 being Dario Gambetti’s nephew wasn’t a bad one. Hardly earth-shattering, but it did answer some questions.
But the other shoe was yet to fall.
With mounting dread, half knowing already what Dario Gambetti might say, I asked a question. “Well, I’m sure you’re the life of the party, telling stories like that, but perhaps you can draw me a picture. What the fuck does you sharing the Gambetti family name have anything to do with what’s happening now?”
“Come now, Simon. I thought you were smarter than that. Surely you’ve put two and two together by now?”
“Listen here, you self-righteous prick. Why don’t you assume I have not, and spell it out for me?”
Again, the older man laughed. “Very well. I will spell it out for you. What do you think my response might be if I have a problem with an upstart like you?”
It was my turn to laugh. “I don’t know. Maybe you would shit your pants? Hide in a corner? Go home to mommy?”
I wanted to piss him off, but all he did was laugh once again. “Close, with your run home to mommy comment. But not precisely. Once it was clear that you would keep going no matter how I strengthened my defenses, I went to my family. I asked for their assistance. And do you know what I found out?
This was it. Somehow, I knew, Dario Fucking Gambetti was about to drop that other shoe, and I wouldn’t like it one bit.
“Goddamn,” I said. “It’s like pulling fucking teeth with you, isn’t it?”
“I found out where you are living.”
Fuck.
It was as bad as I could imagine. Somehow, Dario Gambetti had once again found out where I was. And that meant we were no longer safe in Megadeath’s home.
“Did you now?” I asked.
“Yes. I did. I have to say, how you claimed ownership was clever. That would be Rachel’s doing, would it not? But when the dust settles, you are still living in my nephew’s house! And if you think you can do that, while I still have breath in my body, then you better think again! How dare you defile his memory like that? How fucking dare you?”
I understood the danger we were in. Even now, there could be an army coming our way. Yet I couldn’t let him enjoy his victory completely. I still wanted to bring him down a peg or two.
So, with a snarl, I answered his question. “To the victor goes the spoils,” I said. With that, I decided there was no more to gain by remaining on the line. In fact, Dario Gambetti was probably stalling for time, giving his men the chance to arrive on our doorstep before we could react.
I knew, in a way, he had beaten me. At least for the moment. But I was damned if I was going to act like it.
“You are a piece of shit,” I said. “I’ll deal with you later.” With that, I hung up.
Chapter 45
“Fuck!” I said. I glared at the phone as if it was the cause of all my problems, then flung it away from me in a surge of anger.
Dario Fucking Gambetti! In every way that mattered, he was absolutely correct. Here was me, thinking I was doing so well in taking his business apart, but one little meeting between Gambetti and his boss changed everything.
I wanted to rage, to swear, to lash out in mindless fury, just to give vent to my rage and frustration, but knew I didn’t have the luxury or time to do it.
Instead, I swore a few more times as I made my way to the security room and studied the screens.
At first, everything looked as it should have. There was no sign of movement in the woods surrounding the house, nothing coming up the driveway, no reason to be alarmed.
I wondered again if Dario Fucking Gambetti might have been bluffing, but knew in my soul that he wasn’t. There was an attack coming. There was no doubt in my mind.
The only question was when.
Then, even that wasn’t a question. Megadeath had cameras everywhere, including on the road that led to his place. The farthest one out, the one placed half a mile from the house caught my attention.
There literally was an army heading our way.
It could have been just a coincidence. It could have been a normal exercise, with troop carriers and armored vehicles coincidentally traveling along the road that led to the house. For a wild, deluded moment, I clung to that hope, then dismissed it.
There was no way this was a coincidence. Not after having just spoken to Dario and hearing his threats. For this to be a coincidence would have taken divine intervention.
And anyway, even though the line of six or seven vehicles that I could see looked like the type of things the military might use—Humvees, an armored personnel carrier, and a line of SUVs—there was something about them that didn’t ring true.
A military exercise would look the part. The Humvees and larger vehicles would adhere to a consistent look and feel. But this was more haphazard.
The armored vehicle in the middle of it all was done up
in camouflage. But one of the Humvees was black, and the other was painted bright yellow. And the SUVs were inconsistent as well.
The vehicles and people approaching weren’t regular army. They were mercenaries, a gathering of men loyal to their paychecks. Individuals, small teams rather than a single, unified unit.
And they were coming to kill me and the girls.
With that thought in mind, I punched the button to the intercom. “Rachel, Piper, Sandy. We’ve got company,” I grated. “Drop whatever you’re doing and join me in the basement. Do it now. We have, by the looks of it, only a couple of minutes before they arrive.”
Chapter 46
I activated the house’s defenses, including the shield system, the guns, and everything else, and listened to the electronic whirring of machinery embedded in the walls followed by the heavy thunk of the shields closing. Then I sat back and watched the screens, with one of the controllers in my hands, thinking back to my days as a professional gamer.
This would be much like one of the games I used to play. The siege style thing where you could choose to be either attackers or defenders. I’d played mostly as an attacker, and kinda regretted it right at that moment, even as I reminded myself that this wasn’t a game.
This was real. Dario Fucking Gambetti had sent these men to murder us, and they wouldn’t give up until they had completed the job.
Sandy was the first of the girls to make it downstairs, with Rachel close on her tail.
“What’s happening?” the blonde woman asked, her anxiety clear to see despite the additional courage Azrael had given her. “What’s going on? Why have those steel shutters closed?”
Before I could answer, Rachel gathered Sandy up in her arms and held her tight. “It’s all right,” the goth woman said. “We’ll be fine. Whatever’s happening, we will be fine. Right, Simon?”
With a certain grim determination, I nodded. At the same time, I watched as the convoy of disparate military vehicles came closer and gathered where the road turned into the driveway.
It was an impressive sight. The armored personnel carrier alone carried some powerful weapons, and who knew how many people. Sure, Megadeath’s house was built like a bunker, but it was hardly invulnerable. What if this ground assault was just one part of the plan?
Did Dario have enough pull to rain death on us from above? Like, an F15 jet bristling with missiles?
I shook my head. Not likely, I thought. If he had that sort of military muscle behind him, surely he would have used it first off.
“I’ll tell you all when Piper is here too,” I began, answering Rachel’s question. Just as I spoke, the assassin appeared next to the other two, her eyes bright with anticipation. “Ah, good.” I said. “It turns out that the meeting Gambetti had with his boss bore some fruit. He found out where we are, and you can see the result.” I gestured at the screens, and listened to Sandy’s sharp intake of breath and Piper’s curse. As with most things, Rachel seemed to accept the realities of the situation with casual equanimity. She just looked at me and asked a question.
“What are we going to do?” she asked. “Can we escape?”
I looked at the screens, wondering if there was any way past them. Maybe I could find a way, and Piper as well. But Rachel and Sandy?
No chance.
At the thought, I felt Azrael stir in my mind, and I knew he was about to suggest I do it anyway. Get out of there. Leave the girls to fend for themselves, and start over.
He’d made the suggestion before.
But I shook my head before he could speak, silencing him and answering Rachel at the same time.
“We’re going to stay here, and survive,” I said. “Blow the shit out of them. And when we’re done, we will jam whatever’s left of that personnel carrier up Dario Gambetti’s ass.”
My answer seemed to improve the girls’ state of mind. It was like they accepted my words as a statement of fact, like they heard determination in my tone, and it gave them confidence.
“What do you need us to do?” Rachel asked.
“I just need you and Sandy to be safe. Piper, there are guns on the roof, and I can only control one at a time. Have you used anything like this in the past?”
“Not like this. Not quite. But I’m a fast learner.”
“Good. Take a seat. And let the games begin!”
Chapter 47
This was it, I thought. The biggest test of my life. Not even the battle against Megadeath #4 could compare. That had been merely a skirmish, but this was a full-on battle.
As we watched, the armored vehicle, Humvees, and more disgorged armed men wearing dark clothes. I couldn’t hear them–the cameras didn’t seem to be wired for sound–but their actions were clear. They peeled off in multiple directions at once, obviously intending to circle the place. Then several of the vehicles started forward again, moving slowly down the driveway.
I armed the various mines around the property, my thumb hovering over the button.
I didn’t know their exact intentions. Would they drive up to the house and demand my surrender? Or would it be an all-out attack from the start?
It didn’t matter. I wasn’t going to give them the initiative. If they were going to play this game against me, they would play by my rules.
I brought up the screen that showed where the mines were laid and waited.
As I did, I sent a quick thought to Azrael. “You got any game changing ideas?” I asked him. “Any points lying around that could be used to, I don’t know, make us all invulnerable? Immune to bullets? That sort of thing?”
“Nothing like that,” my demon replied. “But I’ve been getting stronger and stronger these past few weeks. I have gained a not insignificant amount of my former power. I’m on the cusp of being… more.”
“More what?” I asked.
“More capable. You will see. Another seduction or two should do the trick.”
Great, I thought to myself. I was about to be attacked by a whole fucking army, and Azrael expected me to go out and score a couple more times.
“How the fuck am I supposed to find one or two more people to seduce now?”
Azrael laughed. “Are you that slow to learn?” he asked. “It doesn’t have to be you.”
Of course, I thought, and quietly kicked myself. He was right. I should have figured it out for myself.
As I continued to wait, I found myself hoping that Bridget, Sara, Heather, Danielle, Tracey, or one of the other dozen and some woman I had slept with over the past few weeks would hurry up and get laid.
Then I waited some more.
A little more…
Only then, and with a sense of anticipation, did I hit the trigger.
It wasn’t like a Hollywood explosion, all fire and flashing lights. Instead, a huge mound of earth erupted with a group of the mercenaries virtually on top of it.
It was glorious. It was gruesome. Bits of what had once been men flew in every direction, and I knew that the mines had done their job. Half a moment later, we all heard the distant boom! of the explosion, and I felt a shudder as the shockwave rolled through the house. I even imagined I heard the men’s shouts of pain.
Nor was that explosion the only one. I’d waited until several groups strayed into multiple danger areas, and fired them as well, one after the other.
I could see the panic in the way those that survived hurled themselves to the ground, and I offered a feral grin to Piper. She stared at the screen with approval.
“Good start,” the assassin said. “Are there any more of those mines?”
“A few. Nearer the house, and in the driveway.”
“Good.”
As the dust cleared, it became obvious that the mercenaries were far from defeated. There seemed to be just as many of them as there had been before, but now, instead of spreading out through the trees, they gathered back at the vehicles, following along with them in the driveway. Perhaps they figured there was less chance of mines along that route.
&n
bsp; If they did, they were wrong. I waited for the first vehicle, one of the Humvees, to reach a point on the map, and triggered another mine.
The Humvee flew up in the air as if on a gigantic spring, and landed on its rear before toppling onto its roof. “Bullseye!” I said, punching the air in celebration.
I admit it. I was enjoying myself. And while I regretted damaging the driveway, I was more than pleased to see that I’d virtually blocked it completely.
Once again, the mercenaries dove for cover, although this time, they were quick to regain their feet when the echoes of the latest explosion faded. Several of them were waving their arms and shouting at the rest, although what they were saying, I couldn’t tell.
“They’re ordering each other off the road,” Piper supplied. Either she could read lips or had a better sense of what was happening than I did. The assassin was smiling. “They’re afraid the whole length of it is booby-trapped, and that they’ll be caught defenseless.”
It was a good thought, but unfortunately, untrue. But that didn’t mean the driveway was completely unguarded.
I blew two more mines, one at the back of the convoy, right at the start of the driveway, and one in the middle.
The middle one did the most damage, but even then, it wasn’t as spectacular as the first. It blew up between two SUVs, blowing out the back window and tires of one, and shunting the other aside.
As I watched seasoned soldiers flailing about, not knowing which direction to go, I found myself smiling. They had dared to attack me on my home turf. Sure, they had access to information. Perhaps they even understood Megadeath’s defenses, given that Dario Fucking Gambetti was his uncle.
