Dark Saint [Romano Brotherhood, #1]

39 | Nina

Something is wrong something is wrong something is wrong something is wrong.

The alarm pounds through my skull in time with my frantic steps as I sprint downstairs, seeking out my friends. Halfway there, I crash headlong into Samuel. He steadies and pulls me along with him in the same beat, and all questions die on my tongue as I'm faced with the urgency of the situation. Pistachio bumps into my legs, tail nervously tucked. I scoop him up, my chest loosening with relief when we run into Leah and Nico.

"What the hell is going on?" I raise my voice to be heard over the alarms. Leah's eyes are blown wide in fear as she shrugs helplessly, pulling Nico closer.

"Nico, take them to the panic room," Samuel orders.

"No," Leah gasps, "you can't. You can't do this alone. I'm not letting you."

"Le—"

"No. We're doing this together. All of us. Right?" She meets my eyes desperately, and I'm already nodding. It can't be any other way. We're already split up, waiting for the others to come back. We have to stay together.

"Now, is there no camera on that thing? Can you see who's there?" Leah plows through Samuel's protests, gesturing vaguely to his phone which he holds in a death grip. The alarm system is connected to our devices and when it's tripped, you can access cameras that show exactly where the intruder is trying to enter. 

He shakes his head, lips pressed into a thin line. "I can't see anything. Cameras are down. All I know is that it's the front door."

"Maybe it's nothing. Maybe—"

"I'm not taking that fucking chance. This happens today of all days?" Samuel shakes his head, dissolving into unintelligible mutterings as he taps around on his phone. 

"Okay. Okay, fine. Let's go. Come on, give me a weapon," Leah snaps, holding out a hand. 

"Christ," her husband mutters, pushing her behind him and leveling me with a hard glare. "Stay behind me. All of you. I swear to fuck."

Nico tugs me behind him, and my heart pinches.

"Here." A gun is shoved into my hand, and nobody asks if I know what to do with it. As I grip the cool metal, it hits me that the training Santo did with me is finally about to either prove itself useful, or a complete waste of time. I thought I'd been relatively prepared then, thought it was simple enough to shoot a gun and hit at least somewhere on a target. But faced with the real thing now, I suddenly feel as helpless as an infant.

There's nothing to do except hold on tight, trying to imitate the way Nico expertly handles his own firearm, his face set in a determination that doesn't fit someone of his age.

And like that, the four of us—plus one scared puppy—approach the door in a slow moving cluster. Fear pounds so intensely in my chest that I could swear I'm about to go into cardiac arrest. Who would try and break in through the front door? Could it really be Luciano?

I feel so far removed from him—from who I was those mere months ago, before I came here. I have a hard time believing that this is his doing. That he'd waste any time on me. Any instance I've passed through Luciano's mind recently, it's seemed to be only when he thinks he can knock Santo's focus off balance. 

"Ready?" Samuel murmurs. Without giving us a second to answer, he swings the door wide open in one fluid movement. We all whip our guns towards the threat.

The pizza delivery man screams and drops his pizza boxes onto the porch.

"Fucking fucker, fucking shit," Samuel is shouting, lowering his gun. We all do the same, albeit slowly. "What the fuck is—"

"I just—the alarms started going as soon as I stepped up here! I don't know!" The delivery guy looks like he's seconds away from simultaneously pissing himself and passing out. 

Leah and I slowly step out from behind our human shields. Pistachio's tail starts wagging as he smells the pizzas, which are now sliding halfway out of their boxes on the ground.

"I ordered a pizza!" Nico cries in sudden realization.

"Christ," Samuel grounds out, shoving a hand through his short hair, "and you didn't think to mention it?"

"I didn't know I had to!"

"Your brother needs to get a new alarm system. 'The best money can buy' my fucking ass," Samuel grunts. "It's his one deficiency, I swear. I've been telling him for months." A sudden squeal of tires catches our attention, and we watch the small car with the Spacca Napoli logo careen its way off the property.

"Did you know," Leah turns to me with the attitude of a cocked hip and pursed lips, "that Spacca Napoli are the only fucking people who can get past the gates and walk straight to the front door with no one knowing? Not even our most trusted associates can do that shit. That's how serious these men are about their pizza."

"I still need to be buzzed in," Samuel grumbles, crossing his arms. 

Nico is looking down at the pizza sadly. He seems to be evaluating if there are slices that are still edible. 

All the adrenaline suddenly exits my body in a rush, leaving me wilting against the side of the house, my limbs almost shaking. My hand holding the gun is practically buzzing. I wish someone else had been behind that door. Someone I could've used this thing on. 

Unexpected laughter shakes from my chest at the thought, and after exchanging a quick look, Leah and Nico follow suit. We stand there for several seconds, laughing out our relief. But the gravity of our situation soon settles on our shoulders again with a newfound heaviness that doesn't let the lighthearted moment last long.

After an impromptu lunch of the pizza that wasn't splattered all over the porch, I find myself in the shower. The heavenly water pressure pelts down on my shoulders in a delicious thrum. Santo's shower is complete with all the bells and whistles you'd expect a man with too much money to have, but right now it feels like a prison. 

There's no escaping the worry. I thought the noise of the water would help drown out the horrible silence and give me something to hold onto, but no matter what, the dread persists.

Something is wrong something is wrong something is wrong something is wrong.

After my shower, I pull on one of Santo's shirts. It's soft and it smells like him, reaching down mid-thigh. I curl up on his sheets, leaving the door wide open so I'll hear if anything happens. As soon as Samuel gets word, I know he'll yell.

So I wait.

And for some reason, after a blurred stretch of numbing time, the fear is gone—replaced with a cold anger that turns my bones to steel and just fucking begs for me to set something on fire. And I have a feeling I know exactly who I'll be starting with.

---

Because I simply do not want to wait til Tuesday to reveal what's happening, the next chapter will be up in an hour. 

Who just needs for Nina to go a little insane? Because I do. 

Thank you for reading!!

- G