Mafia Kings: Adriano: Dark Mafia Romance Series #2

“What’s going on?!” Bianca wailed.

There was no time to answer.

The Uzis chattering on the other side of the door were answer enough.

Lars flung open the expensive drapes on the picture window and stepped back –Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

And Massimo and I opened fire as Bianca screamed.

The glass window shattered almost immediately.

BLAM BLAM –

KRASH!

Massimo and I lowered our guns, and Lars darted in.

He kicked out a few of the bigger shards of glass still sticking up. Then he ripped the comforter off the bed and threw it over the jagged pieces along the window sill.

I stuck my head through the empty window to look around.

Luckily the room was 20 feet from the nearest sidewalk. No one had been beneath the falling glass.

Plenty of screaming pedestrians were running away from the gunshots, though.

The bad news was that we were three stories up.

A jump from this height would break our legs –

So we had to get lower before we dropped to the ground.

Lars was already on it.

“Massimo, strip the bottom sheet off and triple-knot it to one of the bed posts!” Lars yelled as he ripped the top sheet off the mattress. He immediately folded the sheet diagonally and made it as narrow as possible –

Like a makeshift rope.

He then tied several knots at the farthest end.

At the same time, Massimo peeled off the bottom sheet and followed the instructions he’d been given.

“Push the bed over to the window!” Lars yelled as he tied the two sheets together.

The thugs began kicking at the shredded door.

Meanwhile, Massimo slid the bedframe over to the window.

“Is that going to reach to the ground?” I asked.

“No, but it’s gonna have to do!” Lars said as he threw the makeshift rope out the window.

It was long enough to dangle about halfway down –

Which still meant a drop of 12 feet to the grass below.

It wouldn’t break our legs…

But it wouldn’t be pleasant, either.

“Is that going to hold our weight?!” I asked.

“Only one way to find out,” Lars said.

He grabbed the sheet and stepped up onto the windowsill. Glass cracked and gritted beneath the comforter –

And then he stepped out, using the rope to brace himself against the exterior of the building.

The bedframe slammed up against the wall –

But the bedsheets held.

“See you soon!” Lars said as he slid down the makeshift rope.

He got to the very end of the sheets – dangled for a second –

Then dropped.

There was a loud grunt of pain –

And then he was on his feet, hobbling away from the window.

“Be careful of your hands, it burns like hell!” he yelled. “And stop sliding every time you hit a knot, or you’ll go too fast at the end!”

I looked over at Bianca, who was standing in shock by the bathroom.

In my mind’s eye, I saw the poor Ukrainian girl as she collapsed to the ground, her body riddled with bullet holes.

I could only imagine what the Italian girl had looked like.

“Get over here!” I yelled at Bianca as I stuck my gun in the back of my waistband.

She just stared at me in blank terror.

I raced over, grabbed her hand, and dragged her to the window.

“Adriano, there’s no time for her!” Massimo yelled as he pulled his gun.

The thugs in the other room were now firing into the wardrobe, trying to turn it into kindling.

I grabbed Bianca’s face with both my hands and made her look at me.

“I’m going down first. YOU MUST FOLLOW ME. I’ll catch you at the bottom – DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!”

Tears were streaming down her face, but she rapidly shook her head yes.

I nodded, then turned to Massimo. “As soon as I’m down there, MAKE her go!”

“ALRIGHT, JUST GO ALREADY!” he yelled.

I grabbed the sheet, got up on the windowsill like Lars had, backed out –

And then slid down the makeshift rope.

My hands immediately heated up.

I hit the knot where the bed sheets were tied together, which broke my momentum.

I dangled for a split second, then continued my controlled fall.

My hands were burning now. It felt like the skin on the underside of my fingers was being sandpapered off –

And then I hit the final knot at the end of the bedsheet and jerked to a stop.

Now I understood why Lars had tied it: so we could slow our momentum and make the final drop as easy as possible.

I let go and went into freefall.

A second later, my feet hit the ground.

I tried to absorb the impact by bending my knees and falling to the ground –

But a searing jolt of pain still went up my legs as I collapsed onto the grass.

“FUCK!” I swore as I staggered to my feet.

Lars had his gun out. “I don’t see any of the Agrellas’ men – yet.”

“Call our guys,” I ordered, “and get them over here.”

Then I looked up at the shot-out window.

Bianca was staring down at me from the empty frame.

‘Bianca’ means white – and her face was as pale as her namesake.

“COME ON!” I screamed at her. I got right underneath the rope and held out my arms. “I’ll catch you!”

She shook her head ‘no’ –

“MASSIMO, THROW HER OUT IF SHE DOESN’T DO IT ON HER OWN! ON THE COUNT OF THREE – ONE – TWO – ”

The prospect of being thrown out must have terrified her enough to move.

She grabbed the bedsheet and stumbled out onto the windowsill –

Then came sliding down.

She hit the first knot but didn’t really stop, just slowed down a little.

Then she hit the second knot and didn’t stop at all.

“Oh shit,” I muttered under my breath –

And she slammed into me and knocked me onto the ground.

It was like getting hit by a car.

She was tiny, but she had fallen 15 feet –

And she’d barely slowed down at all the entire time she was sliding.

I groaned as she scrambled off me.

“Oh my god, oh my god – are you okay?!” she wailed.

“…fine…” I wheezed as I struggled to my feet.

“Take off your shoes!” Lars yelled at Bianca. “We’re going to have to run for it!”

She quickly started to pull off her stilettos.

Then Massimo yelled from up above, “GET OUT OF THE WAY!”

We scrambled away from the bedsheet rope –

As a bed mattress tumbled down through the air and SLAMMED onto the ground.

“Why didn’t I think of that?” Lars muttered.

“Yeah, why didn’t you think of that?” I snapped as I hobbled across the grass.

Massimo came out the window and started sliding.

It was a good thing he’d thrown the mattress down, because the sheets ripped before he reached the end.

He bellowed in surprise –

And collapsed as soon as his feet hit the mattress.

“SHIT that hurt,” he groaned as he rolled over onto his knees.

Suddenly there was a wooden CRASH from up above.

The thugs were in the room – or would be any second.

“Let’s GO!” Lars yelled as he grabbed Massimo under the big man’s arm and helped him to his feet. “Hug the building!”

I grabbed Bianca’s hand and pulled her to the side of the hotel, where we ran alongside the stone wall.

Lars and Massimo were right behind us.

The thugs got to the window and tried to shoot at us –

But since we were right up against the building, the angle was terrible for their aim.

They probably had to lean waaay out of the window in order to fire at us.

I’m not sure, because I didn’t look back.

All I know is that bullets fwip fwip fwipped into the grass next to us.

Bianca screamed –

But then we reached the corner of the hotel.

Once we turned right and started running along the face of the building, we were safe.

“Lars, where’s Vincenzo?!” I shouted.

“He said he was coming!” Lars yelled from behind me.

“Call him again – ”

I didn’t get the chance to finish my sentence when gunfire broke out at the front of the hotel.

As we ran closer, I could see our three black Mercedes parked out front.

My men were locked in a gun battle with someone in the lobby of the building. I could see the flashes from their pistol muzzles along with the BANG BANG BANG!

“Get your guns out!” I hissed to Lars and Massimo.

We reached the edge of the main entrance and exchanged the spent magazines in our Glocks for fresh ones.

Our foot soldiers had taken cover behind the Mercedes and were firing towards the lobby doors.

A couple of my men were already dead on the ground. The Agrellas’ assassins had apparently surprised them.

“Mass and I will cover you on ‘three,’” Lars said. “Get to the cars.”

“Alright,” I said as I gripped Bianca’s hand tightly.

“Wait!” she whimpered.

I turned to look her in the eye. “When he says ‘three,’ run like hell. I’ll hold your hand the entire way.”

“But – ”

Lars didn’t wait. “One – two – three!”

He and Massimo stepped out far enough from behind cover that they could get a bead on the gunmen inside the lobby.

BLAM BLAM BLAM!

I fired at the lobby with my right hand as I dragged Bianca with my left.

BLAM BLAM BLAM!

The gunmen in the lobby hadn’t been expecting to get flanked.

Lars and Massimo shot several of the bastards, and the others retreated back inside the hotel.

I ducked behind one of the Mercedes with Bianca.

Vincenzo was there beside me. “Boss, we got Lars’ call, but they just started shooting!”

“Get inside and start the engine, then move into the passenger seat!” I ordered him. Then I shouted at my men, “EVERYBODY OPEN FIRE NOW!”

I stood up and started shooting, and the rest of my men joined me in laying down a hail of gunfire.

Lars and Massimo sprinted over to us and took cover behind the Mercedes.

“ALRIGHT, GET OUT OF HERE, ALL OF YOU!” I yelled at my men.

They started diving into the other two cars.

“Lars, take the wheel!” I yelled. Then I opened the rear door and dragged Bianca behind me as I tumbled across the seat.

All our cars had bulletproof glass, but the assassins had done their best to shatter the windows.

Bianca was smushed between me and Massimo, who dove in behind her.

Vincenzo had already scooted over to the front passenger seat when Lars got behind the wheel.

“DRIVE!” I yelled.

Lars put the car into gear and stomped on the accelerator.

The Agrellas’ men took a few more shots at us, but we sped away from the hotel and into the night.