“He’ll come for her,” Bree says.

I stare at her. Bree, what the fuck? Santiago says, “You sound confident.”

“I know his type. Not sure what he’s been busy with, but he’s not finished with her.”

Brianna’s my twin; I know when she’s lying. She believes every word she just said.

Santiago finds her convincing too. “In that case, I don’t need you.”

I leap in front of Bree when he swings the gun her way, while she, in turn, shoves Jade behind her. “Let them go,” I say with more calm than I feel. “You’re right, you only need me.”

“But why should I let them go?”

Thinking on my feet is more Brianna’s strong suit than mine. I’m an introvert; I need to plan my words. “You know the Adamos are protecting us,” I say slowly. “I don’t know what you’re doing right now to distract them, but it’s only temporary.”

“Your point?”

“Sooner or later, you’ll answer for this. It’ll go easier on you if you showed some hint of compassion or mercy or human kindness.”

His face darkens. “You overestimate your precious Adamos.” He aims the gun right at my heart. “This calibre is strong enough to go through all three of you. It would be … amusing to kill you with a single shot.”

I’m out of ideas. Reaching back, I grab my sister’s hands, trying to tell them without words how much I love them. Santiago’s finger tightens on the trigger.

His phone rings.

For a long moment, I think he’s not going to answer it, but finally he does. “Yes?” His face changes, and I see – actually see – the madness come into his eyes. “Mr. Mathiesen. How good of you to call. I’m with a … friend of yours.”

He listens, and his hand tightens on the phone until his knuckles turn white. “Threatening me is a bad idea, Mr. Mathiesen.” A pause. “Very well.”

Ending the call, he glares at us, then slowly lowers the gun. “We wait.”

I don’t move from my place in front of my sisters.

* * *

I’m halfway to town, my gut curdling, when it strikes me to try Santiago’s phone. Sure enough, he answers the damn thing. So I tell him what I need to.

“If there’s so much as a scratch on her when I get there, I’ll make you cry like a little girl and scream like a baby before I gut you with my bare hands – and burn you alive.”

Santiago’s deathly afraid of fire. And he knows I mean every word. As I end the call, my phone pings with a text from Carlo: They’re in the bakery. We’ve got it surrounded.

I text back: He knows I’m coming. Wait for me. Seconds later, I’m back on the road.

As I power down the freeway, I remember I’ve got a ton of vacation built up from this undercover gig. Right now, I’d like nothing more than to take it all at once and spend the whole damn time in bed with Quinn.

Hang on, babe. I’m almost there.

* * *

Santiago’s twitchy.

Whatever Matteo said to him, it’s got him coming apart at the seams. He keeps glancing at us, mumbling under his breath, gesturing with the gun. I keep hearing something that sounds a lot like “Fucking cunts.”

I’m still guarding my sisters. They haven’t tried to dissuade me; we all know Santiago’s barely holding it together. If he thinks I’m essential to his plan to get Matteo, then hopefully he won’t shoot me.

We’re not holding hands anymore, but we’re pressed close together. Jade’s got her back to one of the counters. The warmth of Bree’s body is somehow comforting, even through my fear.

A noise comes from the front of the bakery and Santiago’s head swings that way. While he’s distracted, something slides under my top and into the back of my jeans. Cool metal meets my skin.

The gun.

Since all three of us know how to handle one, my sisters and I agreed to keep a gun under the counter, where only we knew about it. Jade must have slipped it out and passed it to Bree, who’s given it to me.

Unlike my twin, I was never fond of shooting, but I was a diligent student because Dad demanded it. At the moment, I’ll take any backup I can get.

Suddenly, Santiago leaps over to me and jams his gun against my head. The next instant, Matteo materializes from the shadows at the back of the kitchen.

I guess a man in Santiago’s line of work can’t last long without good survival instincts, but fuck. Couldn’t he have been half a second slower on the uptake?

Even with my life in imminent danger, my heart beats faster at the sight of Matteo. He’s cut his hair. It makes him look less like a biker and more like a cop ... which is probably the point.

His eyes come to me and they’re flat, expressionless, assessing cop eyes. But they linger on me a moment too long, and a muscle moves in his jaw before he looks away.

“Drop the gun,” Santiago demands.

“Not sure that’s a good idea,” Matteo says casually, as if he’s discussing which beer would go best with his pizza.

“I’ll blow her brains out!”

“But then I’ll blow your brains out, and all your fun will be over. Is that really what you want?” Santiago doesn’t answer. “Let the girls go. Your quarrel’s with me.”

“It’s with all of you,” he snaps.

“The girls have done nothing to you, not intentionally. I have.”

“Why?” Santiago says, and if he weren’t such a monster I could almost feel pity at the plaintive note in his voice. “Why have you betrayed me?”

I’ve never seen anyone communicate a shrug without actually moving his body before, but somehow Matteo pulls it off. “It was my job.”

Santiago’s rage is a physical force against my skin. “I’ll flay her to pieces while you watch.”

“Careful,” Matteo says, still in his languid, good-ol’-boy voice. “You scare those girls too much, and all three of them are gonna make like a bad soufflé.”

“What?” Santiago says.

“Right about now,” Matteo says, and I fall, dropping straight down but twisting to the side at the last moment to keep clear of my sisters, so I can get to the gun. Before I land, the crack of multiple gunshots rends the air, deafening me.

Matteo’s body crumples to the floor.

I aim my gun as Santiago points his at me.

We fire at the same time.