Matteo ended his update call with Lambert as he drove his car into the abandoned building through a large, gaping hole in the side of one wall. This place had immediately come to mind when Lambert had first told him about the mission. Matteo knew this site fit the bill for his purposes.

No eyes. No electricity. Concrete structure. What remained of this old shoe factory was sturdy, and the basement had three rooms and no windows or exits, other than the single stairwell that led down.

Perfect.

Since given the mission, he’d outfitted the place for his needs. All that was missing was Rasheed. Until now.

Matteo hoisted the bound, unconscious ass over his shoulder and carried him downstairs to his new home. An empty room, except for the hook he’d fashioned to hang from the steel beam in the middle of the ceiling. 

Struggling with the dead weight, he muttered a few oaths before he finally managed to secure the man to the hook, via the zip tie binding his wrists. The task was easier with a partner.

Damn, he missed his team.

At least taking the guy down had been cake. Since the idiot traveled without a bodyguard, there’d been no obstacles. Once the man had stepped outside onto the boardwalk, Matteo had followed, injecting the man from behind with a knockout drug to eliminate a possible repeat of the New Year’s Eve confrontation. It was the first thing he’d asked Knight to get.

Matteo had to admit it’d felt good to jab that needle in the man’s vein. Sort of his own personal retribution for his father’s injection. After that, he’d commissioned a rickshaw ride to the ramp closest to his vehicle, for him and his inebriated friend.

Standing back, he straightened his shirt, then stiffened at the sound of someone entering the room behind him. Then awareness skittered down his spine and he knew it was Bella.

“Step away from him, Matteo.” Bella’s tone was different. Hard. Cold.

Careful to keep his body between her and Rasheed, he twisted around to find a gun trained on him. “Bella. Put that away.”

The wrinkling of her brow was the only movement. “Why? Did you kill him already?”

“No.” He shook his head.

A smile pushed some of the chill from her gaze. But her aim remained. “You saved him for me?”

“No,” he repeated, slowly stepping toward her. “Put the gun down.”

Her smile disappeared. “Not until I shoot him.”

“I can’t let you do that.”

Her head jerked back. “Why the hell not? It’s sanctioned. He’s my mark. I don’t want to hurt you, Matteo. Now move.”

“I can’t. Just listen—” He didn’t get to finish his sentence because she rolled to the side and fired off a shot as she came to her feet again.

The muffled sound of bullet hitting flesh echoed in the room.

Fuck.

“Bella. Stop!” He moved with her, keeping as much of his body as possible in front of the unconscious man. Matteo didn’t have the time to check to see where the bullet hit, but he knew it hadn’t been a kill shot because the trajectory from that angle only covered the lower torso and legs.

She rolled.

He moved.

She shot again, this time with no bullet impact. “Dammit, Matteo, move.”

They did this dance two more times before he managed to get close enough to tackle her to the floor, knocking her gun away. “Hold on,” he muttered, wrestling with her.

Damn, she was strong.

“He killed my father.” She wriggled away.

Son-of-a-bitch.

He grasped her leg and pulled her underneath him, using his body to hold her down. “Bella. Stop.” She thrashed, trying to work her legs free, but he knew that would mean a knee to groin. Although, he’d like to think she wouldn’t pull that on him. “Stop.” He grasped her wrists and held her hands above her head. “Listen.”

“No, you listen.” She stilled and stared into his eyes, hers still cold and determined. “I was commissioned to kill him. He’s my job. My mission. And my revenge.”

He blew out a breath. “I know. And you can have it. Just not today. We need to get information from him first. There are innocent lives at stake.”

Her chin lifted slightly. That got her attention. “You know the venue?”

“Yes. The Grinch Convention,” he replied. “But we don’t know how or who he’s working with. And you know as well as I do that killing him now is not going to stop that attack. We need that info.”

“Shit.” Her body slackened, and she blew out a breath.

“You can finish your mission. I promise,” he said, easing his hold, just a little.

She blinked, and her gaze began to thaw. “Fine. But, I’ll have to clear it with my boss first. Let me up.”

He hesitated, studying her face, but he sensed she’d told him the truth. “Okay.”

He released her wrists and rolled off to push to his feet, then offered his hand to help her up. For a brief moment, he wasn’t sure she’d take it. His heartbeat slowed, but when she grasped his hand, it resumed beating at normal speed.

Once she retrieved her gun and holstered it, he waited until she was on the phone with her boss before he walked over to check on the Rasheed’s still unconscious, but now-bleeding body.

A through-and-through in the thigh, missing the artery. Rasheed was damn lucky. So was Matteo. If that bullet had hit a quarter inch to the left, his mission would’ve died along with Rasheed, and countless innocent lives.

“Okay,” Bella said, shoving her phone in her pocket as she neared. “The bastard’s got a reprieve.”

Her pupils were large and gaze unblinking as she stared at the man who’d murdered her father. Matteo couldn’t even begin to know what she was thinking or feeling. He lifted a hand to lightly touch her back.

She was shaking.

His insides fisted tight. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I wouldn’t have stopped you—”

“I know.” She cut him off, but she hadn’t shied away from his touch, so he’d take that as a win. “I wouldn’t have shot around you if—”

“I know.” That time, he cut her off. He knew this was a special circumstance, and he wasn’t going to take the incident personally. He was curious about something else, though. “How did you know that was Rasheed? I mean, he looks quite different.”

“I used a device that made your phone send me the photos you sent Knight at the party.”

Well, hell.

“Sorry,” she said, and they just stared at each other.

“SITREP,” Knight said, striding into the room. One glance at Rasheed’s bleeding, prone, hanging body sent the commander’s eyebrows up. “Alive?”

“For now,” Bella said.

Matteo motioned to the door with his nod of his head. “Let’s take this in the other room.”

“Roger that.” Knight pivoted on his feet and marched from the room.

Matteo waited for Bella to do the same, before he picked up the rear.

“What’s the plan?” she asked the second she entered the room across the hall with Knight.

“We have information about the Russians Bella killed,” Knight stated.

He reeled back. “What?” He twisted to face her. “What does he mean you killed them?”

She shrugged. “It was either them or me. I chose me.”

Jesus. His heart was squeezed so tight he could barely breath.

“They trafficked chemical weapons,” Knight continued.

Now Matteo’s heart fucking rocked. Chemical? This changed their search.

Bella stiffened. “What’s missing?”

“Nerve gas.”

Fuck.

He clenched his fists. “Any idea if those Russians had finished their business with Rasheed?” He was going to need time to process the Bella killing them “It was them or me” part.

“Yes.” Knight nodded. “Every agency in the country, and outside of it, has been tracing their recent movements. It looks like the men had met with Kamal and Tariq last month.”

“Could they have sold the gas to Simpson?” he asked, trying to figure out how the billionaire fit into all this mess. It made no sense why he’d willingly attack his own casino. But then again, if he was a terrorist, or a radical, their thinking was irrational at best.

“We’re still trying to figure Simpson out.” Knight ran a hand through his hair.

“So what now?” Bella asked, leaning against the wall, expression closed off.

Matteo wished he could hold her and make everything okay. Take away all the turmoil and pain he knew was swirling inside her.

The commander straightened his spine. “My people and I are going to work on getting Rasheed to talk.”

She snorted. “Good luck. That bastard’s not going to give you a damn thing.”

He agreed. The likelihood of someone getting any information out of the heartless man was slim, even for someone as skilled as Knight.

“Still need to try,” the commander said. “In the meantime, Bella, we need you and Matteo to search the Capris for that nerve gas. Homeland raided the abandoned building and took Tariq and Kamal into custody a half hour ago. Every agency has teams on the way. They’ll start scouring the casino.”

“What about Paresh?” he asked, as his gut tightened for Omar and his family.

“They have him, too. I’m sorry.”

So was he, but it was out of his hands.

“And if Rasheed’s secret partner notices the activity?”

Knight smiled. “He won’t, because they’ll all be dressed as the Grinch. Including you two.”