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the bottom of the stairs and a thirty-something man with long dark hair tied at his nape has joined him. “Were you followed inside the gates?” Kayden asks, stopping in front of the stranger.
    â€œThis is me you’re talking to,” the man says as I step to Kayden’s side. “In five years, when have I ever been careless?”
    â€œIt’s Gallo,” Matteo calls out from the top of the stairs, diving frustrated fingers through his wavy brown hair on his way to us. “And he’s making a beeline for the porch.”
    â€œThere’s no way he followed me in,” the stranger reiterates.
    â€œHe’s right,” Matteo confirms, joining us and placing Kayden and Adriel in profile. “I was watching the security feed when Carlo and his team entered,” he said, clearly naming the stranger. “No one slipped in with them,” he adds.
    â€œThen how the hell did he get in?” Kayden asks.
    â€œWe’re secure,” Matteo insists.
    â€œAre we in the same fucking universe here?” the man I now know as Carlo asks. “Because in mine, Gallo is in the gate, and we are not fucking secure.”
    â€œDo you ever get tired of being a little bitch?” Matteo surprises me by snapping. “He’d need a passcode for the gate, and since Gallo doesn’t even play video games, he’d have to have hired someone to hack the system.”
    â€œI’m confused,” I dare to interject. “Isn’t there a way for visitors to enter the property? Otherwise, how did Gallo get to the door the night Giada was drunk and on the front porch?”
    Kayden glances down at me. “She claims he must have snuck in behind her.” He eyes Adriel. “And to Ella’s point, if I find out she let Gallo in—”
    A sudden incessant ringing of the doorbell begins and Gallo shouts, “Kayden, open up!”
    â€œFuck me,” Kayden curses, scrubbing his jaw.
    â€œ He’s the little bitch,” Carlo says. Proving that his five years of service has come with intimate knowledge of Kayden’s relationships, he asks, “Can you call his boss?”
    â€œKayden!” Gallo shouts again, abandoning the doorbell to pound on the door.
    â€œI’m not owing the police chief another favor over Gallo,” Kayden says.
    More shouting and knocking ensues.
    â€œGallo’s going to follow us when we leave,” Adriel warns.
    I have no idea why, but suddenly Carlo’s piercing green eyes are locked on mine, and there is something dark and dangerous in his stare, something that sends a shiver down my spine.
    â€œYou’re Ella,” he states, and before I can confirm, he adds, “You saved Enzo.” His tone is flat, void of emotion, as if it’s an observation rather than a celebration.
    But whatever it is to him, it’s gut-wrenching to me. “I bought him time,” I say, and I swear I can almost feel the blood that must be on my skin beneath my clothes. “I pray Nathan can save him.”
    â€œCarlo,” Kayden says, dragging the man’s attention from me to him. “I’m going to ride with you and your men.” Shifting his gaze to Adriel, Kayden directs him, “You’ll drive the F-TYPE that I favor and lure Gallo in the wrong direction. Then circle back here and hold down the castle so Matteo and Nathan can focus on their jobs.”
    Adriel’s expression hardens. “You know I want in on this. And you need a man on your left and right—not just Carlo.”
    â€œGet your fucking sister out of here,” Kayden states, making it clear that he heard what I said to him and actually listened. “Then, and only then, can you exit retirement. Until then, you tend your store.”
    Adriel’s eyes flash with fury, but he wordlessly drops back from the group, disappearing in the direction of the garage.
    â€œKayden!” Gallo shouts. “Open the fuck