Bulletproof Hearts

CHAPTER THREE: The Warehouse

The text came at eleven at night.

Warehouse. Porto Industriale di Civitavecchia. 2:00am. Come fully armed. -L

Three hours, No details, No explanation.

This is a test, she guessed.

Aria put on her gear. Black tactical trousers, a Kevlar vest, a Glock in a shoulder holster, a backup Sig Sauer, a well-known brand of handgun, strapped it to her thigh. A knife at her ankle. By midnight, she was ready.

* * *

The industrial port was dead quiet when she arrived. Aria parked three blocks away and walked the rest. The warehouse Luca had specified was at the end of a row, marked with a faded number 47.

She circled outside and observed three exits, all closed. There were no movement.

She was about to move when a deep voice came from the darkness.

"You're late."

Aria spun, her hand on her Glock.

Luca Moretti stepped out of the shadows. He was dressed in all black, shirt and pants, with a suppressed Beretta in his hand, another pistol at his hip.

"I'm three minutes early."

"I've been here thirty." He moved past her. "If you're early, you're on time. If you're on time, you're late."

She fell into step behind him. "What's the job?"

"Arms deal. The client is inside with the goods. I got an info that my brother told him I was planning to steal instead of paying."

"Are you?"

"No. But he thinks I am. He brought at least six men, maybe more. This was supposed to be a one-on-one transaction.

"So we're walking into a trap."

"We're walking into a negotiation that might become a gunfight." He pulled out a small set of lock picks, thin metal tools used to open locks without a key. "I go in the front. You take the high ground and provide overwatch. If shooting starts, make sure I walk out."

"And if they shoot first?"

Luca looked at her. "Then you shoot back."

* * *

Aria found a narrow walkway near the ceiling of the warehouse, along the east wall and climbed up. From there, she had a clear view of the whole floor.

Six men around a cargo van. Four with AK rifles, and two with handguns. The client stood apart in an expensive suit, smoking, checking his watch.

She raised her rifle, looked through the scope, and marked each target.

Her earpiece made a sound. "In position?"

She pressed the small mic fitted at her throat. "Yes. There are six targets. You're outnumbered."

"Story of my life."

The main door rolled open. Luca walked in like he was the coming Messiah.

The buyer stepped forward. "Moretti. You're late."

"Traffic. Do you have the merchandise?"

"I have it. The question is, do you have the money? Or are you planning to take it by force?"

"I have the money. Show me the guns first."

The buyer nodded. One of his men opened the van. There were wooden crates with Russian and Ukrainian writing. They were opened and there where arranged AK-74s, at least two dozen.

"Ukrainian?" Luca asked.

" Yes, clean serial numbers, untraceable. Two hundred thousand."

"Deal."

That is when Aria spotted the seventh man.

Hidden behind the van, moving into position, raising a rifle.

"Contact left," Aria said into the earpiece.

Luca moved. He grabbed the client, pulling him into a lock around his neck, just as the hidden gunman fired.

Bullets tore through the space where Luca had been standing.

Aria pulled the trigger and the hidden gunman dropped.

Everything broke loose.

Luca shoved the buyer away and drew his Beretta. With two quick shots, the nearest guard went down.

Aria shifted her aim. A second guard was raising his AK, she fired and he crumpled.

Luca was already moving, using the van for cover. Shots sparked off the metal. He leaned out and fired three controlled shots, another guard dropped.

The remaining guards scattered behind crates. Flashes of gunfire lit the warehouse.

"Two behind the blue crate. Your left."

"Copy."

He pulled a flashbang, cooked it two seconds, and lobbed it over. One, two — boom!

The explosion was deafening.

Luca moved around the crate before the light faded. Two shots and both guards went down.

The buyer was running for the exit. One of the guard pulled him down to cover him.

"Let him go," Luca said.

The last guard broke cover to reload his weapon. That was a mistake.

Aria's shot caught him mid-run and he went down hard.

Everywhere grew so silent that their heartbeat could almost be heard.

"Clear," Aria said.

Luca looked up at where she was positioned. Even from thirty feet away, she could see the small smile on his face.

"Not bad, Valenti."

* * *

Twenty minutes later they were in Luca's Range Rover. The weapons were loaded in the back and there Six bodies cooling in the warehouse.

Luca drove fast but was in control. Aria reloaded her rifle on her lap, her hands working without thinking.

She had watched him move, really move and not just give orders. He had been right there in the fight, first one in, using the client as a human shield. He was very tactical, brutal, effective.

He was not just a boss. He was an operator.

"You've done this before," she said.

"What, did you think I just sat behind a desk?"

"Most bosses do."

"Most bosses don't have brothers trying to kill them." He changed gears. "I learned early, If you want something done right, do it yourself."

They drove in silence for a while before Luca said, "You called the seventh man before I even saw him."

"His movement. The shadow shifted wrong."

"Most people wouldn't catch that."

"I'm not most people."

Luca gave a faint smile. "No. I guess you're not."

Something warm stirred in Aria's chest. She ignored it and focused on the reload.

"The client got away," she said.

"I let him. He'll tell everyone I didn't steal from him. That makes Dante look like a liar."

"Well that's smart."

"It's necessary." He took a corner fast. The tyres held. "Dante's trying to turn my contacts against me. Every clean deal proves he's lying."

Dawn was breaking over the hills. Pink and gold light spread across the landscape.

"How long?" Aria asked. "Since he turned on you?"

"Almost a year now."

"A long time to be at war with family."

Luca's knuckles went white on the wheel. "He stopped being family when he tried to have me killed."

There was something raw and bitter in his voice.

Aria wanted to ask more, but before she could, something in the mirror behind them caught her eye.

A black sedan, two vehicles back, keeping pace.

She watched it for thirty seconds. When Luca changed lanes, it changed lanes. When he slowed, it slowed.

"We have a tail," she said quietly.

Luca checked the mirror. His jaw tightened. "How long?"

"Since we left the port. A black sedan. Two men in front."

Luca's expression went cold. "Dante's people."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." He sped up slightly, testing them. The sedan kept pace. "They know you're working with me now."

"So?"

"So now you're a target too."

The words hung between them.

Aria looked back at the sedan. Tinted windows. Professional distance. They were not trying to hide. They were just watching and collecting information.

She touched the Glock at her side. "Let them watch."

Luca glanced at her. Something like approval in his eyes. "You're not worried?"

"I've been a target before." She met his gaze. "I'm still here."

"Yeah." His voice was quiet. "You are."

The sedan followed them all the way back to Rome. It did not try to attack neither did it make a move. It just watched.

When they finally pulled into an underground car park beneath one of Luca's properties, the sedan drove on past.

But Aria caught a glimpse of the driver as it went.

He was young. In his twenties and had this cold eyes. He looked right at her through the window.

He smiled. The kind of smile that makes you have a nightmare.

Luca killed the engine and sat in the dark for a moment.

"This is what I meant," he said finally. "About why people who work for me don't last. Dante doesn't just go after me. He goes after anyone close to me."

"I can handle myself."

"That's what Ricci said." Luca turned to face her. "And he was good. Really good. But Dante doesn't fight fair. He finds what you care about and takes it."

Something in his tone made Aria's stomach tighten.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying be careful. Watch your back. Trust no one." He paused. "And if there's anyone you care about, make sure they're protected."

Elena's face flashed through Aria's mind.

"My sister—"

"Is already protected. I had men posted at the Casa della Speranza before you came up tonight." He looked at her. "I told you. I do my research. And I don't let the people who work for me become weak points."

Elena had to be safe. Well hidden and protected.

She had

to be.

Because if Dante found her, Aria knew exactly what would happen.

And she would burn the world down to stop it.