Trenton stared at his brother for a while and then looked at Travis.
“Trent,” Travis said, shaking his head. He held out his hands. “I’m sorry, man. If we had another choice, I woulda taken it.”
Trenton stumbled a few steps and then hugged his brothers. The twins joined in, too. A tear toppled over Jim’s cheek, and the wives were a blubbering mess. An arm shot out from the huddle and grabbed Shepley, pulling him in, too. I covered my mouth, half crying and half laughing.
In the next moment, one of the brothers grunted, and Thomas flew out from the group holding his midsection. Travis and the twins separated, and Trenton went for Thomas.
“No!” Camille cried. “Trenton, stop!”
“That’s your one,” Thomas said, dodging a second swing from Trenton.
The twins looked at each other and smiled, flanking Thomas and attacking. Travis jumped in to fend off the twins from his oldest brother, and the once-hugging pile of Maddox boys was now swinging and bleeding with smiles on their faces.
“Oh! Lord!” Deana said, looking away.
Shepley held up his hands, trying to make them stop while ducking swings and dodging fists.
“Stop!” Ellie screamed.
“Taylor! Stop it!” Falyn said.
Taylor looked at his wife for half a second, only to get nailed by Travis in the jaw.
Falyn cupped her hand over her mouth, and Abby shook her head in disbelief. “You’re idiots,” Abby grumbled.
Tyler swung and hit Travis square in the mouth, and blood spattered Abby from forehead to waist. She simultaneously jumped, closed her eyes, and held her hands up, her fingers splayed.
Travis looked at Tyler. “That’s your one.” He licked the blood off his lip, unbuttoned his shirt, and handed it to his wife. “Just like old times.”
I rolled my eyes. “Oh, gross.”
The brothers finally slowed, standing with their hands on their hips, panting.
Jim shook his head, and Abby grinned, wiping the blood from her face. “Oh, those Maddox boys.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
THOMAS
ONE SIDE OF MY BUTTON-DOWN had been untucked during the brawl, so I pulled up the bottom hem and wiped the blood from my knuckles before reaching for my dad. I cupped his cheeks and looked into his eyes. He’d been crying happy tears since I’d walked into the house, and now, we were standing on the front lawn.
My brothers and I were covered in blood, dirt, and grass stains like when we were kids, playing outside and either fighting someone else or one another.
“I’m sorry I put you through that,” I said.
Dad puffed out a breath. “You don’t owe me an apology, son. You did what you thought was the best for the family.” He put a hand on my shoulder. “I’m just glad you’re home.”
I brought him in for a hug, surprised at how much weight he’d lost since the last time I’d seen him. He coughed and then wheezed, letting me go to hold his fist to his mouth.
“Maddox,” Val said, rushing toward me. “Headquarters just called. They found Lena. She’s dead.”
“What?” Abby shrieked. Tears spilled over her cheeks, and she grabbed Travis’s shirt. “Our Lena?” She let him go and took a step back.
Travis held his wife. “She was undercover,” he said, numb. “It happens.”
“It happens?” she seethed. “She’s dead, Travis! What happened?” Abby’s eyes danced while she put together what information she had. “Her full name. Cocolina,” she whispered. She glared at Travis, her eyes wild. “Lena is Coco? The one you said the other day you’d lost her location?”
“We needed intel,” Travis said, still processing the news. He looked at Val. “Did she go quickly?”
“Blunt force trauma and a gunshot wound to the head,” Val said. She peeked at Abby and then continued, addressing only me. “We have reason to believe it was Chiara.”
“Chiara is Mrs. Carlisi’s bodyguard, right? Gi … Giada’s?” Abby asked. “Why would you send her to the Carlisis, Travis?”
Travis’s expression sagged. “It was her new assignment.”
“You married her off to that monster?” Abby cried.
Travis looked at me, desperate. I nodded, and he spoke. “Her assignment was to gain the attention of Angelo Carlisi and to infiltrate the family. That’s how we knew we would be safe once Thomas got home. She’s been keeping tabs on them.”
Abby’s mouth hung open. “Lena was his new wife? Are you insane? He’s an animal!”
“Was an animal,” I said. “He’s dead.”
Abby jerked away from Travis, and he reached for her, but she pulled away again. Travis sighed. “She was his type, Abby. She spoke the language. She was the one.”
“Well, now she’s dead,” Abby groaned. She looked down and away, unable to look Travis in the eyes.
“Did you not hear me?” Val snapped. “Giada and Chiara have been spotted in Eakins. Everyone needs to get inside.”
I nodded. “Let’s go. Everyone in—”
Dad narrowed his eyes, looking at the road, and then he lunged for me. “Everyone down!”
A slew of bullets pelted the front of the house, the vehicles, shattering the windows. Wren was already outside, aiming his handgun at the black Lincoln passing by. Hyde stood next to him, emptying her semi-automatic pistol’s magazine before kneeling down to reload.
I scanned the yard, seeing my family on the ground. “Everyone all right?” I yelled. I looked at Dad, and he nodded. I patted him on the shoulder. “Once a cop …”
“Always a cop,” Dad grunted, pushing himself up off the ground.
Stella began to wail, and Liis shrieked. “Olive?” Liis peeled our daughter from the pocket Olive had made between her body and the ground.
Falyn screamed, and rushed over, falling to her knees and grabbing at Olive’s limp body. “Olive?”
One side of Stella’s face and body was drenched from the crimson pool she’d been lying in on the ground. I reached down to touch Olive’s neck to feel a weak pulse, growing more faint with every passing second. I held my wife and daughter close, glancing back at Val and Wren, who were on alert.
“Ew?” Trenton said, crawling over.
“Is Stella okay?” Olive whispered.
“Of course, she’s okay, baby, you saved her,” Trenton said. “That’s what Maddoxes do.”
Olive managed a small smile and then her face relaxed as if she fell asleep.
Falyn shook her. “Olive?” she cried.
Trenton sat back on his knees, touching his palm to his forehead. He looked up at me, and when I shook my head, he fell forward, holding Olive’s ankles. “Oh, God, no. Please no. Please no!”
Camille sat next to Trenton, tears streaming down her face. She touched his back, not knowing what else to do.
“Someone call a fucking ambulance!” Falyn screamed. “Why are you just standing there? Do something!”
“She’s gone,” Liis said, sniffing.
Taylor sat behind Falyn, holding his wife while she rocked Olive and brushed back her daughter’s stained hair. She let out a combination of a groan, growl, and scream, a sound of utter rage and devastation, one I was sure only a mother who had lost a child could make.
Ellie covered her mouth and then ran inside. Tyler followed her.