Chapter 28: Friday: The Estate attack

Having barely slept, I woke up feeling like crap. My stomach churned like the inside of a washing machine on the spin setting, and my head pounded, making me feel nauseous.

Even though I felt much better after reading Romi’s heartfelt letter, in which he told me how much he loved me and promised to get me out of this arranged marriage, I had spent most of the night worrying.

Romi had been totally right when he’d refused to leave yesterday. It had been selfish and irrational of me to even suggest it. We couldn’t possibly leave with this war looming. Miki might have made a stupid mistake with this arrangement, but that was no reason for us to abandon him or the rest of our family and Brotherhood when they needed us here. Our enemies had planned their attacks for tonight, but who knew what would happen?

So, between worrying about this arranged marriage, still having to hide my feelings for Romi, not being able to be with him and my mind bombarding me with worst-case possibilities for the outcome of the looming battles, I was jittery as hell. I had no idea how I was going to get through the day without throwing up.

After showering and pulling on some clothes, I ventured downstairs to see if I could help with any of the defence preparations.

It was a long day. Time dragged, and the more I checked my watch, the more anxious I became as the seconds slowly ticked by and the inevitable battles approached.

Nonna had made a ton of food, as always. Well, she did have a veritable army to feed, and keeping busy was her method of coping, so I understood her necessity to ensure nobody went hungry. But really, after spending some time with her in the kitchen, I had to make my excuses and leave. I just couldn’t stomach the smell of all that food.

Nauseous bile rose in my throat as I slipped outside for a breath of air. The decking area at the back of our house was empty, and I sat down on one of the loungers. Dragging some well-needed fresh oxygen into my lungs, I closed my eyes and prayed for the safety of my family and Romi. It was summer in the UK, and the day was quite mild, with a slight chill in the air. It was pleasant enough to begin with, which was good because I hadn’t thought about bringing a jacket when I rushed out.

All the men were busy rushing around and setting up the traps and fireworks that Miki and Glowacki had arranged as part of their plans. I watched them for a while while I practised my breathing techniques to calm my nerves. After a while, the cool breeze washed over me, and I shivered. Rubbing my hands over the goosebumps on my bare arms, I returned inside.

In need of a distraction, I chatted aimlessly with Gracie and Aunt Marta. When even that didn’t keep my nerves from returning, I went to my room and paced the floor.

Finally, my phone buzzed with a text from Marko, ‘Showtime!’

We women needed to get down to the security rooms where the panic room was located, so I hurried to Gracie’s bedroom and knocked.

“It’s time,” I cried as soon as she answered the door.

Grabbing her hand, I pulled her along with me down to the basement to join the others.

Our clasped hands shook, and I didn’t know if it was from me, her, or both of us. I looked at her and saw the tension in her body and the worry on her face, which matched mine. So, it was likely both of us, then. I gave her a supportive squeeze, which she returned. We’d get each other through this.

Ash’s best friend Anton hugged me when I arrived. He was there with some of his men.

Nonna, my Aunt Letitia, and Aunt Marta were already sitting in the panic room with the door open, playing cards with Glowacki’s 12-year-old daughter, Magdalena. Glowacki’s youngest son, Sebastian, who was only seventeen, was staying here with us as well, much to his annoyance. He’d taken up a defensive position just inside the door, and I noticed he was carrying a gun. I smiled. He obviously wanted to feel like he was playing his part, and I had no doubt that should there be any need, he would make good use of the gun. He might still technically be a kid, but that gun he held was no toy.

Glancing at my Aunt Marta, I saw that she had her own gun strapped to a holster on her hip. She was wearing an all-black outfit, which reminded me of an even sexier version of Lara Croft. She was certainly rocking the look. Again, I knew that if need be, that gun would be made full use of, too. Aunt Marta might look like an angel, but she was a devil when it came to protecting her family. She’d had to be after everything she’d been through.

Rolan and Armen were also there, and I squealed in delight when I saw them. I hadn’t realised they were cutting their vacations short to come to help us, but I should have. They were back early to “keep their little printsessa safe,” they told me, and I gave them each a big hug of gratitude. Although having bodyguards following you around all the time could be a pain, it was times like this when I was so grateful for them and for their care.

The few civilian staff we had working at the Estate had been given a few day’s leave to make sure that none were involved in any way with what was about to take place. So, it was only family members, Bratva or Polish Mafia soldiers, and Anton and his men here. One of his men was Derrick’s boyfriend, Nicholas, and he waved at me.

After introducing Gracie to everyone she didn’t know, we took up positions behind Anton so we could watch the security feed on the monitors, anxiously waiting for Romi and Dariusz to return with Derrick. He was going to be here as our medic for whoever needed him. I really hoped nobody would, although I knew that was overly optimistic.

Romi had left earlier to launch his final pretend attack on one of Glowacki’s restaurants, and Dariusz did the same on ours. These were minor things, but just enough to maintain the illusion that the Bratva and Poles were now at war and keep our enemies from figuring out we knew what they were up to.

For our own plans to succeed tonight, we needed them to still believe their plan to distract and weaken us was working. We needed the element of surprise to pull off our retaliation with as little difficulty as possible.

I watched the monitors intently, and as soon as I saw Romi sneaking back into the Estate through the back entrance, I had an overwhelming desire to go to him and couldn’t help myself. I told Gracie I’d be back and that I just needed to tell Romi something, and then I ran off. When I got to the front door, I quickly pulled him aside. We found a dark corner and kissed.

It was hard to stop. I peppered kisses on Romi’s cheeks and neck, then returned to devour his lips, afraid that this could be the last time I’d get the chance.

“Please be careful!” I whispered between kisses.

“It’ll be fine, baby. Everything will be. I promise,” he said, before kissing me long, hard, and deep, stealing the breath from my lungs, making my toes curl and my knickers soaked.

God, how I loved that man.

Panting hard, he finally pulled his lips away. Still holding me tightly, he leaned his head against mine, and we stayed that way until we caught our breath.

“You need to get back downstairs, sweetheart,” he finally said, releasing me from his hold.

“Go down and stay there. I will see you soon,” Romi said, patting me on the bum.

I gulped and nodded. I really didn’t want to leave Romi to fight our enemies without me, but I knew I had to. I would just be a distraction and get in his way if I stayed. So, I smiled and blew him a kiss as I hurried back downstairs. My lips still tingled from our kisses when I reached the basement, and the first shots could be heard through the monitors.

My heart thumped loudly in my chest. It had started. Even knowing of the plans, it was hard to believe this was real. My palms were sweating, and I felt sick and suddenly terrified for Romi, my brothers, Glowacki, and our men. Please let everyone be okay, I prayed.

Gracie and I huddled closer to the screens to try and see what was happening while we listened in on the radios our men were using to communicate. Clutching each other’s hands in support, we prepared to sit out one of the most worrying nights of our lives. I really wished this wasn’t happening. Our lifestyle was to blame. The sooner Miki found a way for us to get out of the drugs and arms trade, the better.

Before they headed upstairs to join the fight, Anton and Dariusz reminded us to get into the panic room with Nicholas and close the door if the enemy came anywhere near the actual house.

There was a lot of noise between the gunshots and fireworks going off, and it sounded like World War 3 was occurring in our garden. It was loud and utterly terrifying. I sent up another silent prayer to protect my family and our men. There were going to be deaths tonight, and I just hoped I didn’t lose anybody close to me, though losing anyone was going to be terrible. Tears pricked my eyes at the thought.

Romi, my heart cried out. Please be safe!