Sweet Pain (Amatucci Family #3) - Sadie Jacks Page 0,102

to take.” I slapped her ass. “Now get moving.” I pulled the door shut behind me. Hoped we wouldn’t have to shoot our way to the roof.

We clambered up the stairs. I winced as the pads of my feet hit the ice cold cement with each step. I was really going to kill those guys.

Willow burst through the door to the roof. A beautiful sunrise was just starting to sketch itself across the eastern sky.

“Holy cannoli, it’s freezing!” Willow wrapped her robe around her body. “My boobs are going to shrivel up and fall off.”

I chuckled. “Maybe just your nipples.” I pulled her against me as we raced across the helicopter landing pad.

“I didn’t know you had a whirly bird,” she yelled as she held her hair in one hand, one of her guns in the other. It was really windy up here. Her other gun slapped at her leg in her robe pocket.

A door popped open at the top of the exit staircase. I thanked Willow’s goddess for Nik. I crowded Willow in through the door. Heaved a sigh of relief as the wind died down. My feet were still cold, but at least we weren’t standing in the breeze at forty stories in the sky.

“Willow?” Rafe called. “Ryker?”

“It’s us,” I answered.

“Get your asses moving. The police are about to breach the penthouse. We’ve set up with them on thirty-eight.”

We started catapulting ourselves down the stairs. “Thank goodness we didn’t have more carbs this morning,” Willow chuckled around a wheeze.

I snorted.

We hit the thirty-eighth floor. Rafe was standing in a doorway that looked like part of the wall. I blinked.

Rafe smiled. “Nik. Apparently there is restricted access on each floor to this stairwell? You might have to discuss it with the fire marshal.” He stood aside so we could slide past him.

“First on the right,” he said.

I put my arm around Willow as we turned into the correct room. I blinked at the setup. Nik was shouting orders at the Police tech squad. She even glared at the guy who looked to be in charge. “Then you just wait until I get it setup correctly. If you’d leave me alone, we’ll only have to do it once. And in half the time if you’d shut up.”

The man’s cheeks reddened. He took a step towards her.

Turo got in his path. “I would think very carefully before threatening her,” he said softly.

The man glared at Turo. “I’m in charge of this operation.”

Turo smiled. “Then I suggest you work with her. Or she’ll wrest the controls from your hands. She already seems to be doing a good job. Do not let your ego blind you to achieving the greatest outcome possible.”

The man snarled but he backed down.

Turo stepped aside. The pride and predatory gaze he shot at Nik made me want to get in his face. But I figured if anyone was capable of looking after herself, it was definitely Nik. And I could always maim Turo later.

“We’re up. You’re a go, policeman.” Nik stabbed a finger in the air at the man who’d just been butthurt. There were a total of seven screens set up. Two of them carried the various feeds from my personal security cameras. Three were of the police officers. The remaining two were PC feeds of the outer areas of our home.

He cleared his throat. “What are we looking at here?”

Nik pointed at a screen. “This is the public entrance to the private penthouse. It’s currently been invaded by a group of unknowns. On our own security feeds, we have identified at least four weapons. The status of those weapons is also unknown, but it would be best to proceed with caution.”

The guy in charge nodded. “I want SWAT to go up first. We need to subdue and detain. Is the owner on site?”

I stepped forward, left Willow with Turo and Rafe. “Here. I won’t hold any of you liable for anything broken. I’d just like my home back, please.”

The man nodded. “SWAT’s a go.”

A group of men in the first set of screens marched up the last flight of stairs. They rushed through the broken door and into the hallway. “NEW TRENADIE SWAT. HANDS UP WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM.”

Two of the intruders turned, drew down on the officers.

They were removed with two precise shots. “Two down, copy two down.”

“We read, Charlie team. Proceed,” Butthurt Man said.

The SWAT team moved forward with deadly precision. They called their warning over and over again. And over and over