Page 30 of Fastest Kill

"This is going to be absolute fucking chaos," Frederica said, and like the cluster fuck of a job they did in Treviso, Dario's eyes lit up.

He grinned back at her. "It's a good thing that's when we do our best work, eh, Spartana?"

As if they were on the same demented wavelength, they both started laughing and couldn't stop.

"Look at those two idioti, Tore. They are going to get themselves killed," Despina snickered.

A second later, her parents joined in the laughter too. The Alesci family had one god they considered their patron, and that was the god of chaos. He was, after all, the only one guaranteed to show up.

13

The hardest part of the morning hadn't been another phone call with Rodrigo. Or the one with Leo, which had forced Dario to hold the handset away from his ear for thirty seconds while his little brother worked through some more of his feelings at full volume.

Or even the call to Altun, who had listened to the full summary of the previous night in silence before saying that she wouldn't bring her scimitar to the Alesci household.

It was getting the lamb right.

In Despina's kitchen, Dario was desperately trying to remember his father's recipe for the seasoning rub for cooking lamb on an outdoor grill.

Tore sat at the table, drinking his third coffee and reading a book.

"You're nervous," Tore observed, not looking up.

"I'm cooking."

"You cook when you're nervous, when you're happy, when you're thinking, and when you don't know what to do with your hands. Right now, I'd say it's the nervous kind."

Dario didn't disagree with that. He wasn't sure he liked that Tore knew that fact about him so quickly, either. He doubted his own brothers knew how much he actually enjoyed cooking.

By the time twelve people filed through the garden gate in the early afternoon, the lamb was ready, the table was set up under the terrace shading, and Dario had run out of things to keep his hands busy with.

Rodrigo arrived first, because Rodrigo was always first. He stepped through the gate and stopped. His gaze moved over the string lights, the bougainvillea, the mismatched chairs, the table loaded with bread and mezze and sweating carafes of wine. He frowned, like it wasn't what he was expecting, and didn't know how to react. Giana pressed her fingers briefly to the small of his back until he started walking again.

Leo came next, vibrating with the kind of restless energy he always had when he was being kept on a very short leash. Dante's hand slipped into his, and he seemed to calm just a little.

Dario snorted in amusement. It was a good thing his brothers had such steady partners, or this whole thing would have been over before it started.

Behind them, Athena and Kon came through together, and Frederica immediately walked down the path to join them and talk in low whispers. Silas and Iz appeared with Julian, who had his arm around Altun and murder in his eyes.

"This is a nice place," Leo said, eyes drifting over him before pulling him into a hug.

"I thought you might like it. It's got good wine and is a neutral ground, so no shooting anyone, little brother."

Rodrigo and Giana stopped short of Dario. "You should have told me more details last night. I don't like feeling so unprepared," his big brother said.

"It was late, and I was too tired to keep talking. You'll want to hear it from the source to believe it anyway."

"I know," Rodrigo replied, gave him a hug, and whispered in his ear, "We'll talk after and see if we need to make a backup plan to kill the fucker."

Dario let him go and bent to kiss Giana on the cheek. "Better keep him in line, sorellina. I suggest bribing him with sexual favors."

Giana laughed. "I'll keep that in mind."

Drinks were passed around, and the tense quiet quickly gave way to the usual chatter. The tension in Dario's shoulders loosened slightly.

The one thing they weren't talking about yet was still in the house.

Dario had told them that Serapis was here, was alive, and had survived the cliff. He was the one asking to be heard, not the one making threats. It wouldn't be easy for them to hear him out, let alone believe him, but they all turned up regardless.