Shadow Reaper (Shadow #2)(85)

"Ricco, I let you tie me up." She tilted her head to look up at him.



"It isn't the same thing. I'm going to have you go outside while I'm inside. The house is built to protect the grounds as well as the interior." While he talked, he turned to the wall and laid his palm along the intricate pattern. Panels slid silently aside.



Her breath caught. She stood up carefully, gripping the back of the chair. "You have an arsenal in there."



"I believe in being prepared." He opened a drawer and pulled out two small earpieces. "Wear one of these. It can go through the tube, just like our clothes. You have to get it in the ear. Emilio and Enzo will be our eyes and ears from the control room. I'll be sitting up there." He pointed toward the wing above the Japanese garden.



The house was shaped like a U with the garden between the two jutting wings. Surrounding the house was a maze of more gardens with narrow walkways, forcing anyone moving through the extensive outer gardens to do so in single file. Throughout the grounds were many places Ricco had incorporated where a rider could easily slide through the permanent shadows he'd created within the maze.



This was the moment he'd known all along would come. The old council, made up of Dai Saito, Mikio Ito and Isamu Yamamoto, was making its move against his family. Mariko and Nicoletta were caught in the crosshairs. He'd dreaded this moment, had countless nightmares about it, but he was prepared. He just detested that he didn't know what was happening with the others.



       
         
       
        



He put in the earpiece. "Emilio, Mariko is going out onto the north side. I'm in the north tower. Check on all family members."



"Roger the north side and tower. I checked on all of them, including your parents. No one has texted back. I tried their bodyguards and everyone is silent. We have to assume they're under attack."



Ricco might have gone a little crazy, rage welling fast, guilt all-consuming, but he didn't have the luxury. He had Mariko to protect. He pulled his favorite rifle from the armory and caught up boxes of ammunition. "North garden, Mariko. Stay in the shadows until you hear Emilio or me tell you who and where to hit."



She didn't hesitate, and that humbled him. She was going out into the open in a T-shirt and red lace panties, no weapons, against an army of men heavily armed. Mercenaries by the look of them. Enzo was running facial recognition. Ricco caught her by the nape of her neck as she turned away from him, jerked her back to him and kissed her. He poured what he felt into her. Passion. Fear. Guilt. Rage. Admiration. Respect. All those things. His need to protect her. He was feeling very protective. She kissed him back and he tasted sweetness. Giving. Passion. Acceptance.



He let her go reluctantly. Their eyes met. She nodded and then slipped into a shadow, riding it down the stairs and out into the north gardens  – and absolute danger. She didn't so much as hesitate. He knew he was more than halfway in love with her. She was a warrior woman, totally confident as she walked right into the shadow and disappeared to go face the enemy. She'd made herself vulnerable to him as a woman when she'd come so bravely to him in his studio, providing him with what he needed. No judgment. None. Just a giving of herself. He was falling hard and fast. Irrevocably. No going back.



He sprinted for the northern tower with the bank of windows on three sides. His walls were reinforced and bullets weren't getting in. The closed windows were bulletproof. He had to open a window to protect Mariko and wreak a little havoc of his own.



Outside, the gardens were designed to force anyone on the walkways to go single file and then turn corner after corner, like a maze. The entire outer garden was just that, a maze leading through path after path toward the house. It looked fun and beautiful, but it was deadly to an enemy. With all the shadows cast throughout the garden at any time during the day and with the lights on at night, the advantage was to the shadow rider.



From his vantage point at the window, he could see every open spot where the enemy would turn a corner, and Mariko would be waiting just inside the tube.



"Coming at you in five seconds. Three in a row. Take them at your leisure," Emilio instructed. 



Ricco put his eye to the scope and instantly all three men appeared in detail. They had automatic weapons and belts of ammo slung across their bodies. He didn't want to shoot unless he had to. The others coming over the fence would know instantly he knew they were there and they'd probably run a blitz attack. He would prefer to take most of them outside to keep his house from being damaged.