Cold Brew and Bullets (Part 1 of the Syndicate Series)

Chapter 26- The Bloody Assassin

Eliana:

Dinner was an uneventful affair and that was exactly what we all needed. A few of Alessio's men were exceedingly funny, all I had to do was sit back and listen as Alessio held my hand beneath the table and comfortingly rubbed my knuckles with his thumb. Most of them weren't in the room when I told my story, but word travelled fast around the house. They had started to treat me more like I belonged with them, maybe because Alessio had made it much more apparent who I was, or maybe because they knew I wasn't a spy. Either way, I would take it.

The relaxed atmosphere didn't last as long as I would have hoped, however, when there was a slamming knock on the front doors, it evaporated before I could blink. The men didn't knock, they all had keys. Every man was standing, most with their guns drawn and a few resting in their holsters, but I didn't expect a cursing Allegra to be the one stumbling into the room in front of Leonardo.

Everyone seemed to be on edge even if she wasn't an immediate threat, but there was something ominous about her- she was clad in an incredibly gorgeous dress, like she just came from the wedding of the century, but she was also drenched in blood.

"Son of a bitch. Anyone got an extra towel?"

She was pale from what I assumed was blood loss, but Allegra seemed relatively steady on her feet. As far as I knew, we weren't planning on her arrival, but there she was, collapsing into an empty hair at the end of the table as Cesare hurried back into the room holding out a dish towel. Allegra took it with a quick thank you and looped it around her arm, using her teeth and other hand to tie it off.

Leonardo took in her palor, "Would you like us to call a doctor?"

"It's fine. I think there's some glass left in there, though. Where could a girl get some tweezers?"

Emilio hurried to go find some while Alessio stared, "Can we offer you some food?"

"Normally I would say yes, but going through that window may have given me a concussion, so I'm a little nauseous." Allegra frowned, "Actually, what's the strongest alcohol you've got here?"

"Spyritus or Everclear, probably."

"I'll take some of that, if you don't mind."

Alessio nodded to Cesare who left the room again, but I was still staring in shock at how calm she seemed. She leaned back in her chair, grabbing a nearby glass of wine and taking it all in one swallow.

Allegra used one hand to twist back her lose hair as she turned to Alessio, "Sorry to drop in unannounced, but I have some news that might interest you."

"Concerning the Russians?"

She nodded, giving Cesare a grateful look as he handed her the bottle of vodka and she took another swig. "I just came from an event where there were quite a few of them in attendance. Turns out that Eliana's friend was right- I think Niklov's second in command, Demitri, really is willing to overthrow his own leader."

Alessio settled back into his chair, "There's evidence?"

"Well," She grunted, pouring some of the vodka onto a napkin and pressing it over the wound in her arm. She peered closer at it, reaching in without cringing and pulling out a couple pieces of glass. "I heard there was an event not far from here which involved some less legal dealings. Aldrich mentioned that he had heard of more than just Russians dealing in human trafficking, so I decided to investigate a little on my own."

"And?" Leonardo asked as Emilio leaned forward to hand her the tweezers.

"Well, I'll give you one guess as to who I found hacking into a computer that I myself was hoping to break into."