They both stopped when they heard the sound of gunfire outside. Gabriel immediately moved in front of her and caught hold of her arm.
“Stay behind me and do everything I tell you,” he commanded.
Antonia nodded and let him lead her to the door. She rubbed her thumb along the leather strap of her bag waiting for him to give the okay to move. He cracked open the door and peered out.
“There is no one up here yet. Let’s go,” he said quietly. “Keep silent.”
Again, she nodded and followed closely behind. She hadn’t realized just how grand the Palazzo really was until she stepped outside of the room. The first-floor corridor was covered in white and brown marble. All of the walls were decorated with frescos of angels and cherubs dancing around women and men in Renaissance dress in the heavens. The door to her room and the others were marked by white pillars in a neo-palladian style entrance making her present surroundings a stark contrast to those in The Hole.
Machine gun fire in the house could be heard downstairs.
“Stay here,” Gabriel instructed heading for the elaborate wide stone staircase.
Antonia stood still and didn’t move. She bit her lip hearing more gunfire as Gabriel moved silently down the stairs.
Suddenly he reappeared and motioned with his hand to follow him. Eventually she joined him on the stairs. Not once had he shown any impatience with her. She resumed her position behind him and followed him down the stone steps. The gunfire got louder. Two agents were rushing along the ground floor corridor to outside. They both held large rifles. She’d seen them before. They were G36s by Heckler & Koch.
They were just at the bottom of the stairs when there was a high-pitched whistling sound. Gabriel pushed her down to a crouch position on the stairs and leaned over to cover her body. Instinctively Antonia sheltered her head with her hands underneath him. She would never forget what she saw next.
A small rocket from a portable launcher screeched through the corridor on the ground floor to explode in the wall. Her protector held her against him so tight she thought she would never be able to let out the breath she was holding. The whole building groaned and shook with force. Everything began to fall around them. Part of the ceiling came crashing down around them. Plaster, brick and mortar showered Gabriel as he protectively curled over her body and kept her free from further injury. Antonia clung to him until it was over and prayed the rest of the building wouldn’t come down on top of them both.
Someone started screaming in pain. There were so many voices crying out for help. The urge to go to them and help was strong but Gabriel wasn’t letting her go anywhere.
It was morning but the dust circulating in the building made the whole place dark. The need to cough consumed her but she was frightened to. Dust filled her throat and lungs. She could hear the roar of fire somewhere. But Gabriel was pulling her up. Keeping her close to his side he helped her over the rubble.
“I need you to move as fast as you can.”
“Okay. I am right behind you. I won’t let you down,” she reassured him.
He surprised her by taking hold of her hand and virtually dragging her behind him. She made sure she kept up with his fast pace despite the pain it caused. The adrenaline was pumping so fast around her veins it facilitated faster movement and started to dull the pain.
He was taking her to the back of the Palazzo. They rushed over fallen debris. There were two bodies littering the hallway. One of them was the young nurse who had been looking after her. There was no time to feel anything, only to concentrate on surviving.
Antonia was forced to stumble over the fallen parts of the broken building. Faces from the remnants of similar frescos on the wall upstairs stared up at her as she coughed and spluttered through the falling dust trying her best to keep up with the Russian agent. They entered a large dining room that had clearly been used as a conference room. It was still intact but nobody was there. Antonia guessed all of the agents were outside fighting off the attack. Or at least she hoped they were.
Then there was another high-pitched whistling sound. Antonia held her breath.
Chapter 10
Malinov tossed two of the chairs from the dining table to one side and lifted Antonia up against him. He threw her like a rag doll under the table and crawled underneath with her. The rocket whistled over the table as he drew her into his arms and curved his body over her small form pulling her close into his chest again. For the first time in his life, he shook against the person he was trying to protect. Protecting Antonia was beginning to feel like more than an assignment.
The whistling sound ended when the rocket hit the back wall and exploded. It felt like the whole world was caving in around them. The building shook violently and he was terrified this time the whole building was about to come down around them and bury them alive. He gasped for breath feeling the idea of dying from suffocation horrific and remembering how that had nearly happened on a previous assignment when he’d been sure he wasn’t going to come out alive.
But there was one thought overpowering his feelings and he clung to it, forcing himself to focus on it, protecting Antonia. She gave him strength with her bravery and her belief in him. She hadn’t said anything but it was in her eyes and in her body language. She had been through so much and trusted in him alone. He’d seen the way she had looked at the other male agents. She was afraid of them but with him she
