Page 233 of Diego

“Are you going to explain it to him, Zio?”

Mario gives him a look. “I might leave that to you.”

“Mio dio,” Alessio says.

Under any other circumstances, one of us might laugh.

The lower level is intact.

Backup power keeps the hall lit. Nothing has been damaged down here, and there are no bullet marks, broken doors, or blood on the floor. After what is upstairs, the normality of it feels strange.

Then I see the steel door at the end of the corridor.

My pulse starts pounding again.

Blair and my child are behind it.

So are Victoria, Julia, Leonardo, Cecilia, and Emilia.

Giacomo steps out from the security station as we approach. There is blood on the shoulder of his jacket.

Mario notices first. “Yours?”

“No.”

“Anyone downstairs hurt?”

“No. Everyone stayed behind the secure door the entire time.”

Mario exhales.

Ricardo rubs a hand across his mouth.

I look at Giacomo. “Blair?”

“She’s fine.”

That is all I need.

Mario gestures toward the panel. “Open it.”

Giacomo enters the first code, then presses his thumb to the biometric reader. A green light appears above the lock.

The first bolt releases.

Then another.

The final lock disengages.

The steel door opens far enough for me to see Blair standing near the security monitors.

She sees me at the same time.

For a second, neither of us moves. Her face is pale, her eyes wide, one hand pressed against the counter beside her. Then I am through the doorway before Giacomo has it fully open, crossing the space straight toward her.

“Diego.”

I reach her and pull her into me.