Property of the Mafia

[17] Ambush

"What?!"

I could hear Leon's shrill voice from across the room echo with mine in shock simultaneously. Who was this guy, exactly? A knot of anxiety formed in my stomach.

After what seemed like endless struggling, I finally managed to free my wrist from Seth's grasp. To my dismay, however, the hosts and hostesses had formed two circles around Leon and I. The entire cabaret had gone silent as they stared us down with malicious intent. A few of the customers had joined the frontlines, while others stood in the background, enjoying the show. I bit down on my lip anxiously, scanning the room around us for an opening.

"Just.... who are you?" I demanded hesitantly, rubbing my stinging wrist. Seth had casually picked up his glass and taken another sip, unfazed by the situation. Leon had managed to manoeuvre his way over to me and stood directly behind me, giving me a quick nod. He carefully slid something into my hand. Glancing downwards, I gulped. A gun? My anxiety heightened. I had never fired a gun at a living target before. Especially as the one on the offensive. 

"Told you already, didn't I?" Seth responded lightly, flashing a charming, easygoing smile. "Seth. Seth Sangria." He purred.

... Sangria? I glanced frantically in Leon's direction. He shook his head fervently, obviously just as confused as I was.

"I'm his cousin." Seth added, rubbing his lower lip smugly as he placed his empty glass on the table in front of him. "To think even Leon didn't know that... that's pretty insulting." He shrugged, still smirking.

Cousin? Leon's?

Looking at Leon, he looked just as dumbfounded as I was. Well, I guess all family do have their secrets, then.... I couldn't help but grin a little.

But if Leon's cousin was here... then could Van have possibly sent him here? My hand tightened around the handle of the gun in fear. Had he found us already? This was too much of a coincidence to be anything good.

"My cousin? I've never seen you before." Leon retorted in disbelief. "I've never seen you at any of the family meetings." He clicked his tongue. He tapped the small gun in his hand on his shoulder.

"Isn't that because you skip half of them? You're a disgrace to the Sangria family." Seth sighed, shaking his head empathetically. Leon's eyes narrowed in anger.

"He's trying to provoke you." I mumbled under my breath, turning my head slightly to speak over his shoulder.

"And it's working. But hell... this is one crazy situation we've gotten ourselves into." Leon responded, gritting his teeth together as he lowered his arm.

"At this rate he's going to hand us over to Van on a platter." I retorted, equally annoyed. To think they would have been able to get to us so soon... just how many eyes did they have in the city?

"It's fifty versus two. Feel up to it?" Leon asked with a faint smile, clearly sarcastic.

"Any chance you have Arc on speed dial?" I asked cautiously. He raised his eyebrows. "Okay. I knew the answer to that one."

"Would you guys just shut up already and surrender? Any way you look at it, we have the advantage here." Another host proclaimed obnoxiously. Leon and I glared at him venomously in unison. In response, he hunched over like a frightened hamster. I resisted the urge to snort.

"We'll be the ones to get our hands on the reward." Another hostess hissed precociously.

"Reward?" Leon repeated, scowling. "How much?"

"One million each." Seth responded arrogantly, stepping towards us. "Unfortunately you've got to be alive, though." He ominously slid his finger across his neck as he turned towards Leon. "If I could, I'd slit your neck right now... that would be a pleasant climax to our party tonight." He sneered.