Killer Santas

Chapter 15

Elaina barely had time to register Tony's statement before Victor roughly grabbed her arm, knocking her gun from her hand, and drew her against his chest, his own gun pressed against her temple.

"Don't shoot, Tony!" Victor yelled. "Or she dies."

What the hell just happened?

Tony froze, his gun still aimed at his brother. Marco Andrisano stared at his youngest son, clutching Elaina to his chest as if for a shield. Victor's arm was wrapped tightly around Elaina's waist, holding her to him to make sure she didn't try to escape. The gun was cold against her head.

In that moment, it struck her. Victor was holding her hostage.

Victor.

Not Tony.

Oh, this isn't good.

"Victor, what are you doing?" Elaina demanded, her voice wild with fear.

"I'm playing the game," Victor answered in a low voice, his breath hot on her ear. "I'm going to win it, Elaina. And it's all because of you."

"They'll shoot you," Elaina spat, hoping she was right. After all, both Tony and his father had guns, didn't they? They were experienced with them, weren't they? It was two to one, even if that one had a hostage.

But Victor will shoot me if they try to shoot him.

"No, they won't," Victor said smugly, glancing at his brother. "Will you, Tony? Will you shoot me, while I threaten the life of Elaina Rossi?"

"I want to," Tony growled, but his expression was conflicted. "Oh, brother, I so want to shoot you dead for all the pain you've put us through."

"But you won't," Victor said tauntingly. "Because of your dear Elaina."

Tony didn't say anything; his expression said it all.

"What?" Elaina asked, thoroughly confused. Victor, her ally, her rescuer, who had always been there to protect her, had taught her to shoot, brought her to a safe house, told her how dangerous his brother was...now held her hostage, a gun to her head, and was saying Tony wouldn't shoot because of Elaina.

It looked like Victor had been mistaken about which brother was most dangerous to Elaina.

"Elaina, I might have forgotten to mention that my brother Tony is in love with you," Victor said, grinning maliciously at his brother. "He thought he could save you from all this, keep you out of the resulting bloodbath my father's Secret Santa trick would cause about my employees. But because of his affection for you, I knew you would be the perfect weapon against him: Tony wouldn't dare shoot if he thought you might be injured, too."

"You lied to me," Elaina accused. "You told me he wanted to kill me."

Tony met Elaina's gaze and she could see the anguish in his eyes.

"I needed a reason for you to believe me over him," Victor said. "And it worked. Now I will gain ownership of the family and Andrisano Construction within two shots."

Tony and his father.

I'll be the third.

"Victor, please," Tony said. "Don't hurt her."

"Tony, put the gun down or I will kill her," Victor ordered. "Quickly, I don't have all day."

"Who are you kidding, Victor?" Marco Andrisano scoffed. "You kill her, we kill you. You can't afford to shoot her. The girl's your life insurance policy."

"But if I kill her, Tony loses the girl he loves," Victor pointed out. "Don't you, Tony?"

"There are plenty of girls out there," Marco asserted dismissively. "Tony can find another one just as good or better. He could find a prettier one, too."

Ouch.

"Hey!" Elaina exclaimed. "I can hear you."

Marco shrugged. "Nothing personal, just business."

"Oh, Tony doesn't want another one, do you, Tony?" Victor taunted. "I believe he likes this girl too much to give her up."

"Father's right," Tony said quietly, and Elaina's heart stilled. "You kill her, we kill you. You've got nothing, Victor."

Victor's eyes widened and Elaina could feel his grip tighten around her. "No," he hissed. "You won't dare shoot me with Elaina's life on the line, would you? You might hit her instead of me. You've been holding back this entire time, Tony, I know you have...at Elaina's house...on the road...you yelled stop when she started running....You won't shoot me for fear of hitting her."

With that, Victor lowered his gun and shot Elaina in the foot.

Elaina screamed and her body sagged, trying to crumple to the ground, but Victor's arm held her up, the gun returning to press insistently against her temple. Tony started forward, his eyes widening, and then stopped, his gun lowered slightly. His father had raised his own pistol at the gunshot and now held it pointing steadily at Victor's head.

Blood covered the top of Elaina's foot as pain throbbed through her body. She took deep breaths, trying to avoid falling into a state of panic. I can't do anything if I'm panicking. I need to stay calm. Deep breaths, deep breaths.

"Put the guns down!" Victor roared. "Or I shoot her again!"

"All right, all right!" Tony said hastily, stepping in front of his father. He loosened his grip on his gun, crouched down, and placed it on the ground. Elaina noticed Marco Andrisano kept his pistol still aimed at his son's head as Tony nudged his weapon away from him with his foot.

"Now you, Father," Victor prompted.

Marco huffed indignantly but didn't move. "You expect me to disarm myself all because you hold a girl Tony likes?"

Victor stayed silent, his whole demeanor saying, That's exactly what I expect.

"Father," Tony said quietly.

"Oh, all right." Marco crouched down, placing his own gun on the floor and kicking it away from him. Then he rose, his form obscured by Tony, who had placed himself in front of his father as if as a shield, his arms held out slightly.

"Okay then," Victor said with a harsh laugh. He let go of Elaina and pushed her away from him. She fell to the floor, the breath forced out of her lungs as she landed, several feet away from her pistol.

I need to reach it....

Victor aimed his gun at Tony. "Now I win," he gloated, and pulled the trigger.

Elaina screamed. Two gunshots rang out in the building, the second following on the heels of the first. She heard a yelp and two thuds and glanced around in bewilderment, trying to figure out what just happened.

Tony lay on the floor, his father kneeling beside him, a mini pistol in his hand. Victor had dove for cover; that must have been the second thud. Elaina summoned all her strength and crawled forward, shoving aside the pain in her foot.

Snatching up Michael's pistol, Elaina forced herself a couple more feet to reach the safety of a cubicle. She curled up underneath it just as the elevator doors dinged open and gunfire filled the air.

/**/

Okay...so that happened. Did you see that coming? Did you suspect Victor before the big reveal, or did this all come as a surprise?

Thanks for reading; I hope you enjoyed it! Please vote and comment, let me know what you think!

Skylar Wittenborn