Ugly Ronney: mafia romance [English]

Chapter 15-4

I scanned the interior of the restaurant with my eyes unfocused, but I couldn't really see him. My head was spinning and a dull buzzing in my ears prevented me from hearing my mother's screams and my father's pleas. My mind drifted helplessly. Yeraz had just shot me in the heart. How could he betray me like that? Nothing mattered more to him than ruling this city.

Gunshots brought me back to reality. My father threw himself on me, tackling me to the ground. Although I held my hands over my ears, I heard the clink of empty cartridge cases falling to the ground. My mother, lying next to me, was crying and screaming, asking the Lord to spare us. Those were the longest seconds of my life. My heart broke a little more with each shot.

When the shooting stopped, we waited for a long time, lying on the ground, paralyzed by fear. Silence filled the air around us. Only the sound of our breaths disturbed the moment of quietude. The men had gone. Elio's voice was suddenly heard, calling us, panicked.

"Stay here!" my father ordered us.

I took my mother in my arms. She was shaking with fear. My hands caressed her face as if they had the power to calm her.

"Who were those people? Why didn't you call me? I would have come down!"

Elio was screaming with rage. I left my mother and stood up, staggering. My brother threw himself on me and hugged me. He held me so tightly that I had to ask him to let go of me so I could breathe.

I almost lost my balance as I looked around the restaurant. The walls were riddled with bullets and the windows were completely shattered. The place looked like a battlefield. My father raised his hands to his head in dismay and screamed at the top of his lungs. He and my mother had lost everything tonight. Yeraz had taken everything from them.

I closed my eyes. My brain took a long time to reconnect to reality. My mother, still petrified, stood against my brother, who remained serious and preoccupied. Suddenly, an idea struck me, an idea that aroused in me a feeling close to horror, but which my reason approved. A dark, scarred Ronney was gradually surfacing. This woman, whose existence I hadn't even been aware of, came to me and asked me to leave her in charge.

Without thinking, I took a hasty step towards the exit. My father ran to me and held me back just in time before I walked through the restaurant doors. He gave me a questioning look.

"I'm going to fix this, Dad! Give me the keys to your car."

My father took in my words with astonishment.

"Have you gone mad? I won't let my daughter be killed. Stay with us! Your uncles will be here soon to help us put things in order."

"Did you hear me? Let me go! I'm going to get your life back. It's not just our hearts that will bleed tonight."

Sensing the determination in my voice, he didn't insist. Reluctantly, he handed me his keys and begged me with his eyes.

"Don't put yourself in danger, Ronney. Where are you going to go? What are you going to do?"

Kill Yeraz.

Still standing at the door, my father yelled at me to come back, but I hurried to the car.