When The Sun Goes Down - A Midnight Mafia Novel

Chapter Thirty-One

"I can't shoot some-" I started to protest but he slapped a hand over my mouth again.

"Keep your voice down! As soon as the car stops we're going to be under attack. I thought you'd be more comfortable with the little gun, but if it makes you feel better you can have big papa."

I shook my head beneath his hand and he lowered it. "Why are you whispering!' I hissed matching his quiet tone.

"That's not Benji." He said simply.

I waited for more but he didn't say anything else without my request. "Well who is it then?" I finally said with an eye roll.

"I don't know yet."

Nothing he said could have made me more nervous than that. Alessio knew everything all the time. It was like, his thing. "Then how do you know it's not Benji?"

He nodded his head towards the front. "Have you ever seen that divider up in my car before?"

"Well no but I've only been in it a number of times-"

"And Pietro texting me? Pietro never texts me. The only reason he would text me would be if he couldn't call me. And the only reason he couldn't call me would be if he was dead, or if someone else had his phone." He explained. "I knew something was off when the divider was up. I tried the door and sure enough we're locked in."

"I thought we always were."

"No, but even that could have been explained. My FOB isn't in my coat pocket. It was when we arrived at the restaurant, someone took the initiative to take it out. Fúck, I can't believe I was stupid enough to leave it in there."

"Calm down." I said and gently nudged the pistol away from me. "It probably just fell out of your pocket or something."

"Maybe. But everyone in the family has a GPS in their phone. When I look up Pietro's-" He flipped the phone so it was facing upwards on his lap. I looked down. It was just a moving green dot. "Look, here if I turn yours and Pietro's both on."

"Mine?!" I hissed. "I never gave you permission to-"

"Katherine." He seethed. With an eye roll I looked back to his phone. Two dots on top of eachother moving in sync.

"I don't understand..." I muttered watching as Pietro and myself moved together.

"Pietro isn't here. But his phone is. Meaning whoever is texting me has Pietro's phone and is in the car with us." Alessio explained in perfect calmness.

I searched for an explanation for this. "Well maybe he just-"

"I've texted him a few times since we got into the car. Each time with a response. Someone has his phone. And that someone is in the car." He picked up the pistol and held it out to me again.

I took it this time with shaking hands.

"The safety is right-" Alessio started but I flipped the safety off myself and he stopped midsentence. He looked moderately impressed. "Can you shoot?"

After everything went down with Alessio I had taken shooting lessons. They were something I had never seen through to the end. I had started a ton of new 'hobbies' to try to fill the angry void inside of me with little avail. Shooting, kick boxing, crochet, I'd never stuck with anything long enough to develop real skill. I learned a good bit about gun safety, how to clean the gun, load it, etc, but had only stuck around through one and a half of the actual shooting lessons. I wasn't a bad shot, I wasn't about to start knocking cans off of a fence or hitting discs shot into the air, but I could hit the body shaped targets at the lessons even if I didn't hit them exactly where I had aimed.

The only problem? There was a huge difference between shooting pretend paper people, to actually shooting a living person. Not only would they be moving around, but did I really even have the guts to do it? To end someone's life? Be the deciding factor to cut someone's life short? Pretend to be the grim reaper and rip someone's life from their chest? Could I-

"Katherine?" Alessio hissed ripping me from my thoughts He wrapped his hands around mine on the gun. "If you don't, they will. Now. Can. You. Shoot?"

I nodded mutely just as the car pulled to a stop. I looked out the window and was greeted only with darkness.

"It's okay." Alessio said and pulled his hands away. He picked up his 'big papa' and aimed it at the door. "We're in a garage or something." He said trying to sound casual about it.

I turned to face my own door, my back pressed against his. "What if they shoot us first?" I whispered and aimed my gun to the door.

"Don't let them." He replied simply.

"But-"

"Katherine." He said sharply. "Don't let them."

I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded.

"They don't know we know. So we've the upper hand. Just know that if we're in a building there are probably more of them. There were two upfront to begin with. The driver, and the texter. Here, who knows."

"You're great for pep talks." I muttered sarcastically.

"Anything to make you feel better." He replied dryly. We heard the trunk open, after a few moments of silence it slammed shut. "If we're lucky there was a body in there and not more guns."

"Alessio!" I scolded.

"Listen to me Katherine." He said in a stern voice. "You have to swear, the moment you get a chance, you run."

"Run. Gotcha." I nodded.

"I mean it Katherine. No matter what's going on. If they have me or they don't, if you think I'm dead or injured or whatever. You fúcking run."

"I'm not going to leave you behind." I shot back.

"Yes. You are. They need me alive, they won't kill me. But they will kill you. You have to run Katherine."

I wasn't a very fast runner. "I can't just-"

"Promise me you'll run. I'll get their attention and you need to run. Promise."

"I-I promise."

"Are you ready?" I felt his body tense. We both knew our doors would be the next to open.

"As I'll ever be." I muttered.

The doors unlocked loudly. "Take a breath." Alessio hissed.

I couldn't describe how grateful I was for him to remind me of that. Had he not, I surely would have held my breath in anticipation.

Both of our doors flew open in union.

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Hey readers! Happy Sunday! I decided to post this update early, because, well, I CAN (: What a nice way to start the week right? Obviously this was your Monday update, only a day early, so I won't be updating again tomorrow. I hope you guys are excited as I am for an early update!

I use a little bit of mafia lingo as well through the book like Big Papa which is slang for a Thompson machine gun. Admittedly it was the more popular weapon of choice back in the 30's, but I choose to use it in several occasions during the book. If you'll look up at our lovely male model's in the picture at the top or side of your screen (depending on if you're on a mobile site or desktop) they are actually holding "Big Papa" Can you imagine your date pulling one of those out of their car seat after dinner? Awkwarddd.

Anyway, VOTE and COMMENT as always (: