Family Business

Chapter 17: Run Away With Me, Cupcake

     As Antonio held me in his arms, from a distance, I saw Giovanni, Leonardo, Alina, and Nikki walk over to us. Antonio let me go, then Alina and Nikki threw their arms around me. Both of them were in tears. I could barely see through the film of tears covering my eyes.

     "What is going to happen now?" Leonardo asked, a few tears trickling down his cheeks. "Dad is gone, what the hell are we going to do without him?"

     Antonio looked at both of his brothers. Tears were still running down his face.

     "We'll think about that later, Leo. For now, we are going to have to get this cleaned up," Antonio replied.

     "I'll call Mr. Lombardi to come help us," Giovanni said while grabbing his phone out of his pocket.

     "Giovanni," Alina said to Giovanni before he called Mr. Lombardi. "I'm scared." Giovanni looked at Alina with teary eyes, brought her in close to him, and kissed her on the forehead.

     "Don't worry, Amore, you've got me. Everything is going to be okay," Giovanni replied.

     "Antonio, what are you going to do with the house? What are you going to do with the cars? The money? What are you going to do with everything?" I asked Antonio.

     "Now that those two assholes ran away, we need to get the hell out of here," Antonio replied. "No one can know where we are."

     I just nodded my head at him. I knew my life would never be the same again. If Alina, Nikki, and I stayed in Staten Island, we would be targeted by criminals and the police, especially since I technically murdered someone.

     "Where do you plan on going?" I asked Antonio.

     "Las Vegas," Antonio replied. "It is safer out there."

     "Okay," Giovanni said, walking over to us. "I just got off the phone with Mr. Lombardi. We are going to get this cleaned up, pack up the shit, then leave."

     "Run away with me, Cupcake," Antonio quickly said, looking at me with stars in his eyes.

     "What?" I said while laughing. "After the fight we had earlier, there is no way I am going with you."

     "Please, Julie," Antonio begged me. "I've got the money. You, Alina, and Nikki can open a new salon in Las Vegas, it would be sick! Look, I understand if you don't want to be with me in a romantic sense, but it would be great to have some girls to share our new mansion with."

     I saw Giovanni holding a scared Alina and Nikki comforting a sad Leonardo. I knew that they would be fine moving to Las Vegas, so the decision was ultimately up to me.

     "Well, since I have a bad reputation as a killer now, as long as I can help run the family business, I'm down for heading out to Vegas," I said with a grin.

     Antonio looked over the moon with joy. He leaned in to hug me.

     "Great, we are going to get this mess cleaned up, then start packing up our shit," Antonio said.

     "Sounds good to me," I replied with a wink.

     I glanced up at the beautiful mansion before me, then looked down at the bloody, dead bodies in the driveway. Yeah, I think it's time to get the hell out of here.