Falling Angel | a Mafia Story

Chapter XXVI

"Well hold on, my darling,

this mess was yours, now your mess is mine"

Time seemed to go in slow motion. I felt Antonio wrap his body around mine, throwing us to the floor, and bracing the fall with one arm, the other not letting go of me as the impact knocked the air out of my lungs.

The gunshot rung in my ears, but the deadly bullet must've missed us by a hairsbreadth, piercing the tv behind us as it shattered the screen with a deafening sound.

We won't be able to dodge his bullets for forever...

Antonio must have had the same thought, as he urged me to take cover behind the couch. But we both knew that it was as useful as seeking shelter in a tent during a tornado.

We cowered behind the small piece of furniture, our backs against it and Antonio's eyes flashed over my face, a pained expression darkening his blazing amber eyes. "I'm so sorry for dragging you into this mess, angel," he whispered, holding the heaving breath in his lungs to listen carefully.

We heard Don scramble back onto his feet, standing between us and the door to freedom, so there was no way past the madman that had already raised his gun once more, noisily stumbling towards us.

Squeezing Antonio's hand in mine I pulled him closer to me, resting my forehead against his while I looked deep into his eyes, trying to memorize the swirling patterns of gold within them. "Your mess is my mess too," I assured with a shaking voice, not wanting our last seconds on this earth to be filled with regret.

Antonio sucked in a sharp breath, both of us trying to ignore the furniture being tossed aside around us as Don tried to get to us, and his eyes didn't leave mine, the emotions burning bright behind them. "I love you," he pressed out with a low voice before crashing his lips onto mine in a desperate kiss, my heartbeat fluttering like the wings of a bird trying to stay aloft, his words spinning around in my head.

I think my brain must have blanked out for a moment because it took a long second for me to realize that the scene around us had changed .

There was a loud crash and just as Don pushed aside the couch that we were hiding behind, the front door was thrown out of its hinges and crashed to the floor in pieces.

Within seconds the room was swarmed by at least a dozen people, loud shouts echoing off the walls as they crowded Don into a corner, who lowered his weapon with an angry roar as he realized that he had been outnumbered.

Out of the group of tall men, one turned around to us, quickly walking over and my eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as I watched Dario outstretch his hand to help Antonio back onto his feet.

"You only call me brother when you're in real deep shit, mate," he chuckled grimly, pulling Antonio up and into a swift embrace, "so, I put two and two together and figured you might need some back-up."

Holding out his hand again Dario gripped my still shaking fingers, pulling me up as well and sending a quick gaze down my body to check for any injuries. "Sorry about your door, Cupcake," he uttered sheepishly once he couldn't find any indication of harm, but my voice hadn't found my tongue quite yet and I just nodded my head dumbly.

The next thing I knew I was being squashed by a tight embrace, Ellie's shrill voice ringing in my ears as she refused to let me go. "Oh, dear lord," she cried, moving on to Antonio who stood rooted to the spot as she fussed over him.

"Sorry boss," Dario shrugged his shoulders with a lopsided smile, "I couldn't talk her out of coming along."

"Of course, I was coming along," she asserted with a stern voice, "this is a family matter." But her face darkened as she laid eyes on Don, who was watching out of a sour looking face. "Now stop pointing your cursed weapons at this man, he is part of this family after all."