Family First | *Rewrites in Progress*

Evelyn Was Just The Spare

Anastasia's POV

The gunshots didn't stop as the door to our van was thrown open, with Grayson standing in front of us. "Back off cagne!" he yelled, producing his own weapon. The men at the van chuckled deeply, raising their guns, and I held my hand over Colette's stomach as she covered Alexei's eyes, all preparing for the worst.

But it never came.

The four men fell with a thud, and Uncle Roman stepped out from behind them, along with Riccardo, and some of my father's men. 

"Are you all okay?" Uncle Roman asked, and for the first time ever, he sounded like the man he used to be. His eyes held that mischievous twinkle our father used to tell us about, his beard cleanly shaped and concern for us on his face.

We all nodded, and jumped out of the van, with Riccardo helping Colette down, and picking up Alexei. The gunshots still rang out, and Uncle Roman directed the men to the direction of the shots, whilst Riccardo stayed with us.

I pulled him into a hug and he held me tight before letting go and handing me something I had never wanted to use.

My gun.

The one weapon I had once sworn to only use if my family was forced to come first before my own life.

Riccardo was still carrying Alexei, whose face was now streaked with tiny tears. A particularly loud gunshot rang out, and he shrieked, burying his face into Riccardo's shoulder. Grayson and I knew we had to go help our family, but we also knew we couldn't leave Colette and Alexei with Riccardo. 

"Go, Anastasia. I will take these two back to the mansion, where they will be safe," he promised, and I nodded, taking Grayson's hand and running with him to the ballroom. We passed the entrance to the safe room, and I stopped just thinking of Evelyn.

Gray noticed and put his hands on my cheeks, looking into my eyes. "Ana, we can't help her now. We need to take down her father first, otherwise we'll lose a lot more family. Family first, right?" he said, and I nodded, ripping my eyes away from the safe room.

That son of a bitch was going down. 

----

Evelyn's POV

I couldn't stop biting my nails as I sat in the corner of the safe room, right next to Carlotta who was anxiously waiting to run out. Some of the older women were praying, whilst some of the children played games to pass the time. 

I knew something was off however, when the guards at the entrance started to look at me, a murderous glare in their eyes. 

To be honest though, the whole night felt off, from the moment I gave my father a hug (something he'd not done since I was a little girl) before going off to dance with Jacob. I had put it off as just being over protective fatherly love, but then again, he had never been around with my other flings.

Dad was always off on jobs, returning at late hours of the night, and leaving at dawn the next day. Mum raised me on her own, teaching me how to become strong and independent, even teaching me how to fight once when I complained I was bored.

My thoughts wondered as I noticed out of the corner of my eye that the guards were closing in on me, their hands placed on their gun holsters. Carlotta also noticed, raising her eyebrows.

"Eve, what's going on?" she whispered, and I shook my head slightly, my lips pursed. 

"I don't know Lottie, but I don't like it."

It was only now that I realised guns were being set off outside, and that there was a tiny hole just by me, big enough for a small girl my size to crawl through. Anastasia was still out there, and I wasn't just going to sit here and wait for it all to be over.

I nudged Carlotta, and she snapped her head to me. "Can you distract the guards?" I whispered, and she nodded, not questioning why. She waited until I was at the entrance of the smaller tunnel, before she walked over to the guards, tripping and crying out in pain.

I took it as my opportunity to get out, and I scrambled through the hole, my dress getting dirtied in the process. The journey was short, and I crawled out by the tree that was right next to the door to the ballroom. 

I grabbed a gun that was lying on the ground, and snuck in, the scene before something I could not prepare myself for.

Bodies were scattered all over the floor, decorating the tiles in crimson. Thomas and Tina were back to back, clasping hands as a group of men surrounded them, and I recognised some who had been the guards for our school.

Anastasia was crying over Quinn, desperately trying to keep pressure on a wound on his leg, hidden away behind a staircase, along with Grayson and Siobhan. Charlie had Astrid right behind him, his gun raised at one of the masked men in the room, her dress stained with blood from another person. 

Vince was dead, a gunshot straight through his skull, as his cold dead eyes bore into the ceiling. 

The strangest part though, was where my parents were. My mother was in the middle of the room on her knees, with a rather nasty black eye and blood trickling from her lip. She looked fiercely into the eyes of my father, as he talked to her, his words muffled from the sound of crying.

My heart sank and collapsed as he stood up, pointing his gun at her. "I blame you, Jean, for filling Evelyn's head with fantasy's of falling in love. She was SUPPOSED to have Charlie, but no, you saw her infatuation for Jacob. Instead of producing an heir, you produced a spare!" he spat. She still held his gaze, almost daring him to shoot her, and I couldn't stop myself as I ran from my hiding spot.

"No!" I yelled and my father turned around, his gun going off just as it pointed towards me. 

It felt strange.

My stomach started to feel warm, almost like a hot-blinding pain, and I collapsed, much to the horror of the guests around me. As my vision clouded, I could see my father collapse in front of me, a clean bullet wound now seeping red through his heart.

Someone grabbed me, possibly Jacob? I couldn't tell anymore. All I wanted to do was sleep, and I knew that if I died, it would have been worth saving my mother, after all, she raised me to be the woman I am today.

And with that I shut my eyes.

----

Third Person's POV

The room seemed to work in slow motion as Andrew shot Evelyn straight through her stomach. Alejandro, the Mexican leader, managed to shoot him with the sniper he had taken from one of Andrew's men, whilst Jacob, Vladimir and Natasha ran to the girl, Jacob catching her just before she hit the ground. 

Anastasia was torn as she looked between Quinn and her best friend, but a swift shake of his head from Vladimir kept her with Quinn, his face managing to give a small smile as Anastasia kept pressure on the bullet wound situated on his leg.

Some of Andrew and Vince's men were still fighting, but with a few quick shots, they too were down, the rest now on their knees as men from every mafia surrounded them. Florent ran over to Grayson and Anastasia, looking for Colette, and they reassured him she was safe with Alexei and Riccardo.

Thomas and Tina were in each other's arms, glad for the madness to have ended, but they knew it had come at a cost. 

Evelyn Matthews had paid for her father's sins.

And as medics from the Cuore Rosso tended to her, and an ambulance arrived, a crying mother watched her daughter get reeled away, uncertain if she would ever see her smile again.