I had been staring at white walls for the past forty eight hours, my body sagging in the chair as I waited for someone to get me out of here. I had been going out of my mind, wondering why I hadn't seen or heard hide nor hair of Gianna. Something twisted in my gut, the bond tethering me to my woman telling me that something was about to go wrong - though I couldn't yet understand what. It was unusual for her to not be here when I could clearly see Luca through the transparent glass all alone, completing the formalities to no doubt, get me out. Even Esme wasn't to be seen anywhere. I had been aware of all the legal paperwork that had been filed for a reappeal, having overheard the cops around me talk about it. But right now, the only thing that would give me peace was getting out of here and seeing Gianna safe in my arms.
Luca had a panicked look on his face as the cops escorted him inside the room, my mouth dry after having only some water a little over sixteen hours ago.
"Luca." I rasped as soon as he entered. "What's happening?"
"We're getting you out of here, Gio. They're giving you interim bail, at least until the trial date is set."
Relief blossomed in my chest as I cursed softly.
"And Gianna? Where is she?" Luca's brows pinched at my question, an expression that I couldn't really put my finger on. But it was gone as soon as it had come.
"Outside." He muttered as he watched one of the cops uncuff me as I rubbed my sore wrists.
I stood up immediately, blood rushing to my head and making me feel light headed since I hadn't had any proper solid food except for a measly sandwich since I'd been taken into custody.
Assuming that all the paperwork had been completed, I strode towards the exit ignoring the voices calling out from behind me. I instantly rounded on Luca as he turned the corner, pinning him to the wall.
"Where is she?" My stomach fell at the hesitant look on his face. "Spit it out, Luca." I growled as panic attempted to seize my insides.
"She's been taken."
"What do you mean she's been taken?" I roared as I pushed against his head, making it smack against the wall.
"Goddamnit, Gio! My fucking head." He snapped as he held a hand to the blossoming bruise. "It means she's been fucking kidnapped, stronzo. I went to the office today since she didn't come back to the penthouse last night. We checked the security footage outside and think she's been led to the outskirts of the city."
"Have you tracked the location?"
He nodded in the positive as I pushed him by his collar towards the car that he'd driven here.
"You drive."
"But Gio, you still -
"I said fucking drive, Luca. If anything happens to her, you'd better believe that I'll skin you and Alessandro alive." I threatened lowly as I got in the passenger seat. "What the fuck were you thinking, anyways? Letting her out of your sight like that? You and Alessandro were supposed to protect her while I was gone."
"Alesso went for a smoke." He replied, his eyes glued to the road.
"How convenient, hmm? He goes for a smoke when I get shot by fucking Abramo as well as when my girl is taken?"
"You think he's the mole?" Luca voiced the question that had been lingering on my mind for a long time now as I avoided answering it.
I didn't want to accuse anybody - least of all a man I trusted - without any evidence. But I'd be lying if I said that he hadn't been acting strange for the past few months. Constantly disappearing without a trace whatsoever.
"Would make a helluva lot of sense if he was." He scoffed as he gunned the engine, breaking past the city speed limits.
"Gun?" I questioned as we turned onto a deserted road, the bumpy trail and potholes making the expensive car jerk violently.
"Glove compartment."
I opened the compartment to find a blood stained knife and a gun beside it.
"You torture someone or something?" I muttered as I wiped the knife clean on my dress shirt, staining it red, knowing that a shit ton of blood was about to be spilled tonight anyways.
"You could say that."
A sense of gratitude filled me, knowing that this man - my brother not by blood - had my back always.
We spent the next few minutes silently, my knee bouncing anxiously before Luca stopped the car in a clearing which gave view to a semi destroyed mansion.
"There." The one word from him was confirmation enough as I leapt out from my seat, not waiting for him to catch up.
Worry tore my insides as thoughts of Gianna trapped for God knows how long and hurt - or worse, dead - plagued my mind. But I banished those thoughts just as quick, knowing that I wouldn't let that happen. She had to be alive.
Cocking my head to the side, a strange suspicion filled me at the sight of the quietness surrounding me. Still, I took the plunge as I pushed the front door open, my suspicions confirmed as I spotted a figure in the middle, tied to a chair. Gianna had been bound to a chair, her eyes widening in warning. Before I could react to that, as my eyes snagged onto a figure standing to the side. A snarl ripped my throat when I saw Alessandro clutching his side before I barrelled towards him. But I was blocked and back handed by another person as my head snapped back.
"Abramo." I growled seeing his face in front of me as I turned around. I managed to recover, lunging towards him instead as a muffled scream rang from behind me.
I got him in a headlock as the both of us tumbled to the ground, me obviously having the upper hand as I butted my gun into his forehead. He howled in pain as Alessandro stood stock still to the side, not moving to help him out. Just as I tasted victory in my mouth, my gun pressed to Abramo's head, I felt something crash and break against the back of my head, glass shattering around me as my head spun for a moment.
"That's enough drama for now, isn't it?" A voice drawled from behind me, as my mind scrambled over the familiarity. Fuck no...it couldn't be, right?
Abramo took advantage of my momentary distraction as he landed a punch to my chest, making me wheeze out a breath. My gun clattered to the side as I spotted Gianna leaning forward towards me, the chair nearly tipping over with her weight.
Someone pulled me up by my hair, tugging on it as I fought to remain conscious, my skull still throbbing from the impact of whatever had hit me. I was backhanded with the rear of the gun that had fallen from my hands, but not before I got a good look at who the real traitor was. Luca.
"Bastard." I managed to spit out before I heard a thump and my world went black.
***
I gasped awake as I felt the splash of cool water on my face, sputtering as I tried to breathe in through my nose.
"Cazzo di merda." I bit out as I tried to remember how I'd ended up here. Until it hit me.
Gianna. Abramo. Luca. His betrayal.
"Ah the prince is finally awake." Luca cooed as he came into the light, Alessandro and Abramo flanking both his sides.
"You fucking traitor!" I roared, fighting against the ties that were holding me back. "I trusted you." I shouted, my voice thick with emotions with the betrayal of the man that I had thought of as my brother.
"That's the thing isn't it?" He sighed as he started pacing around the room. "Trust is a fickle thing. You gotta be careful who you give it to." He spun the Glock in his hand before stopping in front of me. "And you, dear Sergio, gave it to the wrong person.
"I realise that now." I said bitterly as my eyes roamed over Gianna, taking in the bruising on her face and the dried blood on her throat. My anger swelled at the sight, helpless to do anything but watch. "Why?"
"Ah the million dollar question that I've been waiting for." Luca chuckled as Abramo's knife glinted in the dim lighting, my only focus on keeping Luca distracted so that I could think of a way to get at least Gianna out of here no matter what happened to me.
"It's always been Sergio this, Sergio that from the beginning hasn't it? The golden boy. The prince in line to take over the gang." He started as anger twisted his features, hardening his eyes into something sinister. I had unknowingly let a monster into my house for all these years, welcoming him with open arms. Fuck. "Luca on the other hand...he was just a fuckboy. Another man to do your dirty bidding and clean up your messes. And that's what I did in the beginning. I was a nobody. Until you saw me. Then you made me your second in command." His grip on the gun tightened for a fraction of a second before loosening again. "I thought that would be enough for me. But the truth was, it wasn't. I'd always been ambitious - even as a boy - so it only seemed fitting for me to take on the role as Capo, even if it meant being a puppet on Bruno's strings for a while."
"Becoming a Capo was always meant for me and you knew that." I sneered as Abramo and Alessandro stood back, talking in hushed voices.
"Unfortunately yes. All that bloodline and bullshit." He scoffed. "That is, until I found an opportunity through father dearest here a few months before Gianna left you." He jerked his head at Abramo as my eyes widened in shock. Father dearest?
It seemed that Gianna was thinking the same thing as she voiced the question out loud.
"Wait, what do you mean by that?" She mumbled, her mouth only slightly moving. It seemed like the drugs they'd administered to her were still in her system. Nasty fuckers.
"It means," Luca strolled towards Gianna with a manic smile on his face. "that you and I share the same father, Gia. We're half siblings."
Gianna's mouth fell open in surprise as she clearly tried to grasp what was going on.
"It was a pretty deal, really." He continued as if he hadn't just turned her world upside down. "I had to lure you to him so he could do whatever he wanted with yo while I got the honors of killing my favorite Capo. I'll admit it was a bit messy since I had to orchestrate Bruno's death but what's life without a good challenge, eh?"
"That's right." Abramo said as he stepped up beside his son now, a matching grin on his face. "And I'll be getting the Cosa Nostra as well. Isn't that right, figlio mio?"
Luca's head snapped towards him abruptly as he opened his mouth to speak. "What the fuck? That wasn't the deal!"
Abramo said something in response that I couldn't quite catch as I used their momentary distraction to move my foot towards the shard of glass that was lying just inches ahead. My eyes connected with Gianna's as I spotted her subtly moving her arms back and forth behind her, the zip tie rubbing against the chair. The wood seemed sturdy enough that I was sure that it wouldn't break, giving her a chance to get out of those ties. Meanwhile, my wrists were chafing against the tightly bound ropes. If I could just get that piece of glass and cut the rope...
From my peripheral, I saw the door open and close as Alessandro left, not getting involved in their squabble, taking out his lighter as he went. Bingo. Just as my foot connected with the glass, a loud pop went off in the room. My leg froze in its position as I watched blood spatter onto Abramo's face. Luca's mouth was open in shock as he stumbled back, the gunshot wound making a hole in his abdomen.
"What -
"You've always been a nuisance, boy. But at least you did your job right unlike the incompetent fool outside." He muttered viciously, grabbing onto his son's neck. "Sometimes it's best to get any further obstacles out of the way, no?" Luca was pushed onto the ground, his head colliding with the floor as he writhed in pain, clutching the injury.
But it was hopeless. He had made a deal with Satan himself and had gone against me. What else had he expected?
"We were supposed to be a team." He wheezed out, the blood draining from his face as his eyes rolled to the back of his head.
"Wrong. You were just a fool desperate for some attention." Abramo cackled as he kicked Luca's body. "For what it's worth though, you were extremely helpful. Sending those notes to your best friend, paying off the jury, helping me escape. At least your death won't be in vain." Abramo shot me a look that told me that he had all kinds of plans waiting for us. But first, Luca.
"Mi dispiace, Luca. You could have been a good son in another life."
I brought the glass closer, straining my hands to pick it up before I deftly managed to grasp it between my fingers, blood trickling down my arm in the process. Right at the same time, I heard a snap from beside me as Gianna slowly freed her hands from the ties. I kept using the sharp edge of the glass to saw away at the rope, feeling it give way under my wrists. Fuck yes.
Just as Abramo fired two shots to Luca's chest and one to his skull, the rope broke free as I used the momentum to dive forward and pick up Luca's gun that had fallen to the ground when he was shot. I pushed the knife towards Gianna as Abramo realised that he had lost control of the situation. He turned his gun to shoot me, but I was faster than him, a bullet hitting his kneecap. He howled in pain as the door slammed open, Alessandro coming in as I fired shot after shot into his body before he crumpled to the ground and fell.
Gianna was beside me in an instant, having cut the zip ties with the knife as she cupped my face in her hands.
"Gio..." She whispered but was interrupted by a roar of anger as Abramo rushed towards us, a metal chair held above his head.
I didn't have time to process what happened next as Gianna rose up with a scream of her own, dodging the chair as I fired my gun, only to find it empty.
"Fuck!" I roared as Abramo managed to hit my girl with the leg of the chair, blood gushing from her forehead as she lost her balance.
He turned half way, thinking he had got her as I jumped up, pouncing on him as I hit him repeatedly with my now empty gun.
"Don't you fucking lay your filthy hands on her!" I shouted, my voice hoarse. "I'll fucking kill you, you bastardo."
We rolled on the ground like heathens as he hooked one leg around my waist, making me immobile from the waist down. I banged my head against his, hearing the satisfying crunch of bones before I was backhanded with something sharp as a gash tore across my cheek.
A shrill scream pierced the air seconds before Abramo went lax against me suddenly, his body colliding with mine as a knife protruded from his back. Gianna pulled it out, stabbing his already dead body like a madwoman, no longer in control of her actions.
"I'll kill you! I'll fucking kill you!" She snarled.
"Gianna." I shouted. "Gianna!" I shouted, this time louder as she finally looked at me, the manic look from her eyes dimming. "He's dead. He's dead, mia gioia." I said softly, my worst enemy's blood coating my entire body and a sense of relief taking over me.
"He's fucking dead." I repeated as I fell back, pushing his dead body off of me.
I felt tired. So, so fucking tired. But I was done. Finally done. I had gotten vengeance at last. The man who had killed my uncle now lay dead at my feet, surrounded by the men that I had once trusted with my life.
"They're all dead." Gianna crawled closer to me as we lay in the pool of blood, quietness cloaking the room.
"That was fucking crazy." She muttered after a few moments, once the adrenaline had worn off.
"Yeah, it was. I'm just glad we made it out alive."
"Me too."
Standing up, I lifted her into my arms, though my body ached all over. She protested but I shut her up with a kiss to her forehead, blood smearing on it. I lay her on the grass as I closed the door of the mansion behind me, limping over to where I spotted a can of gasoline. Perfect. It took me a few minutes to pour it around the perimeter of the house before I snatched the lighter that Alessandro had dropped onto the ground.
"So we just burn it now?" Gianna said from beside me, holding onto my bicep for support.
"Yeah. We burn it, them, now." I smiled as my facial muscles protested in pain. "We burn them for making us suffer. For trying to tear us apart."
With a flick of my wrist, the flames engulfed the land, licking up the mansion as I made sure that the three dead men inside burned in hell.
"To new beginnings." I turned my head to look at the love of my life, crazy grins on our faces even though we had just narrowly escaped death and whatever fate that had awaited us.
"To new beginnings and unbreakable bonds."
We sealed the promise with a kiss, our lips locking in passion as the fire cast us in a glow. We celebrated in the face of destruction, taking a moment to see the burnt house before moving to the car that was still parked ahead of us. That idiot had even left the keys in the ignition.
I started the engine, feeling a lightness that I hadn't felt in so long as I looked at my woman. Yes, we were battered and bruised. But we were here. We were alive. And that was more than I could ever ask for.
"Ti amo per sempre." I said as I kissed Gianna's bruised knuckles.
"Ti amo per sempre." She repeated as we left the rubble behind us, no longer giving our past a chance to control our lives. Because this time, we were stronger than ever. We were unbreakable together.
☆☆☆
Jesus fuck. Who's crying? Def not me. Yeah nope, I'm def not emotional because Gianna and Sergio's story is gonna be over after one more chapter + the epilogue. It's okay guys. I'll be alright (hopefully) while I binge on junk food to make myself feel better😭😭😭
Don't forget to vote, comment and share. We're so close to the end!❤️🔥