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L O N Z O M A T T I A
"Boss, boss. I promise. I knew nothing." Trey pleads with his hands tied to the chair.
I cross my arms over my chest bored of the same words I hear when they're begging for their lives. I don't want pleas, I want answers. My steps around him are agonisingly slow and he watches me out of the corner of his eye.
"So you know nothing about what went down with Aaron and Liam?"
"No!" He bellows and I glance up at the two guards behind him who have their hands behind their backs, attention away from us.
I huff out a breath. "You're not really giving me what I want, Trey."
His mouth opens and he groans. "Because I know nothing!"
My phone chimes in my back pocket and I release it to look at the notification. A security message from the house. I furrow my brows and quickly tap on the screen, the app popping up and showing the camera to the outside of my house.
I can feel my blood run cold as I stare back at Jace trying to get into the house but since we got everything changed for extra security, he can't. But I take a breath and remember that Alexia isn't alone at the house. Gabriel is with her. They can handle it.
After a few moments I shove my phone back into my pocket and I glance at Trey who is already studying me carefully. "Why should I believe you?"
"Because I was just a small-time dealer who fell into your empire to make back some money," he breathes heavily. "That is it. I don't care about anything else. Lonzo, you have to believe me."
I stare into his eyes and remember how both Aaron and Liam looked at me when they were guilty of trading off information and lying about it. Either Trey is a good liar or I'm slowly losing my judgement.
A loud noise echoes from outside the room and I glance towards the door, seconds later Gabriel comes tumbling in. Eyes wide with fear.
Why the fuck is he here?
"Jace," he pants like he ran up six flights of stairs. "He's at the house with Alexia."
I glance towards the guards. "Keep him here until I say so."
"Yes, boss."
We exit the room swiftly and I rush to my office in the warehouse to grab my keys. "What the fuck were you thinking leaving her by herself?!" I roar at him as we make our way downstairs, taking two steps at a time.
"It was only an hour. I said an hour. I didn't think anything would happen. I needed to grab some files and then I was going to head straight back home."
I suppress a growl in the back of my throat and I shake my head at him. "I'll meet you at the house," I say before opening my car door and driving off with Gabriel trailing behind me.
My foot hits the acceleration, driving as quick as I can. I use my hand that's not on the wheel to look through the security footage, my stomach flipping into my chest at the sight of Jace drawing a gun and pointing it directly at Alexia.
"Fottuto idiota, Gabriel."
(Fottuto idiota: you fucking idiot.)
I barely have a chance to rip my keys from the engine as I stumble out of my car, Gabriel right behind me. The guards are already on standby but I don't want to irk Jace any more than he already is. This needs to be something that we sort between us.
We draw our guns and head inside, rushing towards the kitchen to find Jace holding Alexia with a gun to her neck. Her eyes move from her brother to mine, pleading for us to do something. To get her out of his death grip. He'll be dead before he even thinks about hurting her.
She shrieks as he presses the barrel into her flesh harshly, wriggling against his tight hold on her. Rage blasts through my eyes. My hand on my gun, ready to shoot but I don't because his finger is against the trigger too comfortably for my liking.
"Jace, what the fuck?!" Gabriel roars as we approach him.
"Put the guns down!" He yells causing Alexia to jump.
This is the first time I've seen her in true fear. Probably because she knows he'll shoot.
After everything that's happened, after toying with Landon, knowing exactly how dangerous he is. I wouldn't put it past him to bury a bullet in Alexia's throat to prove a point–to both of us.
"I said put them down or I will blow her fucking head off!" Jace's voice booms through the kitchen. Never in my life have I heard him sound so–lethal.
Gabriel glances at me out of the corner of his eye, neither of us want to lower our guns because we know what could happen but at the same time, I don't want to see Alexia's blood and brains splattered across the wall.
I don't even want to think of that possibility.
I can see Gabriel shake with pure hatred beside me as he takes in Jace again. We lower our guns at the same time.
"Good," Jace sneers. "Now put them on the fucking floor."
Gabriel's hand jitters but Jace notices.
"On the floor!" He presses the gun further into Alexia's throat, causing her to whimper.
"Okay," Gabriel spits and we place our guns on the floor.
Jace takes a look at the guns and then shakes his head. "Kick them over to me. Now!"
Neither of us choose to ignore him, not when I can see the pad of his finger pressed into the trigger more than I'd like to see. One jolt, one movement and that gun is going off and there is no saving her.
"Let her go," Gabriel hisses through his teeth. "If you've got an issue with us, with Lonzo, the fucking empire then let Alexia go. She has nothing to do with this."
Jace's eyes flare with something a tormented monster would portray. "But what's the fun in that?" He drawls. "I know how much she means to you, Gabriel. Your own flesh and blood. Maybe this time you two will actually listen to me."
I narrow my cold eyes towards him. "What is this about, Jace?"
He tips his head back and laughs. "What is this about? Do you know what's so funny... is the fact I've been planning this for months, got away with this for months and it took you and your lousy empire so long to figure it out."
"Why did you do it?" I keep my voice low and harsh.
Jace twists his head and flashes me a smile that has my stomach churning, the gun nudging into Alexia's neck once more. She's going to have a bruise but she doesn't dare resist, she knows the cost with his finger so firm on the trigger.
"Because you both treated me like I wasn't an equal."
Gabriel's jaw ticks at his comment.
Then Jace's hollow gaze turns to me. There is nothing but hatred behind them. "You think the sun shines out of your ass. You've always favoured Gabriel over me, no matter how hard I tried to work my way up. You still treated me like a goddamn dog. Do you know how pathetic you've made me feel? How pathetic you've both made me feel?"
I want to turn my nose up at his comments because if he thinks this way, he has no idea what it's really like to be a part of a gang. If he existed in Landon's gang, he would have been dead by now if he dared to open his mouth or voice such opinions.
"I've known Gabriel for a long time."
"I've known him longer than you have, Lonzo. So don't give me that shit," he spits, saliva flying across the kitchen counter.
Alexia noticeably shakes in his hold, gripping onto his wrist that is forced against her chest.
"Gabriel earned his position," I say calmly, trying to avoid Alexia's terrified eyes because it will make me react. "Gabriel worked hard for where he is and if you think I didn't give him shit along the way like I've given you, then you're more delusional than I thought."
His teeth flash in a fiery grunt. Disliking my comment. He shoves the gun into Alexia's throat harder, she chokes at the sensation as he holds her there and Gabriel steps closer.
Jace clocks him and flares his nostrils. "Stop this," Gabriel tries again. "Stop being a coward and using Alexia to get back at us. She has nothing to do with this."
"She has everything to do with this."
"You've done this for what, power? You've fucked up everything you could have had, Jace. The guy I met in school, this isn't you. You always wanted a life that excited you, a life that challenged you but didn't you stop to think that getting it wouldn't be easy?" Gabriel states, lowering his tone.
Jace keeps his eyes on Gabriel, sizing up his words.
I glance at Alexia and I raise my eyebrows in a silent conversation. My eyes flick from her face to Jace's crotch and again until Alexia's eyes move up and down–understanding what I'm trying to gesture.
"I'm a dead man anyway," Jace laughs sourly. "So what's the point? I was never going to get where I wanted to be because you saw me as nothing but a co-worker. You got this power to shove it in my face. We were friends for so long, Gabriel!"
With Jace distracted, I slowly reach my hand into the back of my waistband. I pull out the spare gun I had hiding in there, full of bullets that could make this kitchen a bloodbath. I lower it to my side carefully but Jace isn't looking at me, he's staring at Gabriel with heavy emotion in his eyes.
His grip on Alexia loosens a tiny bit as Gabriel steps forward holding out his hand. "We have always been friends, Jace. We could have spoken about this, we could have done something about it instead of you going and stabbing us in the back."
The gun on Alexia's neck has now slipped off and it's angled at the wall. I stare back at her, those dark brown eyes full of terror but she knows what she has to do. She's strong. I give her the smallest nod with my thumb flicking across the safety latch as Jace starts talking again, muffling the sound.
"You all paraded your lives in front of me!" He bellows again. "You got this house together, you got those goddamn cars together. Yo–"
Alexia's hand slides from Jace's wrist and flies to his crotch where she squeezes the life out of his balls, until Jace is screaming from the pain. I raise my gun towards him, taking a second to aim and shoot as the bullet flies out towards them.
But then I hear two gunshots.
Two. Gunshots.
Jace and Alexia clutter to the ground in a loud struggle. Alexia releases a loud cry as they hit the floor.
My hands shake before me. Everything is now moving in slow motion as Gabriel yells, picking up his gun as he rushes over to the scene. Dark red blood pools around the corner and bile rises in my throat. I have no idea who is hurt.
I don't know who is bleeding out on my kitchen floor.
I don't know if Jace hit Alexia.
I don't know if I hit Alexia.
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Author's Note
AHHHHHHH two gun shots. Who got hurt?🫣
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I love Lonzo's protective thoughts, they make my heart flutter!
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