A/N:
Who do you have to thank for this chapter?
My insomnia.
Good luck.
And remember....this book isn't going to be that long, so not that many chapters left.
-B. 🤷🏼♀️😬
~~~~~~~~~
(Vince's POV)
Doc arrived just as Juliet passed out.
"Vince, I can't do my job properly when you're hovering like that. Leave." Doc ordered.
I was going to argue but I didn't. I left the room and ordered Gio to stay. Stefano came with me cause Doc also kicked him out.
"What do we do?" He asked.
"Let's uh....let's go check on everyone. Make sure no one else is hurt to bad."
"Alright."
We walked around the house and then checked the outside perimeter. All together, only one of our men died. The rest had non-life-threatening injuries.
As we approached the front door, there were a couple men standing on the porch.
"I wasn't in the mood earlier. I'm not in the mood now." I growled at them as we walked by.
"Who are they?" Stefano asked.
"Vincenzo, we're family." Ottavio said, following us inside.
"F*ck you, f*ck your family, and f*ck off." I hissed.
"We never finished our talk."
That was it. That was the last straw.
Faster than he could blink, I had him against the nearest wall by his throat.
"I don't give a single f*ck that you're an old man. I will crush your throat just like I did your son's. I will crush your throat and then I'll move onto the next person. Because of your f*cking antics, because you kept me locked in your f*cking basement my enemies used my absence as an opportunity to attack. That attack got one of my best friends and my wife shot. So, as far as I'm concerned, this is all your f*cking fault. I've tortured men for less. Just because we share blood, that doesn't mean shit to me. I can put a bullet in your head just as easy as I can to a stranger. Say one more word to me and I will end you. Understand?"
He nodded and I dropped him.
"You're as evil as they say." Vito said form behind me.
"Try me. I f*cking dare you." I growled.
He held up his hands. "I mean no harm or disrespect. I am here out of concern for my brother and his family."
"Boss, is he..." Stefano said.
"Vito Bianchi. Vince's older brother. Nice to meet you."
"Uh...you as well...I guess." Stefano said looking at me.
"You're Stefano, right? The bodyguard?"
"That's me. If you're his older brother, doesn't that mean that...."
He trailed off, but we all knew his question.
"Oh no. No. I don't have any part of the...family business. Vince got his position fair and square. He can keep it. I'm just fine doing my work as a defense attorney." Vito said.
"So you're not as mean as him?" Stefano asked.
I rolled my eyes.
Vito shrugged just as Ottavio spoke. "He can be just as mean as him, but he's a pretty chill person."
"Good to know." Stefano nodded, as my phone rang.
"Hello."
"Dad? Where's mom? She's not answering her phone." Lorenzo said.
"She...she's been shot. Doc is working on her now."
"What? What the f*ck happened?"
I explained to him what happened and I heard him start to cry. He tried to pretend that he wasn't though.
"Let me talk to Valentine." I said, knowing he wasn't far away. Even though they were both married with kids, they still stuck to each other like f*cking glue.
"Why is Enzo crying?"
"Your mother has been shot. Doc is working on her now. She's lost a lot of blood though."
"F*ck."
"Don't tell your sister or Nikolay. He can't keep anything from her."
"Got it. How are you?"
I lifted my shirt to examine the wound that had been bleeding earlier. It still was.
"I'll be alright."
"Anything we need to do?"
"Safe house was attacked because our enemies thought I was gone and you two were emotionally distraught. Let everyone know that I'm alive and show them that you two are..."
"Chips off the old block?"
"Yeah."
"Will do. Update me on mom."
"I will."
After my phone call, Stefano and I tried to get back into the room, but we were still banned.
"Let's go for a walk." Vito said.
I didn't trust him, but we went anyway. I know Juliet would want me to try and be....friendly with my brother.
"Phoenix said that Juliet hid a ring for him. Said he was going to propose before all this happened." Stefano said.
"F*ck man." I said.
"They'll both be fine, right?"
"Phoenix isn't someone to go out that easily. He's the best of the best. He'll be alright." I assured him.
"And Jules?"
"Juliet....she'll survive. She will pull through. She won't leave me."
He chuckled. "She's been such a badass the past week and a half."
"Yeah?"
"Oh yeah. She went nose-to-nose with Russo on his own ground. She went to a meeting between Dente, Greco, Agata, Marchesi, Barese, and Carosi. She went uninvited. She ordered the guys around like it was nothing. She's a true Queen."
"Greco, Russo, and Marchesi all died. She do that? Told her earlier that I was sorry because I was afraid I couldn't keep my secret of her not pulling a trigger."
"You weren't there, so Nix became her trigger-puller. They make one badass team. Reminded me of you and Gio way back when."
I chuckled. "That good, huh?"
He nodded. "That good. She ordered the guys around like a boss and then gave them cookies before they left."
"Act like a lady, think like a boss. That's what she's always told me."
"To be honest, to all of us, she seemed like a really angry kitten the whole time, but..."
"But you all acted like she was a lion?" I grinned.
"Oh yeah. I mean, don't get me wrong. She can be scary at times, but overall she's an angry kitten. To outsiders, they see her as your woman, as the Devil's woman. That makes her scary. That makes her dangerous."
"The most dangerous piece on the board had control of the most dangerous empire in the world."
"Indeed. Nix and I tried to keep her grounded. When she ordered Nix to kill Russo's guy, later that night after we all went to bed, we heard her crying."
"My Angel." I smiled.
"On the way to the meeting with Greco and the others, she was in the backseat mumbling to herself. She was telling herself to channel her inner Vince, her inner Il Diavolo. That little gun, she's had that on her the whole time. She thinks we didn't know, but we did. She was scared, but she was desperate to find you. Said that she wouldn't stop till she found you and the others. Phoenix and I were prepared to stand by her side no matter how long it took."
"F*ck, you're going to make me cry." Vito said.
We both looked at him and, sure enough, his eyes were starting to water.
"Did you know?" I asked.
"About Ottavio having you locked in his basement? Not until Juliet found you. He called me afterwards and told me. Told me not to come till tomorrow or the day after. I didn't listen though. Got a gut feeling something was gonna happen. I wouldn't have let him hold you for that long if I had known."
"Why?"
"Because we are brothers and Ottavio is a piece of shit. Just like Santino."
"I like him." Stefano whispered to me.
I rolled my eyes.
"You're not my type." Vito whispered, making me grin.
"That's not what I meant." Stefano said.
"Just clarifying." Vito shrugged, as Gio came running out of the house.
"Doc is finished. He says you can see them now."
Stefano and I practically sprinted back inside the house. Doc, Knox, and Gio had moved them to the nearest bedroom.
When I saw her, my heart shattered into a million pieces.
When Stefano saw Phoenix, his did the same.