Damian's pov
Wednesday 23rd June 2021
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The loud gunshot makes my ears ring. I open my eyes and see Vincent's dad fall to the floor with blood pouring out of his neck. I turn to the side and see Giovanni propped against the wall with a gun in his hand. He's so pale and covered in sweat as his chest heaves but he still killed him. He's saved us while all on the brink of death.
I look to Vincent and see him smiling at his dad as he chokes on his own blood. His body falls still as the tension in the room grows. None of the security guards seem to know what to do and I see the realisation cross Vinny's face.
"Uncuff us all now! Your Cappo is dead which means I inherit that power!" Vinny orders. The guards do as he says and Enzo runs to his brother, catching him before he falls to the floor. Vincent unties me quickly and grabs my face in his hands to inspect me.
"Are you okay mi amore? I am so sorry I got you mixed up in this," he says and I stop him with a kiss. He melts into me as I stand up from the chair and hold him close to me.
"We need to get him to the hospital!" Enzo shouts and Vin pulls away.
"Matteo and Emilio help Enzo, Luca stay here and help me take back control," he says in his authoritative voice. I step back and let him do his thing as they carry Giovanni out of the room. Vincent faces the guards and all the other ones who have gathered in the room.
"Anyone who is still loyal to Antonio step forward," he says with a deadly glare, his hand around a gun and his finger on the trigger. Two guards step forward, smug grins on their faces until they realise everyone else is now loyal to Vincent. "Come here."
They both walk to Vincent and he orders them to put their weapons down. They do as he says and without missing a beat he shoots them both in the head. I jump as they fall backwards and form pools of blood. Memories of Adrian shooting his guard fill my mind and I can't help but compare Vincent to Adrian.
"Clean this up," Vin says to his guards. "Come with me mi amore," he tells me and holds my hand.
I should be terrified of him. He just murdered two people. But I'm not. I still love him and I still want to be with him. What is wrong with me? He calls me his love and I suddenly forget the bad thing things.
Vincent takes me upstairs as Luca goes around the mansion for a check. I follow him to the master bedroom and am surprised when he goes to bathroom. He leans over the toilet and throws up as I quickly stand beside him and rub his back.
"I hate doing that," he says quietly. "It makes me feel sick."
"It's okay, I'm here," I say and he smiles.
"Thank you. And I am sorry you had to go through that. Is your eye okay?" He asks as he stands up and flushes the toilet. I look at myself in the mirror and clean up the blood from my nose, the dark bruise around my eye looking worse than it feels. My eye is also bloodshot which looks scary but it'll heal.
"I'm fine. Are you okay?" I ask him.
"I'm glad he's dead. He needed to go before he killed me or even you," he says. "How did he even get you here?"
"A couple hours after you left some guys showed up with guns and knocked me out, hence the black eye," I say and he frowns.
"I am so sorry," he says and hugs me tightly.
"It's okay, let's go get your power back," I say and he tells me to stay with him so he doesn't worry about me as we go down to the entrance hall where a man is stood.
"Leonardo, are you okay?" Vincent asks. He's the other mob boss then.
"I am fine, I'm going home now. My clean up crew will be here soon for my teams," he says sadly and they part ways. I follow Vincent to his new office where his mum and Luca are.
"You killed him!" She screams as tears fall down her face.
"He was going to kill me," Vin says calmly.
"I do not care! He made this family and you ruined it all for what? A man?"
"He wanted me dead ma! He was hurting you!" He argues but she waves him off.
"I am leaving," she says but Vincent stands in the way.
"Where will you go?"
"I am going back to Italy to be with my real family," she says and pushes past Vincent. He looks like he's about to break down. He takes a deep breath and composes himself as Luca looks at him concerned.
"Where is Alessandra?" He asks Luca.
"She is back at home with her papà but I have her phone number if you would like to call her," Luca says.
"We'll go to the hospital for Gio first then I'll call her. He's priority right now," Vin says. Me and Luca go to the car as he does one last look around the house to make sure no one else is hiding who still is loyal to his dad.
"I'll drive," I say so Vin can relax in the passenger seat before we get there. Luca is on the phone with Matteo who says they took him into surgery but he stopped breathing so they are all worried. Apparently Lorenzo is freaking out and they need Vin to calm him down. It takes way too long to get to the hospital but we get there eventually and go straight to the waiting room where I can already here Lorenzo shouting.
"Why will you not tell me anything!" He shouts to a doctor who looks terrified of him. Vinny stands between them and lets the doctor leave as he makes Lorenzo sit down.
"Calm down! They are trying their best to keep Gio alive and you harassing them will not make it better!" Vin whisper yells at the angry Italian.
"I cannot lose him," Lorenzo says quietly and Vinny hugs him.
"He is a fighter, he will be okay," he tells him but even I can see Vin is unsure.
"Do you want to call Alessandra now?" Luca asks him and hands his phone over. Vin nods and I stand next to him as he dials her number. I kiss his cheek and he smiles. I'm close enough to hear Alessandra on the phone so I can hear how panicked she sounds when she answers.
"Luca? Are you guys okay?" He demands.
"It is Vincent, we are okay," he says and she sighs in relief.
"Thank god. My papà is involved with Antonio and was helping him take you down," she says.
"Antonio is dead, Gio shot him," Vinny tells her.
"He's dead? You've got to be careful, my papà will come after you when he finds out."
"I am prepared for that. I have the loyalty of everyone who was loyal to Antonio and I have Leonardo Catalina to help."
"You better hope that is enough. I can't let my papà know I am still on your side or he won't let me leave," she says and Vinny frowns.
"I will help you. I will contact you again tomorrow to keep you updated. Stay safe," he tells her.
"You too, goodbye."
He hangs up and gives Luca his phone back.
"Emilio," Vin says to get the man's attention. "Alessandra's papà is going to be after us when he finds out about Antonio."
"I'll call Leonardo and warn him," Emilio says and leaves the room to call him. Matteo and Luca both sit with their heads in their hands as we wait for the doctor to tell us about Giovanni.
"Are you okay?" I ask Vincent quietly as I hug him.
"I am fine. I just really need Gio alive," he says as he rests his head on my chest. "He is the innocent one. It is so unfair that he got hurt."
"I know, but from what I know about him, he'll pull through. He's so strong he stood up and shot Antonio while he was about to pass out. You should be very proud of him," I say and Vinny nods.
"I am. He saved us all."
We sit down with Matteo, Lorenzo, and Luca as Emilio comes back in and says Vin has to go see Leonardo soon about a plan against Alessandra's dad. I'm worried about that, I can't have him in danger again.
We all have to wait two hours before they come to tell us Gio is out of surgery and in a room. He is in intensive care because of how much blood he lost but we can go see him two at a time so Vin and Lorenzo go first. Emilio sits next to me and I get nervous because he's quite scary.
"I'm glad Vin has you," he says which shocks me.
"Thank you, I'm glad I have him too," I reply.
"Even after you got kidnapped because of him?" Emilio says with a laugh.
"I'd do it all again if it meant I could stay with him. I love him so much and I'll always stand by him," I say and Emilio gives me a sad smile.
"My wife was the same. She wasn't mafia but she accepted it because she loved me. Please be careful, I can't let Vin lose you," he says and I nod.
"I'll be safe from now on. Vin said he wants to teach me some self defence in case I have to," I tell him.
"Good idea. You should learn to shoot a gun too."
"Maybe, that scares me a bit."
"It always does at first, but it's unlikely Vin will let you get in a situation where you will have to use it."
"I hope not."
"You're one of the family now. We all will protect you because you are just as important as our Cappo."
"Really?"
"Of course. Although it's your job to look out for us too."
"Yeah I will. You're my family too," I say and he smiles.
"Damian Romano, it has a nice ring to it."
"Maybe someday I will marry Vincent," I say.
"You should, then other mob bosses will have even more reason to leave you alone. Some of the other families are homophobic, but we don't really care because you are a good person."
"That's the nicest thing anyone has said to me," I laugh.
"We are nice people once you get past the mafia part."
"That is true."
Vincent comes out and Emilio goes to see Gio. I notice Vinny is on the phone so I stand next to him and wait for him to finish.
"I know you hate me and want Antonio to lead but your son is on the hospital and you should come and see him," Vin says angrily. He must be speaking to Giovanni's parents.
"So what if he supports me? I am the Cappo now."
"Good, I will see you soon," he says and hangs up.
"Giovanni's ma is coming but his papà won't come until I leave the hospital," Vin says as he rolls his eyes. "So can we go home now? To your house?"
"If that's what you want to do, you still owe me a pizza," I say and he smiles.
"I can do that," he says. He tells Luca to call him if they need anything and we go out to my car. I drive us to my house as Vincent tells me how he will make the pizza.
"You go and get changed while I start cooking," he says so I go to my bedroom and get changed into sweatpants. When I go back to the kitchen, Vin has taken off his shirt and I can see the bruises from his dad's beating. I don't mention them because I don't want to dampen the happy mood.
"The dough needs to rise for a while so can you help me chop tomatoes for the sauce?" He asks and I nod. He tells me how to dice them into small cubes and I do as he says as he cuts up toppings. He cooks the chicken in a pan and I almost moan at he delicious smell, suddenly remembering we haven't eaten since yesterday.
I enjoy cooking with Vin. And the pizza is really good when it's finished. He didn't lie when he said he was a good cook. We demolish most of the pizza and leave the rest for leftovers for tonight. It's only just after lunch now so we both lay on the couch together and relax.
"I love you mi amore," he says as he hugs me tightly.
"I love you too sweetheart," I say and kiss his head.
So it was Giovanni who shot Antonio! He's a brave guy!