O L I V I A
"This way."
Mateo nods towards the staircase ahead of us. He's already not looking too great and is looking pretty pale and sweaty.
As concerned as I am for his current state I just couldn't seem to pull my eyes from where Alessio disappeared.
Was this really our last time seeing one another? Would I wake up and find out he wouldn't be coming back to me?
Alessio is smart but his father is the don of the family. He would have more than just Tobias and Michele there to back him up.
Alessio could be walking right into a room full of people ready to kill him on sight.
Besides...did he really have enough hate towards Adolfo to kill him? Could he go through with actually killing his father?
Deep down...I knew a lot of this was my own fault.
If my dad would've never said yes to the job change, I wouldn't of ended up here. And even if I did, I should've listened to the rumors about the Romano family.
I should've kept my distance. Maybe I would've settled down with some other California boy or found someone in New York when I went back.
Or, I would've been just fine on my own. Alessio's life would've moved on without me interfering with any of it.
Adolfo would have no reason to have a grudge against him for telling me about the family.
I should've moved on the moment I laid eyes on him. I let my own curiosity put me here and now several people I care about could be murdered tonight.
"Miss Moore?"
I look back at Mateo. His face glittering with beads of sweat.
"Please, Mateo. You're always so formal." I smile gently. "Just call me Olivia"
"Force of habit," He chuckles and I help guide him onto the first step. "I'm sorry you are involved in this."
"Don't apologize. I love Alessio and I decided to be part of this."
He shakes his head. "Alessio would've never wanted this for you."
I frown at him and look ahead as we move slowly up the stairs. "Do you think he'll be okay?"
"He's smart, dear." He assures me. "Alessio always finds a way to get out of any situation."
I nod a little but try to keep focused as we approach the door leading to the upper level. Mateo's weight was growing increasingly more heavy as he held onto me.
"Which way to the clinic?" I ask as we step into the hall.
"That way, "He points a shaking hand in the opposite direction. "Right down the hall and through that last door."
I shift his weight onto me and we continue to move through the darkness. The main level was still eerily quiet and dark.
It was almost as if everyone had evacuated.
"Too bad Tobias turned out to be a traitor," Mateo groans. "I could've used his medical expertise."
"Do you guys have someone else?"
"Yes, don't worry about me. I just want to get you somewhere safe."
The two of us try to move as quickly as we can through the great room. There appears to be some kind of movement just outside the double glass front doors but inside is so still I can hear our hearts beating.
"Quickly," He whispers and looks around the dark. "You never know who is hiding."
I pick up our pace a little and set my eyes on the doors ahead of us. The only thing really driving me was knowing how much Alessio needed me to help him with this right now.
The unknown though was what was driving me insane.
"Mateo!"
The two of us turn towards the voice coming from our left and the sight makes me sick.
Michele walks up to us slowly with his clothes soaked in red blood. I notice some gauze tied around his wounded hand.
"Fuck you!" Mateo growls and draws his gun out.
"Brother," Michele holds his hands up. "It isn't what you think. I had to trick them into thinking I was in on everything. I found out what they were doing weeks ago when Adolfo found me in his office."
"What did you find?" I ask him.
"Everything..."Mateo shakes his head. "He had family photos with Tobias in it. There was a signed contract detailing Tobias to take over the family." His eyes land on me. "I even saw some stuff about your family."
I try to push down the pain of my family's past and look away. It was just too much to think about right now.
"So why are you here now? How?"
"I'm supposed to be killing you," Mateo admits and my body grows cold. "I also had to fix my hand up."
I glare at him. "So why aren't you trying to kill me then?"
"I'd never hurt Alessio like that," He says and looks at Mateo. "Or my brother."
"How am I supposed to fucking trust you?" Mateo coughs up from the pain.
"Please, Mateo." Michele steps close. "Let me help you."
"I got him," I pulled Mateo back towards me. "Maybe you can find something else to do."
"Olivia, I really mean no harm to you," Michele says to me. "I know you can't trust me, but I really just want to help."
"So the investment was a lie? The second in command?" Mateo asks.
He nods," Adolfo was using it to keep me quiet but I'm sure it would've been retracted. At the rate he was going, I'd imagine he would've wanted to kill off everyone aside from Tobias."
"So much for brotherhood."
We approach the clinic door and a plump woman steps out from it immediately. Her eyes widen as she takes in Mateo.
"Oh, god!" She says and grabs onto him. "I'll take it from here."
"Can I come?" I ask and feel Michele standing behind me.
"We're on lockdown, hun. You really need to get to a safe room." The aged woman replies. "The don put out an alert to all staff and guards. You need to get going."
I watch as they both disappear through the door and look back towards Michele.
"Well, if you really need to kill me this would be the best time."
"Olivia," He groans and runs his hand through his shaggy locks. "I'm really not going to kill you. I don't agree with anything Adolfo is doing. This is betrayal on the entire family. Our father would've been disappointed in him, but I think he feels this is some twisted way to pay his respects to him by taking his brother in to follow his footsteps."
"I just-" I start but stop as footsteps come near us.
We both look over at a man clad in black with a massive gun heading in our direction. His hair is cut short and he has a patch over his left eye.
"Found her!" He says into an earpiece. "Alessio has asked me to take you to your room. My name is Robin."
I glare up at the big man. He reminds me a lot of Giovanni.
"I don't want to hide anymore. Let me help."
"We are not to discuss this," He looks over at Michele. "Can we still trust you?"
"I already told you," Michele sighs and pulls out a cigarette. "I'm only here to help Alessio. Adolfo has no idea of my intentions."
"Where is Alessio?" I ask Robin.
"He's handling this," Robin grabs onto my elbow. "We need to get going."
"I'll take her." Michele offers.
Robin nods a bit but freezes as someone yells something at him in Italian on his earpiece.
He replies back and I hear Alessio's name thrown in.
"Why did you say his name?"
"It's fine."
"Don't fucking lie to me!" I bang my hand against his chest.
He narrows his eyes. "Go to his room."
"Not until you tell me."
Robin's expression changes and he looks at Michele.
Something is wrong.
"He found Adolfo and there was a gun fight," Robin begins. "Some of the guards decided to stay on the don's side and..."
"And what?"
"I-I can't, ma'am."
"And WHAT?" I demand and hear my voice shake.
Robin looks down at me and his voice lowers.
"Alessio has been shot but -"
I don't want to hear anymore. My body turns ice cold and I turn away from them.
I hear what sounds like a gun being fired in the distance and take off running.
Robin and Michele call after me and I hear them yelling for me. I don't look back and head right into the action.
I'm done being the room who needs to be saved.
A L E S S I O
"Give it up! You know you aren't going to kill her!"
I'm a fucking idiot for not shooting him first.
Mateo is injured and Olivia is a complete wreck. Now Anna is being held hostage and I have no idea if she's okay.
As enraged as I am, the thought of killing my own father felt extremely daunting.
One of us had to die tonight.
And I plan to make that person him.
"Come on, old man!" I call into the dark corridor. "Why would you hide from your own son?"
My voice bounces back to me and I peer down into the darkness. The hall seems to grow more narrow as it continues on and a musty smell starts to build really showing the age of the home.
"On the way."
"Copy." I respond to Giovanni in my ear piece. "Make sure someone is on the way to Olivia."
"On it."
The little speaker crackles in my ear as it's turned off. Something moves ahead of me through the dark.
I pull my gun up and keep it in front of my body. My pace slows to a crawl as I inch through the pitch black halls.
"Stop playing games."
The shuffling grows louder and starts moving towards me. I fire in the direction of it and hear a shriek.
A massive fucking rat appears from the shadows and runs right over my shoes.
"Dammit!" I shout and rake my fingers through my hair.
"Alessio."
I turn towards the voice and raise my gun again.
"Calm down!" Beto snaps and pushes the gun down. "Giovanni is on the way with the others. I tried to alert everyone but...apparently something is going on."
"What else could possibly be fucking happenign right now?"
Beto glares at me, "Shut up, dude. Listen...some of the guards are on Adolfo's side."
"Like who?"
"Well let's just say our go-to team is safe and not turning against us."
"What are our numbers looking like?" I ask him.
"Well," He starts and pulls out his ear piece. "Adolfo has already ordered them to meet him on the opposite end. They are in a shipment room and waiting for us."
"Should've known they'd pick weaponry to hide in." I shake my head.
Beto rolls his eyes at me and pulls out two glocks to load them.
"We need to get moving. Where's Giovanni? I also need a status on Olivia."
"I'm here, bitch!" Giovanni's voice booms as he steps into the small pool of light. He has two pistols in each hand and his favorite AK-47 strapped to his back.
He looks like a kid in a candy shop.
"You good?" I laugh at him.
"I'm so fucking ready," He muses and flex his arms. "Nobody tries to kill my sister."
"She can handle herself," I remind him. "We just need to get there before Adolfo gets impatient."
His expression softens. "We'll get her back, bro."
The three of us look at one another and take a moment. There's no guarantee we'd be together again.
We had no idea what was waiting for us.
I could lose any of them tonight. Adolfo was dead set on killing his own and I may not be able to save them.
We start moving down the dark halls again and in the direction of the location Adolfo was said to be in.
The dark grows as we move deeper into the cellar and I feel something creeping over me like a shadow.
It was just a sickening feeling. Something felt so wrong and I couldn't shake it off.
I just had to get there.
I have to kill my father.
⟡ ⟡ ⟡
"There. Are you ready?"
I glance back at Giovanni as we peak around the edge of the wall.
Adolfo is casually sitting at a table in the middle of the room playing cards with Tobias. Several guards are stationed among the crates and loading up guns.
In the far right corner I make out Anna. Her hair is tossed about and her face looks to be swollen.
"Where are they?" I ask Beto. He holds a finger up. "I need to know where Olivia is right now."
Giovanni pipes up." Where's Michele?"
"I've put out an alert for him, "Beto assures the two of us. "Alonzo and Diego are on the way now, they are bringing 12 with them."
"Anyone else?" I ask and scan the room.
Adolfo had at least twenty men in here with them.
"They are all we have."
"We got this,"Giovanni grins through the shadows. "We don't need the numbers. We have plenty of skilled men."
"Skill we got from him." I remind him and nod towards Adolfo. "Don't forget who has the upperhand here."
"Not very don-like of you." Giovanni teases.
"Obviously, he never wanted me to be don," I sigh and look back at the room. "I would've been fine with just a normal life...one with Olivia."
He nods a little and breaks out into an ongoing show of extremely vulgar jokes to lighten up the mood as we wait for the others. I look back over at Adolfo and watch.
His cigar hangs loosely on his lips as it ashes against the table. His fedora on top of his head.
He looks so calm. He wasn't nervous or concerned at all.
He was completely fine with what he planned to do.
I can't believe I ever trusted him. The man who brought me into the world was the same one to fuck me over in the end.
The same one who was planning my funeral.
"We're here."
The three of us turn around at the deep voice speaking from behind and find Alonzo leaning down next to Diego. They have a bag with them and start handing out the guns and ammo.
I watch as several more take place behind them and begin loading up on weapons.
Everyone was silent and the tension was high. I knew they were all nervous and scared.
They all had family back home in Italy. They had so much at risk too.
Now they were expected to kill the Sicilian don.
"Plan?" Diego asks us.
"Let the three of us go first," I tell them. "I don't want to go in too quickly."
"I'm coming," Alonzo says and locks his eyes on Anna. Her head is bowed now and I can see a trail of blood oozing from her beaten in lips. "If they don't die by your hand, I'll kill them immediately."
I put my hand on his shoulder, "I know you're upset but we have to be smart in this Alonzo. We'll get her out safely."
His jaw flexes and I see his finger loosen up on his trigger. "Fine."
I look back at Giovanni and Beto.
"No mercy." I say to the both of them. "Do not hold back. These are not friends or family any longer."
I look back at the rest of my men. "We need to get Anna out safely. She's my first priority here."
"I'll do it," Alonzo says sternly. "I need to get my girl out of there."
"Alright."
Shouting picks up from the room and we all look back around the corner. A guard has started taunting Anna and apparently she bit him.
He slaps her across the face hard and her head turns to the side. A stream of blood pours from her mouth and she spits it at the ground.
"Hurry!" Alonzo growls out.
I nod and we all stand up from our spots. The three of us move in quietly to the room with Alonzo waiting in the shadows.
The guards in the room spring up immediately at the sounds of our shoes and draw their guns.
I hold up my hands as we move towards them and look back for Giovanni and Beto to follow my lead.
Of course, Giovanni opts for his middle finger.
"This is what you wanted, right?" I ask Adolfo. He looks up from the cards in his hands. "We're all here."
"My boys!" He cheers excitedly and stands up. "So glad you could make it."
"Cut the shit, Adildo!" Giovanni mocks his name.
"Classy," He sighs and steps away from the table. "You've always been the sarcastic one."
"Let Anna go," I say to him. "Tobias can have the mafia, I just want Anna safe."
"You know it doesn't work like that, son," He shakes his head at me. "We live and die for the mafia. Unfortunately, you broke something that can not be forgiven. You took your family down with you and now you all have to pay."
I laugh at him. "You've just been so ready to kill your own children."
"It's not a want," He shrugs his shoulders. "This is business and I need to set an example. You shouldn't have let that Russian slut into this."
My body tenses and my vision crosses with red. "Olivia has nothing to do with this."
"Her grandfather murdered your fucking mother!" He shouts and slams his fist down. "He killed her and her father was there the whole fucking time! Do you not care about your own mother?"
"It's time to move past this, Adolfo."
"I'll let it go when I've killed all of the Kuzentsov family," He smiles at me. "That includes your girlfriend."
Anger rages through me and before I can even think my guns are drawn. The guards around us all raise their weapons.
Adolfo smiles at the scene unfolding before him and pulls his gun from his waist.
"Don't be stupid," Tobias speaks up from the table. "He's your father, Alessio."
"Who plans on murdering his children and my girlfriend," I turn my gun towards him. "Fuck the both of you."
"You failed, Alessio! You're weak." He laughs and pushes his peppery hair back from his eyes. "Your dear father is near the end of his time and you were supposed to step up. He's lucky to have had someone like me working in the background for him all of these years. You could've had it all! You just had to pick a Kuzentsov bitch."
"We knew nothing of the Kuzentsov being associated with Olivia's family. She didn't even know."
"Weak, Alessio! So weak!" He roars with laughter. "You should've let her go! You told her of your family and put your family at risk for some silly crush you have. Now we have to try to off the little bitch all these years later since the first time didn't work out."
"Excuse me?"
Tobias looks over at Adolfo and back at me with a taunting grin as he steps closer.
"That's right..."He starts and slides his pistol from his pants. "When your dear was just a measly twelve years old, we found them in New York. She was easy to target, but it didn't work out. We'd been after him for years, we just didn't know Ivan had changed his name."
"What the fuck is he saying?" I snap and look at Adolfo.
"We found her walking home one Winter,"Tobias continues on. "I had her pinned and should've slit her neck right then but that old bitch had to interrupt the fun.
"You..."I trail off and stare at him blankly. "You tried to murder Olivia?"
"I did and I plan on finishing the job tonight."
Within seconds I felt myself come undone. His words had unleashed something in me and without signaling the others I snapped.
I moved quicker than he could and fired directly at his chest. Tobias flew backwards from the impact and hit the table behind him hard.
The room around us erupted into a show of gunfire.
Bullets start flying around us and our men who had been in the shadows step out before us.
Adolfo's eyes linger on his dead brother for a moment before he finds me again. He roars with anger and whips his gun up to fire.
I try to move out of the line of fire but nearly miss as the bullet hits my thigh.
Burning pain rushes up my leg and I grab onto it as blood starts to soak my pant leg.
"Fuck! Alessio!"
Beto grabs onto me and drags me backwards until we are shielded from the gunfire.
I ignore him and finish wrapping some fabric above the wound. I wasn't ready to stop now.
"Get out of here!" Beto shouts loudly. "Get to the clinic."
"No!" I snap and look back towards Adolfo. He has a new cigar lit and is casually watching the chaos. The guards around him do everything they can to shield him. "I need to fucking kill him now."
I push back up onto my feet and move Beto out of my way.
"Give it up, son!" Adolfo shouts and turns to shoot a guard rushing him in the head.
Mikael's body falls to the ground. He had been with us for the past twenty years.
"I have no problem killing everyone in this room!" He sings joyously. "I may be an old man but you don't have my experience or the numbers to win this!"
"You're wrong!" I shake my head. "I'll see you in hell."
I raise my gun again and our eyes meet. The ends of our barrels pointed directly at one another as time seems to slow down to a crawl.
This is it. This is the moment that changes it all for us.
I release the trigger.
The lonely bullet seems to soar through the air slowly as it heads towards his skull.
I step to the side and pray I miss his next shot meant for me.
Except...
Oh no... what the fuck!
Why is she here! Why is Olivia here!
I see her immediately. I feel the room change as I take her in.
Everything about her changes something in me the moment I lay eyes on her.
Her stunning beauty and grace. Her innocence.
I lock onto her eyes. Blue and terrified.
She's scared but something in her expression tells me she is determined to do whatever she came here for.
Her long dark locks rush behind her as she runs right into the middle of the room.
I've had dreams of this. Nightmares.
Every single dream would be her dead in my arms. Her skin pale and lips blue.
Drained of life.
She'd have a single wound. Bloody and fresh.
Yet I'd always wake up and she'd be there. She would always be okay.
I'd feel her warmth and soft skin. Relish in her each time.
I couldn't save her in my dreams but when I woke up she was always in my arms.
I was okay. She was okay.
This time...this time I'm not dreaming.
She did the one thing I had feared. The one thing I never wanted her to do.
Olivia ran directly in front of the bullet.
The bullet meant for me.
Her eyes were locked on my body as it impaled into her. She stumbled a few feet and her eyes widened with confusion and pain.
I watched as her body started to hit the floor and ran after her.
I screamed her name over and over again as she lay in my arms. Her head rolling to the side and eyes barely focusing.
She looks up at me through the anguish and tries to smile. Her soft fingertips brush against the edge of my cheek drenched in tears.
Her lips part as she whispers weakly, "I saved you."
⟡ ⟡ ⟡