I didn’t know. But I didn’t think so.
If I was lucky, maybe he’d do so much he’d pass out. I began praying for this.Santa Maria, hear my prayer. Please relieve me of this burden. Save my child. Remove us from danger. Bring Romeo back to me.
In the midst of my praying, however, Gianni did quite the opposite of fainting. Instead, he seemed to experience a burst of adrenaline or energy and began banging on the glass that separated the passenger compartment from the driver’s. The driver protested.
“G, how much of that have you had?”
“I’m celebrating,” Gianni answered, still pounding on the barrier.
“You gotta settle down, man. If you break that you could hurt yourself.”
Gianni giggled like a little girl. “I won’t feel a thing.”
I wouldn’t doubt that.
But then Gianni did break the glass with his fist, the shards sticking into his knuckles like some weird street fighter video game. He only smiled, showing me the whites of his eyes, and I gaped at him, unable to believe what he’d done.
“G, you gotta stop. You’re bleeding now, and you’ve put glass in the seat with me. This wasn’t part of the deal.”
Gianni slammed his hand into the roof of the car, pounding the glass deeper into his skin. I prayed even harder. Obviously high as a kite, the man then saw his gun sitting next to him on the seat and pointed it at me. Up till then, I’d been sitting relatively upright, but after that, I made no pretense about rolling my body up into a ball and hiding with my head down in the corner.
No longer looking at him, I heard the gun go off. Once. Twice. Three times. With each shot I flinched, fearful that a bullet would find me. My only saving grace was that the driver started yelling again.
“Sit the fuck down, man. Are you crazy? Why’d you take so much? I didn’t sign up for this shit.” The driver accelerated suddenly, sending Gianni’s much bigger frame careening into mine.
I squeaked in horror as his arms threw me sideways, pinning my much smaller form between his bulk and the side door. I saw the gun laying loose on the floorboard and went for it. I’d just managed to lay hands on it when Gianni snatched at the weapon, too. We struggled, and I used every ounce of strength I had to wrest the pistol away, but then, the thing went off.
Abruptly, the limo stopped, causing Gianni and I both to crash forward.
Horrible pain sizzled through me as his head slammed into my chest. His blow knocked the wind out of me, bringing tears to my eyes. I attempted to push him off me, but the lunatic levered up onto his hands and knees and howled at me like a rabid wolf. One of his broad hands collared me around the neck, choking me. I brought my arms up trying to break his hold but couldn’t. While I wheezed desperately, Gianni started to literally foam from the mouth.
His grip became tighter and tighter, squeezing off more and more of my airway. The certainty that I was about to die struck me, but I could do nothing to stop it.
As my vision began to fade, I heard the sound of a gun firing several rounds. I clenched every muscle in my body against the assault, but I didn’t feel the heated path of bullets ripping into my skin.
I still didn’t know who was shooting at who when Gianni juddered above me. Even as his palm continued to press against my throat, another tremor ran through him. Then, another one. The third tremor shifted his hold slightly and caused a spray of scarlet to erupt from above me. His weight doubled all at once, trapping me against the floorboards, and I still couldn’t breathe.
I struggled but it didn’t help. I couldn’t move, couldn’t manage even one more breath.
This was it. Death had come for me.
20
Romeo
I’d been gradually, bit by bit, losing my fucking mind. I’d heard nothing of Lucia. Nothing about Marcello. Nothing from my youngest two siblings. The last thing I heard Angelo say was something about seeking out those who’d fled this debacle and ordering them back inside as witnesses. As if them bearing witness to this mess mattered more than the lives of my bride and my child.
Outraged, I’d flown at him, but perhaps due to the blood lost and the pain, my attack hadn’t exactly been formidable. He’d thrown me off him with the same amount of effort he might use to swat at a fly.
“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay still,” he’d fumed at me once I collapsed. He’d thrown a disgusted look in my direction, as if I’d disappointed him. Then, he’d stormed off, leaving me alone.
I’d been all alone ever since.
The fall had caused more pulses of pain to blast through the tunnel of my wound, and I’d barely been capable of staying conscious. I had, though, through sheer force of will. I could not fail Lucia. I wouldn’t.
I had something critical to tell her, and I refused to give up my chance.
My eyes kept shutting of their own accord, and I pried them open yet again. I glimpsed down at where I laid on the bench and made a mental note of the good news and the bad news. The good news—though I’d already memorized this before—was that the bullet had gone all the way through. In and out, nice and clean. Savio had even cleaned up the blood that had poured out of me.
