I blinked and the moment felt as though it was happening in slow motion. Next to Lucia was my brother, Gianni. He was alive. He’d been in the pews, amongst the other visitors, completely unnoticed. The gun in his hand was still smoking as he lowered it to his side.
Then, there was a scream.
It pierced my ears, and I saw the guests rushing from the pews. It was chaos. People were rushing over each other to scramble to the doors, pushing others aside as they ran. It seemed as though it was happening in slow motion, and I could barely move from the shock of it all.
We’d agreed that some of us would carry, and those that had guns were rummaging in their suits. My father leaped to his feet and rushed towards Romeo, who was on the ground moaning. There was blood along the ground, alongside fallen roses. I glanced at Chiara, who was in utter shock. She was shaking. I wanted to go to her but knew that I had to attend to Romeo first.
After the shock had dissipated, I rushed to Romeo’s side and glanced up to Gianni, who was approaching the altar with Lucia’s hand in his. The screams from the church rose into the air as women ran from the scene, terrified about what was happening. The wives of most of the men knew that gunshots at a wedding could mean anything. For all they knew, they were next.
Children and women rushed towards the entrance as Gianni pulled Lucia towards the priest. I stared at them as my father reached down and placed pressure on Romeo’s wound, which was gushing blood onto his white dress shirt and suit. There was blood seeping from his mouth as his own, guttural screams, entered the space between us. I could feel my heart thrashing in my chest. There was confusion, hurt, and a frenzy. And Gianni was alive.
Gianni was fucking alive!
Gianni threw Lucia over to the dais and held her there. “Say it, priest! Now!”
The priest’s eyes were open wide as I tended to Romeo. The blood seeped in the crevices of my hands, embedding itself into the lines. It was warm and sticky, and I hated that he was bleeding out so profusely. I had to know Romeo would make it before I took Gianni down. First things first. We had to tend to his wound to make sure he would live.
“Do you take this… ”
“I do!”
Gianni nudged Lucia as tears filled her eyes. He brought his gun to her side, which caused her to flinch. Lucia brought her hands to her stomach as her tears fell onto the ground, ruining her pristine makeup and causing the priest to take a step back.
“I do!” she yelled out, glancing down to Romeo, shaken.
Gianni swept her into his arms and fled the church. I lifted myself to my feet and brought my eyes to my father. “Tend to his wound! I’m going after him.”
My father was in a panic—something I never thought I’d see. No other words were passed between us as I ran after them. The shock alone was causing the adrenaline to pulse through my body. I wasn’t sure what I’d do to Gianni, but I might just be down another brother—again.
23
Chiara
Iburst into tears and dropped the bouquet onto the ground. Gianni was alive. That meant that my parents had died for nothing, and now Lucia was whisked away. The Cavetti family had destroyed our lives even more. There was never any time to relax. There was always something, and now Romeo was on the ground with blood pouring from his mouth and from a wound. Marcello had run off, and three men began holding down their handkerchiefs on Romeo’s chest, trying to stop the blood.
The church had almost entirely cleared out and the priest had left the dais, unable to take any more of what was happening. Lucia had, through a verbal contract, married Gianni. Had she planned it? She might have been in shock when he’d pushed himself from the pew and taken her to the altar. I wasn’t sure what to make of it, and I could hear Alessandra crying next to me. The sounds of frenzy echoed against the high walls and domed ceiling of the church. What was meant to be a happy day had, once again, ended in bloodshed. I couldn’t take it anymore.
Savio knelt down next to his brother’s side and took his hand as Romeo screamed, causing my stomach to twist. I hated the sound of him suffering in such pain. Someone had already called for an ambulance, but we were in the middle of the city, and traffic could be a pain. There was no telling when paramedics would arrive.
“There’s something you should know,” Romeo said, stopping from screaming for long enough to speak. His voice was coarse, and there was a dribble of blood leaking from between his lips. “Lucia is pregnant.”
The tears burned my eyes as they gushed forward. It only made things worse. Not only had she been taken, or decided to go along with Gianni, but she was pregnant. I was sure that Romeo was the father, but I didn’t know what was going on anymore. Everything was a mess, and there was hysteria in the air. My thoughts were scattered, and my tears were proof that my nerves were shot. Alessandra touched the inside of my arm and squeezed, sniffling. She was beginning to calm down, and I was trying to follow her lead.
Tears would not help the situation. It would only make things worse. I didn’t want to be the useless girl at the back of the room, crying while everyone else helped ease the tension in the room. I would have to calm down and try to figure everything out. I wiped away my tears and tried to stop the heaviness in my chest from causing me to feel sick. There was so much happening that it was near impossible to calm myself.
“Alessandra! Chiara!”
We both turned at the sound of that familiar voice. Despite the tears, I could tell who it was. His face was blurred, but he was for sure the one person I wasn’t sure I’d ever see again—Giorgio. He was thinner than I remembered and paler. He’d been through far worse than we had, from the looks of it. Alessandra ran towards him, leading the way towards the aisle, where he was standing. I felt my heart burst through my chest as I took both of them in my arms.
I could feel Giorgio’s bones through the fabric of his dress shirt. I was surprised he was there at all, and I couldn’t understand why they would allow him at the wedding. He still smelled like himself, but he was a different version. His face was gaunt and his eyes were sunken. I hoped desperately that they hadn’t tortured, or beaten him. I looked behind him, expecting to see Antonio, but he was nowhere to be seen.
“Where’s Antonio?” I asked, wiping the tears from my eyes with my arm. “He should be here celebrating with us, too, right?”
“Come on,” Giorgio said and pointed towards the back of the church. “Let’s talk somewhere else. Not here.”
The tone of his voice had me worried, as though I wasn’t already worried enough. Everything that had happened had been because of the Cavetti’s. At least they’d returned my brother to me. Still, I wanted us all to be together. Lucia crossed my mind and I felt sick to my stomach. I hoped that nothing would happen to her. I knew that Marcello wouldn’t let her be harmed, but he also didn’t know that she was pregnant. Even the smallest of pushes, or a hit to her stomach, could cause complications.
Giorgio was peering around wildly as he led us towards the back of the church. There was a slight limp to his walk that made me unsure as to whether they hadn’t beaten or tortured him. He had gone through so much more than we had. I wished I’d been able to help him. I should have worked Marcello more, just to help my brothers.
