“Let me go ahead and do this transfer, and we have a deal, our first deal with many more to come,” I said to Ivan as I stretched my hand out to him. He shook my hand, and I did the same with his acquaintances.
Standing next to Tomasso and Snow, I did the online transfer to Ivan’s account. Tomasso gave me a smile of fatherly approval before he slapped me on my shoulder.
“I take it the deal is complete, brother?” Francesco asked, making his way to where we were standing.
“It is; we will see about you and Luca’s cut in the next few days,” Tomasso said, shaking Francesco’s hand. I ground my jaw as I stood back in silence, hating that he would be getting a couple of million from this deal. If it were up to me, he wouldn’thave gotten a fucking thing. I realized that Luca was not where he was standing a few moments ago. I frowned as I looked around, wondering where the fuck he had gone.
“Where’s Luca?” I asked, looking around again. Francesco made a face as he looked over his shoulder.
“I think I did hear him mumble about needing to find a toilet,” Francesco answered, with a shrug.
“Toilet, well, he’s short on luck; there’s no facilities in here,” Ivan said, eyeing Francesco suspiciously. A loud noise suddenly interrupted our transaction, drawing everyone’s attention. It was the door to the warehouse being opened.
“Who the fuck is that?” Ivan asked as about five men dressed in black, their faces covered with all-black motorcycle helmets, appeared with semi-automatic weapons.
“Oh fuck, it’s an ambush!” I shouted, reaching for my gun at my waist. By the time I drew my weapon, a hail of gunfire erupted. The sounds of bullets flying were deafening. There was absolutely nowhere to run for cover; we were sitting ducks. As I fired back, I looked at Snow, who also had his weapon drawn.
“Snow, cover Tomasso! Stay with Tomasso,” I shouted at my brother to protect our father. Ivan and his men fired back at the five armed intruders as though it was a mothafucking western. They were standing upright, guns blazing, like they were Clint Eastwood or some shit.
“Ivan, focus on that side!” I shouted at him, pointing to where he should shoot. Doing as I said, he began firing at two of the men. The sounds of men groaning made me shift focus for a split second, only to realize that Ivan’s men had been shot.
“Mothafucka,” I muttered. We were down two men; meanwhile, the five men were still going strong. “Tomasso, staylow! Snow, shoot that way!” I pointed in the direction. Nodding his head at me, Snow began rapidly squeezing his trigger. I was focused on one side, and Ivan was focused on another. Francesco and Luca were nowhere in sight.
Ivan, Snow, and I did the best we could. We held our own and somehow managed to shoot four of the five men. I knew I would be out of bullets soon, as would my brother. Ivan fired two shots, hitting one of the men before he himself went down.
“I think Daddy’s hit!” Snow yelled. I felt all the blood drain from my body at the sight of Tomasso on the floor.
“Shit,” I cursed, feeling as though we weren’t about to make it out alive. Snow fired the last of his bullets just as the other man returned fire; both of them were hit. Snow fell to the ground, face-first. Without thinking and not paying full attention, I began running toward my brother.
One of the men whom I believed was dead on the ground grabbed his weapon as I ran to Snow, firing multiple shots at me. I felt every bullet, the last piercing through my shoulder, and one hitting me in my calf.
“Arrggghhh!” I cried out in excruciating pain as I fell to the floor a few feet away from both my brother and father. I couldn’t move an inch. I lay on my stomach as my breathing became labored and shallow. My body was numb in the areas I’d been shot.
I looked at my brother as he partially lay on top of our father, who wasn’t moving. Snow’s eyes were closed. From where I lay, I had no way of knowing if he was breathing or not. Just as I felt like I was about to lose consciousness, familiar voices forced me to stay awake.
“Grab the diamonds, grab the diamonds, Luca. We don’t have much time; we have to meet up with Edwardo.” It was Francesco. I remained perfectly still as the sounds of his and Luca’s footsteps hurried around us. They took the black diamonds, and I listened as their feet raced out of the warehouse. The sound of tires screeching as they drove off made me realize that they were gone. They had set us up.
“Snow, Tomasso,” I managed to say, but I was way too weak. My voice was barely above a whisper. The last thing I looked at before my eyes closed was the wedding ring on my finger.
Chapter Fourteen- Dior
“I don’t care what you've got going on with Phillipe, Dior. When your husband walks out that door to participate in a deal. You push whatever bull-shit to the side and tell that man you love him. We don’t deal with petty over here,” Victoria said, with her index finger pointing in my face as she told me off.
She was big mad that she had to tell me to get my ass up and hug her son before he left.
“I hear you, Victoria, and I apologize.” I sucked it up and said I was sorry, because, quite frankly, this lady scared me.
“Good, I’m happy you understand what I’m saying,” she said, taking a seat next to me. I remained quiet, scared out of my mind to say anything.
“Damn girl, breathe; you're sitting there looking all stressed,” Sofia cracked from the other side, where she was seated. I gave her a fake smile, finding nothing funny about being terrified of her mother.
“Where’s Rocki?” I asked.
“Asleep in the guest bedroom upstairs,” Sofia replied, looking away as she always did whenever she had to speak about her child. It sometimes seemed as though she didn’t like being asked about her son.
“Have you heard anything about Catalina?” Victoria asked, changing the topic.
“Not since she left to go back to Italy. I’m just thankful that Enzo isn’t Buddha’s, but of course, you already knew that. Thanks for giving me that heads up, by the way,” I said sarcastically, turning to face her.
