Chapter 14

Fourteen

Romeo – One Week Later

"There's eight of them," Ray, one of my capos states as he slides back around the large boulder, pulling his hood off.

"Son of a bitch," Benj, a Made Man, snaps, running a hand through his cropped, graying hair, while I roll my eyes at their shocked faces.

So, it’s a trap….

Seriously, how in the fuck did they make it through initiation with my father?

I sigh, grabbing a cigarette from my jacket pocket, and throwing it at Benj to calm him down. The fucker looks ready to blow.

I could be at home where my fucking wife is right now, but, instead, I am stuck with these idiots because Leonardo, who is my fucking capo and in charge of this fuckery, decided to tie Holly to his bed last week, and hasn't let her leave. Which, of course, my fucking wife blames me for, because why not.

I'm the devil incarnate in her eyes, which, yeah, I probably am. I'm fucking bloodthirsty, needing to kill most days, unless I'm with her.

She calms the demon inside; she makes me whole, but instead of falling at my feet after last week, she's been trying her darndest to ignore me since our marathon fuck-a-thon, after which I woke to find her fucking gone.

She left for work earlier than normal just to avoid me, getting Aldo to drive her because I still haven't given her car back, a car I fucking hate and may have had crushed, another thing she's going to hate me for, even though I have bought her a black Jeep Wrangler.

I'd bet my left nut she won't fucking except it.

I know she regrets what happened last week, and I know she regrets ever letting me in her heart, but fuck, she was made for me and I for her. Her body molds to mine, why can't she fucking see that?

Dammit, she's already fourteen weeks pregnant and still making plans to fucking leave me, and she won't even talk to Maxim now, or his wife, trying to go through actual realtors, which is fucking ridiculous because she knows she loves me….

Fuck, my woman is stubborn, and I know I haven't helped matters with the whole contract situation, but what did she want me to fucking do, kill her own father just so the conditions don't stick?

Benji lights his cigarette, and I look around at each of my men, and remind them, "We knew this was going to be a trap,” causing them all to look my way. I continue, "The East Side Gang wanting to suddenly meet isn't a coincidence. Why else would we come in teams of ten?"

Antonio steps forward, doing his black jacket up, and says, "They've wanted our territory for years, and then suddenly wanting a meet at the docks.” He looks around. "You all knew what this was; an ambush, and if you didn't, then maybe you shouldn't be a part of the Russo Italian Mafia." Each man stands up taller, making me smirk. Antonio grins wide and shows everyone that I'm not the only scary fucker here, and states, "Now we need to load up, because it's time to take these fuckers down."

I take over, "For months, they've been trying to gun us down, wanting what we have, and for months they have been failing, and it's pissing them off, so why not try ambush us to kill me, the fucking Don? The question is, are we going to let them, or are we going to kill this fucking gang once and for all?" My men grab their pieces, and I sneer, "Let's go hunting, boys," making them all grin, all blood thirsty.

No one fucking tries to take what's mine, and Adams, the so-called leader of the East Side Gang, has fucked with the wrong man.

On the best of days, I'm fucking ruthless, feared, but lately, with the cold shoulder from my wife, I'm fucking unstoppable.

I've let them do what they wanted as long as it didn't interfere with my territory, my businesses, but he's fucked up. He's getting too fucking cocky, thinking I'm weak, that I won't retaliate to him torching my fucking restaurant on 6th, killing three of my men.

Antonio takes over. He splits up each group of ten, and shows them where they need to go. His group goes around the back of the warehouse, the second goes in by the side, and mine go in the front.

Only eight men surround the building, but inside will be packed. Adams is not a very smart man; he should have brought all his men with him, which means we can finally be fucking rid of the assholes.

"Let's go kill," I mutter as I load my rifle, my eyes going to the men. Taking the second group, Aldo nods and leads his men into the darkness, while Antonio glares at me. I give him a smirk. "I'll be fine, fratello ."

He snorts as he loads his rifle. "Last time we did this was with the west side fuckers, after they killed the Cartel's cousin, and he needed our help. You got shot, Romeo, and your fucking wife nearly castrated me."

I grin. "It was just a flesh wound.”

Ray, my close friend, and a capo I recruited, chuckles. "The bullet was stuck in your arm. El, the lovely woman she is, kept her delicious cookies from me for not protecting you. You're not getting hit today."

Antonio grins. "Somehow, I don't think she'd care this time; she may even encourage him to get hurt."

I narrow my eyes at him.

Ray mumbles, "Funny, because before we left, she told me if he didn't come back unharmed, then I could kiss goodbye to the triple chocolate brownies she was making."

Antonio grins as a slow smile builds on my face, and I rasp, "Well, you better keep me safe then, huh, amico ?"

Ray nods at my endearment as Antonio claps my shoulder, and whispers, "Please be safe. I know Ray will protect you with his life, but fratello , I don't want your job."

I chuckle, shove him away, and he leaves with his men. They head into the darkness to the back of the building, while my men and I wait for the signal.

Groups one and two will disarm and kill the eight men surrounding the building before we head to the front to create havoc.

It takes roughly five minutes before we see the light, and Ray claps my shoulder, stating, "Remember, boss, this time I jump in front of the bullet, not the other way round."

I chuckle. "Don't worry, Ray. I won't allow you to lose the brownies, but I also won't let you die; you have a baby on the way."

He hums as he walks past me, reminding me, "So do you, even if the men don't know yet."

He heads into the darkness, and I follow suit, with the men behind me.

I've known Ray since I was ten years old, and found him bleeding in an alleyway after his stepfather tried to kill him, succeeding in killing his mother.

I helped him get his revenge, and he became a part of our family. Lorenzo already had one child before he met his wife, and both opened their arms to Ray, and the fucker has had my back ever since. Outside of my brothers, he's the only other man I trust with my life.

Ray takes the lead as we run over to the warehouse door where laughing can be heard, making me smirk.

"Looks like they're already celebrating, boss," Camren, a Made Man mutters from behind me, and I chuckle.

Their guard is down, believing eight men could destroy us. What fucking idiots.

Giving Ray the nod, he stands back, then kicks the door down, shouting, "We're here, motherfuckers!" Then he starts shooting, and I laugh at the crazy fucker, running in after him, my rifle in front of me.

Two men to our left come running up to us, but I shoot, both dropping like flies, holes in their heads as a bang echoes at the back of the building.

"Fuck, I didn't know Antonio was using explosives; if I did, I would have begged to be on his team," Gio, Ray's adoptive brother, complains, and I smirk, shooting three more fuckers.

"Focus, fucker. I don't want to explain to Papa why you got your ass shot," Ray snaps before running over to a group of men, pointing his gun at them.

"Fuck, he's lucky he's my brother, and I love him," Gio mutters, running straight ahead, and I sigh, wondering why I allowed brothers to be in the same group.

Looking around the fighting and stray bullets, I try to find the person I want, the person I know will try and run to save his own ass. I spot Adams trying to make a break for it out a side door, and I grin wide, running toward him. Just as his hand touches the exit bar, I shoot, hitting his arm, and making him shout and drop like the pussy he is.

When we make eye contact, he growls, grabbing his gun, but I shoot again, hitting him in the middle of his forehead, his body dropping. I feel a presence to my left and turn, ready to kill whoever it is, when I feel something sharp go into my side, making me grunt. Growling, I come face to face with a cocky bald fucker. His grin shows his cracked black teeth as he pulls the knife out, but I don't flinch. Instead, I lift my rifle and slam the end into his head, making him fall before I shoot him.

Heaving heavily, I look down and notice the tear in my shirt where the knife went in, the material sticking to me, and I silently curse, doing my jacket up so no one can fucking notice.

If Ray loses those brownies, he's going to be pissed. Rihanna, his wife, loves them, and she's ready to pop, and not one to piss off.

Sighing, I turn and take in the carnage, then run into the middle of it, ready to end this shit, preferably before I bleed out….

It takes us forty minutes to kill every motherfucker.

Several men are injured, but we haven't lost anyone, thank fuck. Antonio, Ray, and I ensure all our men are out of the building before we set up several explosives to hide the evidence of the carnage inside. As soon as we're at a safe distance, Antonio sets it off, causing the men in the truck to all cheer, and I sigh, pressing my hand against my wound to stop the bleeding, lightheadedness filling me.

An hour later, I try to be quiet as I walk into the house. Everything is dark and quiet; the men have all gone to their homes, happy after I've given them all a few days off to rest before they go back to their jobs within the organization, all of them none the wiser to my predicament.

I sigh as I get to the top of the stairs and see the door to the guest room furthest from our room is shut.

"I guess tonight won't be so bad," I mumble to myself, going to our room.

I head to the bathroom, not looking at the bed as I remove my jacket, wincing at the pull of the wound before I unbutton my black shirt and remove it, the side of it soaked with my blood.

I grab a towel and press it hard against my body to slow the bleeding, before reaching for the cabinet where I keep the needle and thread.

I know I could call our doctor, but honestly, I can't be bothered, and I don't want El waking and seeing this.

I grab the sterilizing solution and gauze before removing the towel, wincing at the size of the wound.

Fuck, how am I going to explain this to El?

Grumbling under my breath, trying to figure out how to keep this quiet, I soak the gauze in the solution, and then wipe over the cut.

It stings like a bitch, but I ignore it, wiping around the fucker. I throw the blood-soaked gauze on the counter and grab another one.

"Oh my God!" a panicked gasp echoes, and I still.

Fuck….

I turn to see El standing in the doorway, her hair up in a messy bun, her hands covering her mouth, tears coating her cheeks, and wearing nothing but one of my shirts.

" Farfalla ," I rasp with pain, hating seeing her tears.

She shakes her head and rushes over to me, grabbing the gauze from my hand, her other hand going to my side as she sobs silently.

It's right about now that I see it…the love she has for me. It's right now her guard is down, and she's showing me exactly what I mean to her, and it's something I'll never fucking lose.

This woman is my heaven while I live in hell. She's my light, and I won't lose her.