20. Aria

Chapter 20

Aria

"You're such a disappointment, you know dat?"

Vito's cold eyes betray his outward Joe Pesci demeanor. He's seemingly jovial and even smug, but I've dealt with him enough to know that he's simmering. I've seen what happens after this, and no one is left standing in the wake of his rage and violence.

"Aren't you going to say anything? Make a deal? Beg for your life or your child's," he asks, extending his hand and squeezing my belly. I cry out not because it hurts but because it's the only way to stop him from really hurting the baby.

Luca starts mouthing off, and Vito knocks him out with the butt of the gun.

Franco pulls against his restraints and starts swearing at Vito not to hurt me or the baby.

"Thank you. Now I know you're not just the bodyguard but the father, too." He smirks. "It's interesting what fatherhood will do to a made man. I myself have five kids. I'd die for any one of those little bastards." He laughs. "I'm kidding, of course. Only two of them are bastards, but nonetheless."

He turns his attention back to me and crouches down beside me.

"So, Aria. Sent on an assignment to take out the Morelli brothers, and you end up knocked up and unwilling to complete the deal. You came to me wanting your freedom from this life, and now you've fucked your way back in, and it seems to me that you like it?"

He shrugs and looks over at his henchman, who is his audience. This man is an A-grade wang and world-class show-boater. He heads over to his goons and starts to talk to them as one of the men on surveillance outside comes in to update him. Franco uses the opportunity to talk about how we're going to get out of here.

"Come on, Dilio. Don't tell me you've never been in a bind like this before," he says, trying to keep the mood light, but I know him already.

This is the thing he fears the most, and now it's come to life in the worst way imaginable. He's unarmed and vulnerable and, worst of all, unable to protect me or his child. No matter what, Franco Morelli has a code of ethics, and no matter what happens between us, he won't let any harm come to me or the baby. He wouldn't be able to live with himself.

He's trying hard to focus and not let emotions get in the way, but it's hard, and the situation is bleak. The odds are not in our favor.

"By my count, there are about eight guys in here, including Vito," I tell him.

"Probably another half dozen outside." He sighs. "Doesn't look good."

I look at him, and he turns to look at me, and in that look, we both accept the truth.

"I don't want to die with anything hanging in the air between us," I say.

"Me either."

"I know you have no reason to believe me, but I love you, Franco Morelli. It's always been you, and I know it may seem hard to believe, but I would give my life for you. I would never betray you or your family. No matter what the price or what Vito offers me." I blink the tears away quickly and look up toward the skylights above us.

"What about our child?" he asks.

***

It's been hours, and my leg is starting to get numb. I pull myself to a standing position.

"Sit down!" one of Vito's men yells. Vito comes over.

"What's going on?"

"This bitch is getting twitchy. She's standing up and won't sit down," he tells Vito.

"My leg's falling asleep. I'm carrying more weight than usual if you can't tell, stupido!"

"Who you calling stupid you..."

"Basta!" Vito yells, and the guy backs off. "Just watch her. No sudden moves you!" he says, looking at me. "I know you're one of the best, but so is Dino here, and he won't think twice about blowing you and that bastard you're carrying away."

I walk back and forth, stomping my leg as I go. I'm trying to buy time and get the lay of the warehouse. The skylights above me gave me an idea, but I can't tell Franco without drawing attention. He's shackled to a workbench with handcuffs. There's no way he'll be able to get free.

Vito wouldn't allow them to shackle me because he probably has some bizarre torture in mind, or he's hoping to get me to turn on the Morellis and break Franco's heart. That's the one thing all these guys lived for—the power over life and death and bringing another man to his knees.

It's not enough to kill them. No! That's too easy. They need to destroy each other and bring them to their knees. I figured that out a while ago while taking people out. The marks are always low-level "obstacles". People who can disrupt business, those who've grown a conscience or just want to get out like me. To truly ruin men like Franco and Marco, you need to take everything they know and love from them. Make them watch how loved ones are mowed down, their businesses are destroyed, and the final nail in the coffin, the final thing to break a don, betrayal from those he loves.

The code amongst these men is simple: honor and loyalty, family first, and take care of those who take care of you. That's why Vito is so successful and has made a name for himself and his organization in such a short time. He knows all their rules and uses them against them. He's the antithesis of everything they stand for—one of them, but only in terms of his bloodline.

There are rumors about why he is the pariah, and some people believe it's because he's the illegitimate son of one of the great dons. He was never recognized by his father and ignored by his siblings because his mother was a prostitute. He's even been fingered in the slayings of a number of high-class hookers because of it. Why the Morellis? I don't know, but I will fight to the death to protect my Morelli man and his child.

I walked away from this life for a reason. I was becoming too good at it, and it was beginning to steal my humanity. Vito doesn't care about me or my child, but he'll use us any way he can to stick it to Franco and his family. I can't let that happen, and I need to return to the Aria, who was the most in-demand fixer for the families. Even though I hated it, I was good at it. I left her a long time ago, but I need her now to save this little ember of my life, which I may still be able to have if Franco forgives me.

***

The guard comes back inside to update Vito, but he's not alone. His men bring a few hooded men in with them, and it soon becomes clear that it's Marco and his bodyguards.

Vito applauds with joy at the sudden shift in his fortunes.

"This is wonderful!" He's practically floating, he's so giddy. "Two for the price of one."

His men throw Marco's men to the floor near Franco but only remove Marco's hood. In the commotion, Luca is roused, confused and disorientated for a moment. The blood on his face has caked on, and it's obvious that he's in agony, even if he can't do anything about it. Not even lift his hand to his head.

"What's going on?" he asks groggily.

"What's going on, young buck, is that your cousins have delivered themselves to me! It's Christmas!" He starts laughing maniacally. One of his henchmen comes up behind him and whispers something in his ear.

"Excuse me, gentleman and lady." He says before turning on his heel.

"We don't have much time," Marco whispers to Franco and the guys. "I contacted Dominic, Aria's godfather, to help us, but we need to stall and provide a distraction. They were ten minutes out when they were caught. By my calculations, that gives us about five now."

"Why do we have to create a diversion?" Luca asks.

"Because if they arrive and those guys are still outside, nothing is stopping Vito and his boys on the inside from finishing us off." He pauses. "They've taken our guns and anything else we have to fight while bringing us in here. Get those hoods off," he tells his guys.

They start shaking their heads to get the hoods off, but it doesn't work.

"Luca!" I shout in a loud whisper. "Use your teeth to take the hood off the guy next to you. Then they can each do it for the guy next to him." He does as I've suggested, and Marco and Franco do the same for the men sitting on either side of them.

"I have an idea for the distraction." Marco looks at me, skeptical. I power through. "I think this used to be some sort of greenhouse or processing plant. Those skylights are to let spores out and fresh air in."

"So!" Marco asks, irritated and louder than he intended.

"What's going on!?" One of Vito's men sidles over to us.

"Nothing! Mr. Morelli isn't exactly my biggest fan, and he's giving me some of what your friend over there was dishing out earlier!" He's still deciding whether or not to believe me when the sound of screeching tires outside draws his attention, and all of them rush to check it out.

"Okay. We don't have much time." I move over to Franco. "My stomach. Take it out!"

"What?" he asks.

"There's a gun hidden just underneath my stomach. Take it out and hand it to me." He takes it out, but the angle of his restraints makes it impossible for him to use it effectively. Gunfire erupts outside, and Vito's men race toward us.

"Take them out!" Vito yells.

"Close your eyes!" I scream at the men on the floor as I run to the latch controlling the skylights and hit the release button. The windows slam shut above us, and thousands of shards of glass head toward the floor, spearing everything in its path. I roll under the workbench and angle my tied hands under my butt, and move my legs through to bring them to the front.

"Give me the gun!" I tell Franco as I get to my knees. He looks at me, and a brief flicker of doubt crosses his face before he hands it to me.

"You dumb fuck!" Marco yells at him. "You just signed our death warrants. She'll kill us all."

"Move away!" I say, pointing at Franco. I move the gun a little to my left and shoot the chain between the handcuffs.

Vito's men are descending on us. Blood streams down their faces. Three of them are out of commission, and one is clutching his jugular and sinks to the floor. Dominic's men are winning the battle outside, and some of Vito's men come into the warehouse to find shelter. Seeing imminent defeat, Vito loses it and starts barreling toward us.

Franco takes out three of Vito's men while Marco and Luca scramble to free the others. One of Marco's men gets hit in the middle of the forehead and sinks to the floor. The others have no weapons, and the distance between them and Vito's men is too great for close-quarter combat. They try to find positions that will give them an advantage once the smoke clears. Luca has his back to the fracas, struggling with one guy's restraints and doesn't see the guy descending on him. I kick at the chair in front of me, and it gets the guy square in the nuts, and he goes down. Marco disarms and shoots him dead.

Dominic's men breach the perimeter and come into the factory guns blazing. Everyone ducks for cover, and Franco tries to make his way to me. The air is thick and smells of sulfur. Everyone's coughing and shooting or hiding, depending on where they are relative to the action. Luca drags one of Marco's guys across the floor. Tears stream down his face as he tells the guy to hold on.

It doesn't look good, but he gets to work trying to stem the blood flow from the wound in the guy's leg. Franco tells me to get down as some of Vito's men turn to ward off Dominic's encroaching battalion while others set about trying to take out the Morelli brothers. Nothing matters for these soldiers but making Vito proud. They know that dying for him here today will mean that their families and loved ones will be well taken care of for the rest of their lives.

They've hitched their wagons to his, and for better or worse, this is where it's brought them. It's a decision that was made long ago in blood and will only be honored with blood.

I can see Vito in the distance. The situation is becoming desperate. His men are starting to drop like flies. He cocks his gun, but no bullets are forthcoming. He scrambles towards the body of one of his men and tries to find his gun. I watch as his beady eyes scan the floor, trying to find the weapon that must have slid across the floor when the man was shot. I know the moment he spots it.

Franco is like a skilled sniper in battle. He doesn't fire wildly. His shots are calculated and with pinpoint accuracy. He knows how many bullets there are in the clip, and he's not going to waste a single one with so much at stake. He picks off the men one at a time. It becomes more difficult the closer Dominic's men get to us because the smoke and debris make it challenging to tell the enemy from the ally. His shots become more careful -even friendly fire isn't accepted in a situation like this, and even in the thick of it, he knows that.

As the space between his, Marco's, and Dominic's men dwindles, Vito belly-crawls to the discarded gun of his fallen soldier and lets out a frustrated scream when he finds it empty. He hurls it across the floor before spotting another dead body and searching for it. Even with limited visuals, I can tell that he's found a loaded gun and intends to use it to take out either Franco or Marco.

He's a hunter, and he's focused on his prize, but to hell with the consequences. Even if he dies here today, he will go out with one of the Morelli's blood on his hands. It's been his singular objective for years. He's a man possessed.

I don't move. I know Franco has eyes on him, but he's got his hands full, so I need to make sure that I know what Vito's planning before making a move. He's a skilled killer, and his movements, from crawling to scurrying, don't give any indication of who he intends to kill.

Marco is protected by his men, but they're unarmed, and all Vito needs is a clear shot. Franco is armed but exposed. Knowing Vito, it won't be enough to kill Franco. He wants to go out knowing that he's taken out his rival—the head of the Morelli organization, and that's Marco.

"Please, God, let me be right about this."

I frog march across the floor, keeping my eye on him and making sure that I have Marco in my periphery. His men see the attack coming, but with no guns, they can only attempt a full-on frontal assault.

They run at Vito, but he hits one out with the butt of the gun and shoots the other. By the time the other realizes what's going on, he' s two feet away from Marco and has the gun trained on him.

He spits on Marco before yelling, "Rot in hell."

I have only seconds to make a decision that's not a decision at all. I hear the hammer of the gun click back as he squeezes the trigger, and I lunge in front of Marco.

A shot rings out, and my shoulder explodes as if it's on fire. Another shot rings out as the darkness claws at me.

I watch as Vito sinks to the floor in slow motion. Like a puppet in a marionette show I once saw as a child. I see Franco's face and body run toward me. Panic frames his face, but I'm fine. I'm oddly calm and at peace as Franco screams.

"Oh, God no!"

As I drift away, I hear Marco yelling at his men. "Get some help. For fuck's sake. She's dying! Get some help!"