Chapter 26 - Chiara

My father fires a shot into the air, and everyone starts screaming again. He laughs as he throws one of the bombs onto the patio, and I see the green timer begin to count down.

“No,” I scream, trying to escape his grip so that I can disarm the bomb. So many people will die. I can’t let that happen.

“You fucking little bitch,” my father sneers, pressing his gun back against my temple. I freeze, knowing that he killed my mother and Stefano’s. He will kill me without a moment”s hesitation, and without ever experiencing guilt for having done so.

“Move,” he shouts over the chaos.

I walk as he pushes me towards the front door. People see us and duck out of his way, the gun in his hand giving him full control of the situation.

I hear Maxim shout my name, but I can’t even turn to look for him.

Outside, my father shoves me into the car, keeping the gun aimed at my head. He starts the engine and shoves it out of park. With one hand on the wheel and one hand wrapped around his firearm, he speeds away from the party and out into the open road.

“Dad, you”re going to kill both of us.”

“Just you, you little whore. Just like your mother, falling for a Dubrov and betraying me. I was stupid to trust you. Fucking women. I already said it before—all the same.”

He swerves as he loses control for a moment, and I grip the dashboard in front of me. I glance over my shoulder and see headlines in the distance behind us. It has to be Maxim, but what if my father shoots him.?

I don’t want him dying for me.

“Your boyfriend seems to be following us,” my father snaps, pressing his foot harder against the gas pedal. The car growls and our speed increases.

Fields fly past my window in the dark. We are going way too fast for my father to be driving with only one hand.

“Put down the gun. You are going to kill us both,” I beg.

“Do I look fucking stupid to you girl?”

”Dad, please,” I beg again.

“I am not your father. You and that whore mother of yours share the same blood. You are not my daughter. I was furious when I found out she was pregnant. Ha. For all I know your father is some other asshole she cheated with.”

For a brief moment I am lost in a wish, a wish that his words were true. But I know he is my father. He looks just like me. Anyone can see that.

I close my eyes, trying to regain control of the fear gripping my heart.

When I open them again, I can see that the headlights following us are closer than before.

“Fuck,” my father screams in anger. He turns to glance behind us and the car swerves badly. I grab the steering wheel as the tires dip off the road and into the gravel.

My father spins back to face the front. He waves the gun in my face. “Don’t fucking move, bitch.”

The car swerves again, and this time I can’t grab the wheel, because the gun is pointed right at my face.

The wheels hit the gravel at incredible speed and we begin to slide.

The front bumper slams against a tree and the entire car lifts. My stomach lurches as I am flung forward, then backwards. Then the world begins to spin as the car rolls.

I open my eyes, gasping for breath. Lying on the roof of the car, I glance over at my father, who appears to be unconscious. I turn my body and kick the cracked glass of the side window. I kick it again and the glass shatters away. Immediately I start crawling out on my stomach, inching through the crushed doorframe and out onto the road.

But when I stand up, my father is right there, the gun pressed to my head again.

I look over at his side of the car, where is his door is open. He was able to get out easily.

“Angelo, let her go.”

Two figures are climbing out of the car parked behind us.

I squint against the headlights and recognize Maxim as he walks in our direction.

Stefano steps to the side, pointing a gun at Angelo. “Let her go,” he demands.

My father pulls me to my feet, and I wince in pain as glass crunches against my knees and the palms of my hands.

Maxim lifts his hands in the air, showing that he is not holding a gun. “Angelo, you have nowhere to go. You are outnumbered here. Just let Chiara go, and we”ll let you go, too.”

“Fuck you,” he spits, pressing the gun into my temple, gripping my throat tightly.

“Angelo, you need to see reason here. Everyone knows what you did. No matter what you do now, you can’t win this situation.”

“I fucking hate you. I hate this little whore of a wife of yours. If I am going down, she can go down with me. I will kill her, just to see the look on your face,” he hisses. I wince, knowing he means it.

“Maxim,” I say gently, wanting to defuse this situation. He just needs to walk away. He can’t save me.

“Shut your mouth, girl.” My father shakes me to emphasize his annoyance. “You are just like them. Filthy scum.”

In the glare of the headlights from the other car, Stefano turns his body, a smirk on his face, as he points his gun towards Maxim.

“I’ve waited a long time for this moment,” he says, his eyes narrowed and dark.

“Stef?” Maxim says, turning towards him, looking shocked. “Don’t forget he betrayed you. Angelo used you.”

Every muscle in my body is tense. But in Stefano’s eyes I see something I recognize. The same thing I saw in myself when I had to play my father’s own game against him.

“No, it was your uncle who started all of this. I will never forget that.”

“Angelo, do you want me to kill him? I will shoot him right now,” Stefano says, his gun leveled at Maxim’s head.

“You fucking little asshole of a boy. You never had any back bone to you. Do you think I am going to trust you to have any now? You useless, spineless piece of shit.”

While Angelo is screaming profanity at Stefano, Maxim’s eyes catch mine.

Close your eyes.

His lips move silently.

Then a gunshot screams past my ear, and my entire body jumps in fright. I feel my father’s grip fall loose from my neck, and I run. My father is screaming in agony, and when I glance back, I see that the bullet only skimmed his arm. He is lifting his gun towards Maxim.

“No!” I scream in terror.

Stefano spins his body toward my father and fires a shot.

But I am running, something punches into me and my body jolts.

“Fuck!” I hear someone shouting as I collapse to the ground.

I roll over, knowing that I can’t lose control of myself, I have to get up, keeping fighting. Back on your feet, Chiara.

I glance at my father, who is taking aim at Stefano, his pitch-black gaze locked onto my stepbrother.

“Fucking asshole. You tried to fucking kill me,” he screams.

I feel warmth spread across my shoulder, and glance down at my body. I am covered in blood. This is the moment when I realize I have been shot. And this is the moment when the pain kicks in properly.

I bite down and squeeze my eyes shut. My father is still arguing with my step-brother.

I can see him for who he truly is. This heartless, cold, monster of a man who I used to think was a good, kind and gentle person.

His finger squeezes the trigger of his handgun and I feel the air move as the bullet leaves the barrel.

Everything moves in slow motion.

Maxim is already running before the shot is fired, and I spin my head toward where Stefano is standing. I expect to see the bullet go through him. I expect to see him collapse to the ground. But I don’t.

I don’t, because Maxim leaps into the air, throwing his body into the pathway of the bullet, and I scream a piercing cry of absolute agony as I watch the bullet slam into him.

The impact of the bullet sends his body flying backwards into the road.

My father screams with joy, his laughter piercing the night air like a banshee’s war cry.

Stefano fires two shots in quick succession, and see one of them shatter my father’s ribcage, and the second pierce his skull, blood and shattered bone flying from him. He falls backwards, his lifeless body slumping against the gravel on the side of the road.

I don’t waste a moment. I drag myself to my feet, my shoulder screaming against each small movement I make. Stefano wraps his arm around my waist.

“Maxim,” I stammer.

“Chiara, are you okay?”

“Maxim,” I say again, trying to pull away from Stefano to get to him.

He lifts me and carries me over to where Maxim is lying in the road.

We kneel down next to him. Stefano turns Max over onto his back.

“Ow,” Max groans, clutching his shoulder. Blood is oozing from the wound and seeping through his shirt. “Fuck, that hurts,” he complains, pushing himself up into a sitting position.

His eyes are unfocused and foggy. He leans his head forward for a moment, but then suddenly bolts upright.

“Chiara,” he shouts.

“I’m here,” I say, laughing with relief. “I’m right here.”

“Oh my fuck.” He grabs me and pulls me into his lap. I cry out in pain, but I hardly care—I just want to be with him. “Fuck, sorry,” he whispers but doesn’t let me go.

Tears stream down my cheeks as I lean my face against his. “I thought you were dead,” I whisper.

“I thought I lost you,” he replies. “Are you okay? Shit, we need to get you to the doctor.”

“Come on, guys. We need to get you both to the doctor,” Stefano says, gently pulling me out of Max’s arms and guiding me to my feet before turning to help Max up.

“You took a bullet for me,” he says, sounding confused, his brows knotted together and his mouth pulled tight. “You saved my life.”

“Yeah, don’t expect me to do it again though, it really fucking hurts.” Maxim wraps his uninjured arm around me. “Chiara, are you okay? You look pale.”

“Well, I’m in a whole lot of pain, but my heart is so happy I don’t even care about it,” I giggle, lightheadedly swaying a little.