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Boom!An explosion blew a fireball into the air behind us. I dropped the ring as I threw myself on top of Sienna. Everyone came racing toward us, calling out to see if we were all right.
“Everyone okay?” Papa yelled. He reached for his gun then cursed when he realized he didn’t have it. I didn’t have mine either. There was no reason I’d need a weapon here. Now I saw I was very wrong.
“Yeah.” Sienna clung to me.
“Oh, look, the family’s all here.” A sarcastic voice had us all whirling to find Elenora behind us, pointing a gun.
“Mama?” Sienna twisted around in my arms, but I wasn’t letting go. Something in Elenora’s eyes told me she wasn’t herself right now.
“Piero,” she swung her gun to Papa, “you must be pleased with your handiwork on the uncles.” Her gaze shifted over to Vinni, who had taken a step. “One move, and I’ll blow your head off. Let’s have your gun. Toss it over there.”
Vinni pulled out his gun and did as he was asked.
“Elenora,” Papa took a step and slowly slid in front of Mama to shield her, “we were not behind your brother’s death.”
“Don’t lie to me!” she screamed. “All you do is lie.”
“Mama, it wasn’t him,” Sienna said. “It was Nonna Rosa.”
“And you,” she spat. “I didn’t spend a lifetime in hiding only to have you brainwashed by these people.”
“You want to talk about lies?” Sienna tried again to draw her attention, but all of Elenora’s focus was on Papa. “Answer me this, Mama.” She gently pushed my hand back, but I wasn’t having it and held tight. I’d seen the darkness in Elenora. “Did you kill my father?”
“What?” She looked at Sienna and shook her head but kept the gun on Papa. “See how they fill your head with lies?”
“Noemi told me. She saw you pull the trigger. She told me you shot him while he begged to see me one last time.”
“He was a monster!” she screamed. “They’re all monsters!”
“You did it, didn’t you?” Sienna shook her head slowly as if she couldn’t believe it was true. “He might have been a monster, and maybe he did deserve to die, but you lied to my face from the very start. So, who’s the monster now, Mama?”
“I gave you life! You ungrateful child.”
“And by withholding my truths, you nearly destroyed mine.”
“Elenora, please.” Mama tried to calm her, but it did the opposite.
“You’re trying to take my daughter, Andrea, fill her head with nonsense. But you,” she focused on Papa again, “you took the only person who ever meant anything to me.”
“I never killed your brother, Elenora. I would never do that.”
“I want you to feel the pain I’ve felt all those years, Piero, but if I kill you, you’d get off easy, so…” She suddenly pointed the gun at me, and I knew by her eyes she was going to fire. Then Sienna flung herself in front of me. It all happened so fast. We were both fighting to get in front of the other, a race to be the victim. A race to save the one we loved. When the gun went off, all went silent as we stared at one another, our eyes wide, frozen in the moment, unsure which of us was hit.
