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Oh, my sweet girl. How I’ll miss you.
“Are you fucking defending her?” Carmelo seethes, his gaze aimed on her as he holds her tight to his chest, his gun still aimed at me while his brothers and guards have theirs aimed in every fucking direction.
“I’m just saying that you don’t have to kill anyone!” She cries, a scoff leaving his lips in response.
“He fucking kidnapped you, Lori. He stole you from your own home in broad daylight and has held you hostage. He’s put our entire family through hell because of this. Everyone besides us in this room deserves to die because of his actions,” he says.
Right then, something flashes in his gaze. Something that looks a whole lot like realization as he looks between his sister and I, disgust filling his dark eyes.
“He’s fucked you, hasn’t he? This sick, twisted motherfucker has taken you from your family and raped you for an entire month, hasn’t he?” He roars, Lori shaking her head roughly at his words.
“No, Carmelo, no. He isn’t like that. That’s not what happened!” She pleads, her defense rendering me speechless, because his words are partly true.
I did take her from her family. I raised hell for both her and them. And while she has given her body willingly to me, I still stole her and held her hostage, I still took her virginity and kept her locked away as if this moment would never happen.
He growls above her, his gun clicking as it points in the direction of my chest.
“Carmelo, don’t!” Lori shouts, ripping away from his arms.
She then charges at me, stopping in front of me just as the shot is fired. She freezes, her hands falling to her sides, her eyes wide and unreadable.She tried to save me. Just as the thought hits me, I look at her torso. I snap when I see that her side and hands are both covered in blood. My soul is filled with rage, and I see fucking red, more than just the red that stains her skin. I take my gun from my pants and aim it at her brother, firing it just as he ducks out of the way. When another shot is fired, I hear a yelp. I look in Lori’s direction and realize that it is not her, but it does belong to a woman. I look over to my mother, time slowing as I do. Her mouth is open wide, her eyelids fluttering as blood pours from her chest. She begins to choke, blood curdling sounds coming from her throat as all of the air leaves my chest in one big swoop.
I hear men cursing, feet shuffling. One of Lori’s brother’s grabs her and drags her out of the room, the rest of the men following suit as her screams of pain and protest fill the mansion, but I don’t pay too much attention to them. I can’t. I can’t because my mother lies on the white couch, painting it red, dying right in front of me.
I rush to her side, pulling her against me as she clings to me and gasps for air.
“Diego! Call an ambulance!” I roar, holding her close to me as my hand covers the wound, trying to stop the bleeding as he shakes in my arms, her brown eyes meeting mine.
“My sweet, baby boy.” Her bloody hand goes to my face as I try to understand what is happening right now.
She can’t be dying. She can’t be.
“Just hang on, mama. Help will be here soon,” I whisper, my voice clogged with emotion as I try to remain calm, but fail miserably.
“I can’t, baby. I can’t,” she says, tears filling my eyes at her words.
“You can and you will. I can’t lose you,” I say, rocking her in my arms as blood continues to seep into my clothes.
“Marco… whatever you do, don’t blame her for this. It isn’t her fault,” she struggles, nearly forcing the words out as her breathing starts to become shallow, her pulse slowing under my fingertips.
“Mama, now’s not the time—”
“No, it is. It is,” she cries gently, her bloody hand shaking as it rests against my cheek. “No matter what you feel, end this war. Don’t let it take you too,” she says, looking into my eyes as she takes her last breath, my eyes searching her blank gaze as I shake her in my arms.
“Mama? Mama! Wake up!” I roar, holding her lifeless body as blood surrounds us, my men falling silent around me.
“Marco… it’s over. She’s gone,” Diego says quietly, walking up behind me to place a steady hand on my shoulder, my cries of anguish filling the room, my heart too broken to even care about how I appear in front of my men right now.
My mother is gone. Lori could be dead as well. The Saracino’s have finally taken everything from me.
* * *
Lori
My body is in so much pain, I feel like there’s pins and needles all over it, my side burning as I blink my eyes open to an incredibly bright light. The air smells of cleaning chemicals and there’s beeping sounds all around me. I blink a few more times until I realize that I am in a hospital. I try to move on the uncomfortable bed, the paper sheet crinkling beneath me. I move my arm and feel a tug of an IV, a strong hand coming to rest gently on my shoulder, easing me back down.
“Careful, baby. Take it easy,” a familiar voice says, my father’s voice.
My eyes frantically search for him. He stands above me, his face hovering over me as I gasp in surprise. “Papa? Are you really here?” I ask, my voice sounding both dry and foreign to me.
