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Its chaos in the room, with so many people fighting, but it’s then that I see Pietro and Aurelio holding off some of the Parisi men. I run across the room, quickly firing off shots and watching them drop to the floor. “Much appreciated, son,” Pietro says calmly as he shoves another clip into his gun.
Unfortunately for the Parisi and De Luca men, mine are larger, faster, smarter, and stronger, and adding in the Carusos, we manage to subdue them all quickly enough. Well, mostly. Giovanni is screaming his head off, though Aurelio has him down on the ground, a boot on his neck to keep him down. Rafaele puts up more of a fight, but Lazaro solves that with a punch to the temple, making him drop to his knees with a pained groan. Leonardo’s men still surround him, but I merely walk up to them with my men and order, “Get on your knees or you die.” The cowards decide to save their own lives, and go to their knees. Leonardo’s face is full of fury at that, but he says nothing.
They’re going to die anyway, though I have a feeling it won’t be as quick or painless as if they had kept their ground.
Dante steps up to him, gun trained on him and giving him a cold look. Leonardo doesn’t move, and I turn around to see if Marco has been subdued and frown when I see he, Sebastian, and Mateo are nowhere to be seen. “Find them,” I order my men, who instantly run out. Then I turn my attention back to Leonardo. “It seems we have a problem, Leonardo,” I tell him as I stare him down. “Not only have you come and interrupted my wedding, your family has brought war to my front door because you don’t have the balls to keep them under control.”
His eyes flash with wrath. “Says the man who kidnapped my daughter and forced her to marry him. If anyone is to blame, it is you, Nico.”
I barely resist the urge to keep from rolling my eyes. Even now this spineless bastard is trying to keep the blame from myself. “Did I kidnap her, yes. However, I didn’t know who she was at the time. I saw her, and I wanted her, so I took her. Imagine my surprise, though, Leonardo, when I realized I had the hidden De Luca daughter right in my grasp. So, while I did kidnap her, it was by pure coincidence I took the one person you were relying on to strengthen your allies. I’m sure you had grand plans yourself. Perhaps to overtake me and then the other controlling families in the city, hmm?” He doesn’t reply, but I see the truth in his eyes. “Unlucky for you, you were so focused on that, you didn’t see the mess right under your nose. I mean, your son, and your brother vying to take the throne, as it were? It seems you're getting lazy in your old age.”
“I will enjoy killing you, Armani,” he hisses at me furiously.
“And how are you going to do that?” I taunt, indicating with my arm the state of the room and the men currently restrained and under guard. “Your house is in shambles, De Luca. Your men are divided in three different ways. You have nothing.”
“Esposito will—”
“No, he won’t,” Dante says coldly. “Because that contract was refused three years ago and any alliance you thought you had with it.”
Leonardo sneers at him. “And how would you know that?” he demands.
Dante gives him a smug smile. “Because you’re looking at Gideon Dante Esposito, and I rejected the contract when I left the family. Which makes it null and void considering the only other eligible man in my family is fifteen right now, so you’ll have a long fucking time before you can have that contract fulfilled. And even if my father tried to enforce it, he knows it will never happen. He’s been stringing you along for years, and you’ve been following his lead like a good little puppet.”
Leonardo’s face is stone cold as that sinks in.
“So, you see, Leonardo, it seems that any plans you had have been foiled,” I say smugly. “But seeing as it’s my wedding day, and I’m feeling generous, I’m going to give you a choice on what happens to your brother.” I step back to indicate the man still on the floor. His struggles increase, but Aurelio keeps him in place with a bit more pressure.
Leonardo doesn’t say a word for a moment, looking at his brother and then his men. Quick as a snake, he pulls a gun and shoots each of his guards in the back of the head, letting them fall like stones and then aims it at me.
And once again, chaos ensues, and I’m diving out of the way of a bullet. The distraction is all that’s needed though for Rafaele to make his move and drive his elbow back into Lazaro’s groin, making him groan and fall back. Rafaele follows it up with a swift kick to Aurelio’s knee, which has him crying out and stumbling back, which frees Giovanni.
“Go, go go!” Giovanni screams, grabbing Rafaele and running for the terrace door, dodging the men and bullets flying his way until he turns wrong as he crashes through the door and gets a bullet to his shoulder, sending him flying.
“Get them!” I yell at my men, but Leonardo takes that moment to run the opposite way, dividing us.
I hear more screams as I chase down Rafaele and Giovanni, ducking and dodging the bullets Rafaele fires. I curse when I realize most of my men have moved to help secure the men they’ve captured, giving the two of them a direct path out to the waiting car. Even as I push myself harder and faster, Rafaele manages to shove and topple things into our way, slowing me down. They dive inside the waiting SUV, and even as I shoot at it, trying to get the tires, it screams as it peels out down the driveway and to the open gate.
I curse angrily, and that’s when I see that Leonardo’s vehicle is giving chase, which means he’s probably gotten out too. I fire at his vehicle to no avail, and I curse angrily.
Fucking hell.
When I make my way back inside, I find the Carusos, the Cattaneos, and my men all standing in the now destroyed ballroom looking furious. “Fuck,” I hiss.
“Not exactly how we were hoping this would go,” Pietro sighs, scrubbing his hand with his face.
“Did you find Marco and his brothers?” I ask Dante.
“No, it looks like they escaped,” Dante says grimly. “I have the men checking the cameras. We’ll see where they went.”
Suddenly, a thought occurs to me and I turn quickly to scan the room. “Where’s Carmen?” I bark.
Dante freezes, and then his eyes widen slightly as he realizes what the hell I’m getting at. “Who is Carmen?” Alessio demands.
“Leonardo’s wife. Spread out and find her,” I order. Davide immediately turns and runs out of the room. “Dante, check the cameras.” I look around at the other men. “Did anyone see if she was in the car that Leonardo left in?”
“There was only him and one driver,” Massimo says grimly. “No one else was in that car.”
Fuck. Dread settles in my stomach. None of us took into account his wife, and that was a very big mistake. “We need to find Gia and Sofia,” I say as I rush for the door in the corner of the room.
