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As I handed him the gun, I noticed a look of confusion and surprise cross his features. He nodded once as he took it, placing it behind him in his own belt. Turning to face my biggest obstacle to the woman I love, my reactions weren’t quick enough. I felt a presence at my side, whipped my head in that direction and was met with a brutal fist to my face, causing me to fall back on the floor from the power of it.
Here we fucking go.
I squinted my eyes up against the sun to stare up at the looming figure over me, who had his gun pointed directly at my head. My cheek flamed from the heat of his punch as I lifted my hand to rub my sore jaw.
“You are really going to kill an unarmed man who can’t defend himself?” I smirked as I stared death in the face from my position on the floor. I made no attempt to move. One squeeze on that trigger and I was a goner.
“We both know you can defend yourself without the need of a gun, Barbieri. And I have no time for games anymore. I promised you, eleven years ago, I’d kill you if you ever set foot in the North again and here we are…”
“I remember,” I nodded. “You were going to gut me like a fish, weren’t you?”
His jaw clenched as he took one step closer, aiming the barrel between my eyes. “I’ll settle on smearing your brains on this bridge instead.”
“Except you won’t,” I sat up, wrapping my arms around my bent knees as I peered up at him casually. “Because you're smart. If you were really going to kill me, you would have done it by now. We both know how impulsive and hot-headed you are, Buccini. So, something is stopping you.”
His dark gaze burned into my skin like hellfire, demanding my soul to be dragged down to the underworld, but the frustration etched into his features said it all. He knew I was right.
“You won’t kill me because you gain nothing from it,” I continued, pulling myself up to my feet as his gun followed my movements.
He chuckled darkly as I held his gaze. “Won’t I? Because I know it would make my fucking life to watch you die. I would not only gain revenge for everything you have taken from me, but I would ensure you never went near my sister again. That is more than enough reason to end you.”
I lifted my arms out to my side and looked up at the sky, closing my eyes dramatically and inhaling the fresh air filled with the flowery scent from the woods around us.
“Go on then. Shoot me. Kill me right here, Giovanni, and see how many more problems you face. You see that man standing behind me. His name is Fabricio. He will take over Italy in my death and he will stop at nothing to tear you apart if you kill me. Galiz will come for Elle and you won’t be able to protect her. The rest of the North belongs to the Barbieri name. No one will rise up with you, even in my death. It’s in their contracts that their loyalty is not to me, but to the Brotherhood. You kill me, Buccini, and you destroy yourself. So… go ahead.”
There was a peaceful moment where all was still. Only the distant sound of the birds chirping and the rushing of water below the bridge could be heard. And then it came. A sound that I knew all too well. Gunshot. The searing pain as the bullet entered my left shoulder had me hissing as I stumbled back from the impact and glanced down at the blood seeping through my shirt. I heard the rush of movement behind me, but I held up my right arm to halt Finn and Fabi from racing forwards.
“I may not be able to kill you. But I sure as hell can make you suffer,” Giovanni growled from in front of me as he moved his aim to my thigh and pulled the trigger again. The bullet lodged into my right thigh as I groaned, falling to one knee.
“That’s the plan? To kill me indirectly?” I chuckled, shaking my head as I forced myself to my feet again, ignoring the excruciating pain it caused me.
“If you bleed out before this meeting is over, so be it,” he smirked, lowering his gun to his side.
“Creative,” I smiled, nodding with my approval.
“You are free to leave and get yourself treated at any time,” he folded his arms across his chest as he narrowed his gaze on me.
“Not until you give me your blessing,” I gritted through my teeth as I pressed my hand against the wound in my shoulder to try and impede the bleeding.
“Blessing?” He raised one dark eyebrow up at me in question as I pulled the contract out of the back of my trousers and threw it across the floor at him.
He picked it up slowly, his eyes scanning over everything I was offering him in an alliance as I perched my ass against the stone wall of the bridge to take the pressure off my leg. I glanced back at Fabi and Finn, who both had their guns in their hands at the entrance of the bridge, waiting for my signal to attack that would never come.
“If it’s not enough, name your price,” I groaned, looking back at Giovanni who was deep in thought as he read through all the clauses. I was offering him what I hoped would make up for what I had destroyed. I was offering him Milan and Rome to repay him for Venice. They were the two biggest territories in the North and Rome, which was currently one of mine, bordered the North and South. I was also giving him access to one of my best dealers in the country and links to Mexico. It would make him billions. He still would give me 1% and the brotherhood 4% of profit because I was fair to all families who signed, but that would be nothing compared to what he would make himself.
His distrusting eyes moved up to meet mine, a deep frown set on his face. “What’s the fucking catch, Barbieri? You think I trust this?”
“All I want in return is your blessing,” I repeated.
“My blessing for what?” He narrowed his brown eyes, his jaw tight with tension as I was pretty sure he already had an idea.
“To marry Elenora.”
“Over my dead body,” he growled instantly. “You think I would let you anywhere near my sorella after what you have done to her?”
I nodded my head in acceptance, which caused his frown to deepen, “You are a good brother. If everything you thought about me and everything you believed happened in the South was true, then no, I have no right to go anywhere near her.”
“You have no right, full stop!”
