Deadly Vows - Chapter 27 (Patreon)

Excited shouting erupts throughout the room, with everyone following what they hear instead of what they see. But I am up close and personal. And I see Matteo coughing up blood. And Ari is still in her position, completely unscathed. She has a malicious smile on her face as she watches Matteo. Matteo drops to the ground on one knee, clutching his side. I scream in horror as fear envelops me.

I wrench myself from Luca’s grasp and sprint to Matteo, falling next to him. I immediately run my hands up his body, trying to find the source of the blood. He’s been shot. There’s a hole in his tux, and blood is staining his clothes. Tears well up in my eyes as I press the wound.

“Luca!” I shout.

I turn to look at him through teary-eyed vision, and he is looking frantically through the crowd. The crowd finally takes notice that it is Matteo on the ground, covered in blood, and not Ari. Luca’s eyes focus in on someone in the crowd, and horror crosses his vision. He doesn’t waste a second as he sprints in my direction, jumping right in front of me just as the sound of a gun goes off. He drops to the ground, and a long string of curses erupts from his mouth.

He reaches for his gun and pulls it out, aiming into the crowd. I can’t see what he is aiming for because I immediately look back at Matteo, and he is beginning to convulse.

“No, no, no, no! Matteo! Hang in there, stay with me, please!”

His eyes are filled with tears as he stares at the ceiling. He is not focusing on anything I am saying.

Luca’s men immediately begin to clear the room, leaving behind Nicolai and Romelo. And Stefano. He is holding a bloody arm as he stares at Luca in hatred. Luca is holding his chest and is breathing heavily, but he keeps his gun raised as Nicolai and Romelo restrict Stefano.

Luca turns to me, breathing heavily as he crawls in my direction. His hand is over his chest, and there is blood spilling heavily from his wound, flowing over his fingers. I keep my hands pressed into Matteo’s wounds as Luca comes closer to me. I can only stare with wide eyes as a lazy smile slowly spreads over Luca’s face. He reaches out and touches my cheek lightly before his hand runs down my face. He collapses face-first onto the ground in front of me. I don’t know what to do.

I frantically search the room.

“Nicolai!” I shout in panic.

He looks up from Stefano in shock as he takes in Luca’s slumped form in front of me. He immediately runs toward the stage. He finally reaches me.

“Press his wounds!” My voice is shaky and filled with panic as I speak to Nicolai.

He takes over Matteo’s body, and I crawl to Luca, rolling over his body. His eyes are shut, and his chest looks really bad. I immediately reached for his holster, pulling out the knife he always keeps by his ribs. I immediately begin cutting at my dress, wrapping it around Luca’s wounds and tying it tight. I can hear my frantic breathing.

With shaky hands, I move back to Matteo and do the same while speaking to Nicolai.

“Check Luca for a pulse.” I put my fingers under Matteo’s chin, checking for a pulse. I breathe a sigh of relief when I find one. It is very faint, but it is there.

“We need to call an ambulance. This is too much even for Dr. Shotwell.”

I am speaking to Nicolai, but when I turn around, I see Romelo on the floor. Two of Luca’s men are on top of him, pressing their knees into his back. That’s when I realize. They are working for Stefano. A shot goes off, and Nicolai grunts in pain, falling to his knees. I frantically look around in panic, not knowing what to do. Stefano is holding the gun and walks slowly toward Luca, pure hatred in his eyes. He is standing before Luca’s body with a look of rage. He aims his gun.

“How’s this for weak, Capo?”

In the next instant, I don’t think. I reach for the gun Matteo is holding, and as soon as it is in my hands, I fire. My shot is obviously not fatal, as Stefano stumbles and looks at me in shock, as if just realizing that I am there. I vaguely register Romelo wrestling the other men for his life and his capo’s. They must’ve let their guard down when I shot Stefano.

He immediately raises his gum, aiming it at me, and I can hear Arianna behind me, encouraging him. Tears well up in my eyes. The last bit of hope I have for Ari dissipates in that moment. I don’t think twice as I pull the trigger again. Stefano does at the same time, except Nicolai, in his weakened state, has managed to knock him sideways. My shot hits Stefano in his chest, and his shot hits my arm. I cry out in agonizing pain as the bullet goes skimming, tearing at the flesh atop my arm.

I can hear shouts from everywhere—Romelo shouting as he puts all the force he can to fight off those traitors, Nicolai as he pushes through his bullet wound to knock over Stefano, Stefano as he hits the ground with another bullet wound in his chest, and Arianna behind me, screaming for her husband.

And as if it were a miracle, the doors burst open and reinforcements arrive. They immediately restrain everyone. I look at Matteo’s still form. And Luca’s. And I look at Ari. She is screaming at me with such hatred and rage. She is calling me names and telling me how much she wishes I were dead just like my parents. I walk even closer to her, drowning out her shouts. My whole body is numb. I slowly raise the gun, aiming it at her, and she immediately grows silent, as does the whole room.

“Elise,” I hear Nicolai’s uncertain voice say, but I ignore him.

“You … you killed my mother … my father … my brother’s mother …” The tears are rolling fat down my face. “You used me, used us … for the sake of the family. You used your own husband …” The gun begins to shake in my hand. “You lied to me, all these years. I protected you! Look at what you’ve caused!” I shout.

Arianna was my best friend. My closest family. But all of it has been a ploy for her. And now my brother may be dead. Everything that I’ve gone through is her fault, because she can’t keep her mouth shut.

“Luca was right, you’re better off dead.” I pull the trigger.

The shot doesn’t hit Arianna, though. Someone comes up behind me, grabbing my hand and forcing it toward the ceiling.

Arianna is screaming, and she looks at me in shock.

“You don’t want to do this. This isn’t you, Mrs. Pasquino.” I recognize Romelo’s voice behind me. He is still holding on to my arm, and I slowly release the gun into his grasp.

Then the sobs come. Louder and louder, until I am screaming in agony.

* * * * *

“Best of wishes to you. We hope the capo recovers soon.” I give another weak smile.

One week. That’s how long it’s been. And neither Matteo nor Luca have regained consciousness. I spend my nights at the hospital. I can’t leave in case one of them wakes up. People have been showing up to show their respect, in hopes that my husband will recover, but I know it is all out of fear.

Between the two of them, Luca’s wounds are worse. The shrapnel from the bullet has caused not only flesh wounds but also the arterial veins to his heart to be damaged. Any later and he would’ve been dead. The great and powerful capo of the North almost died. Not by his fault, though. I haven’t forgotten. Luca jumped in front of me. Luca took a bullet for me. Which is why it doesn’t sit well with me if he dies. Because that should have been me lying on that stage. The fact that Luca was standing where I was kneeling … if he weren’t in front of me, I would’ve been shot in the head. I owe him my life.

Just because Luca’s wounds are worse doesn’t mean Matteo’s aren’t almost fatal too. His ribs are broken from the impact of the bullet, one puncturing his lung. They have to keep him on a ventilation system until he is able to breathe on his own.

“You can go home and get a quick shower if you want, Mrs.

Pasquino. I can take over here until you get back.”

I look up from my thoughts to see Romelo standing in the doorway. I check my watch. I spend an hour in each of their rooms, waiting for them to wake up. And when visiting hours are over, Romelo takes over for me so I can go and change and get some clean clothes to come back and stay the night in.

“I actually brought some clothes this time, Romelo. Thank you, though.” I give him a small smile.

Romelo is the one I have always been skeptical about. He follows Luca around and sticks to him like glue and always follows his orders without hesitation. But he saved me from myself and has been watching over us in the hospital.

“I actually think it’s my turn to sleep in Luca’s room tonight.” I always alternate between rooms.

He nods at me. “I can take over here.”

I give him a smile and make my way past him to go to Luca’s room. Once I enter, the rhythmic beeping assaults my ears again. I make my way over to the windows, pulling them shut. I catch a glimpse of Luca as I pass his bed, and I stop. I walk closer to him so that I am standing over his body.

If I hadn’t lived it, I would have never thought Luca was capable of the things he has done to me since our marriage. His usually pushed-back hair is falling in his face, and his lips are slightly parted in his sleep. His face is free of any emotion, which makes him look more human than he usually does, with that constant blank expression he wears. How can someone be so evil? If I wanted to, I could end my suffering and probably that of countless others. I could end his life. Right here. But I know I can’t do it.

I walk to the cot the hospital has supplied me with and lie down, waiting for sleep to overcome me.