The man with roguish blonde hair stood with his back pressed against the wall. Amidst the chaos of gunshots and gruesome fights, he was the only one with a huge grin on his face.
Things were going according to plan.
There was no way Dimitri would make it out alive. He was sure of that! Adonis couldn’t do without him and was also sure to fall. The entire family would be ruined by the death of just one man.
He chuckled again, and his long scar squeezed in an unseemly way. Finally, it was all falling into place. All that remained was to get out of there as soon as his brother and father made it out safely.
Their long-term goal would be achieved after all.
He cautiously peeked out from hiding to confirm they’d left but his heart jumped in fear at the sight.
Fear for his brother and father.
Adonis was furiously heading their way, clearing everything on his part.
His eyes widened and he yelled.
“Carlo”
But it was no use; he couldn’t hear him, and Adonis was almost at his side. If Carlo wasn’t safe then the same was for Sabestien.
He needed to do something. He needed to help them.
Coming out of hiding, he began pushing through the men in battle, using them as a shield of protection.
“Fratello, attento (brother, watch out)!” He yelled out again with all his strength, but his brother still couldn’t hear. Instead, it caught the attention of the perpetrator, who gave him a sinister smile in reply.
Adonis had made it there before him. He was still far away. He felt helpless and raised his gun to fire at him but ended up wasting the life of an unknowing man.
His family’s life was at stake. Carlo should’ve been out of there with Sabestien. What took him so long? He had to help somehow. He had to-
Bang!
Amongst many other shots being fired, that particular one resounded the most, and his brother slumped back with his eyes open.
Antonio felt hot, searing pain burn through his body.
He roared in anger,
“Adonis!!!!” but the psychopath just gave a smile in reply as he killed off his father.
Antonio felt his body begin to tremble, it was like he was being stabbed with a knife in the same spot over and over again, and then he was barreling for him.
But Adonis didn’t stop and kept on emptying his bullet into the dead body of the elderly man.
Antonio pushed forward towards him. Adonis was going to regret this. Adonis was going to-
Bang!
He felt a small sting in his arm, and then a searing pain followed as he fell to the ground, clutching his arm in at the excruciating pain.
Where had the shot come from?
He glanced around; the war was over, but Adonis was still advancing towards him. It was then it dawned on him. There was no way he could win the fight. Especially in his condition. His glaring gaze met Adonis’s as Luca rushed up to him.
This was his chance to escape. His men were down. It was over for the day, but he could live to fight another day.
When he’d be strong enough to avenge his family.
Next thing he knew, Adonis was running to the mansion and seeing that Luca was distracted with ordering the men around, he took off into the thick trees, clutching at his injured arm.
It was pitch black, and he could hardly see a thing.
Hed barely made it past ten metres when his vision blurred and he stumbled over a log of wood. He was losing a lot of blood. Antonio let out a weak groan at the unpleasant ache, and he stumbled again.
It was becoming harder to move. The physical pain wasn’t the only thing weighing him down. His heart mourned for his brother… for his father.
All they wanted was to make the family great. To give the family its deserved position.
He kept on moving even though he could hardly see anything but dark bulky leaves. A stray branch tore at the skin of his face, opening up the surface of his already healed scar on his face as a wave of dizziness consumed him and he fell to the ground once more, writhing at the switch between hot and cold flashes of his body.
He tried getting up, but he couldn’t. His body had lost the will to fight.
Just then, his ears pricked at the sound of leaves crunching beneath a feet. He should be the only one here. Had he been caught already?
With great difficulty, he pulled open his blurry eyes to be met with the outline of a woman staring down at him.
She looked familiar, but before he could discern who she was, his eyes rolled to the back of his head as darkness took over.
By the time he came to, Antonio was lying on the floor in an abandoned building, with the hairs on his skin raised as a cold chill passed through the windows covered with thin straps of polythene bags acting as his only shield from the cold morning air. Golden hue reflected into the room.
The sun was just rising.
A soft moan slipped out of his mouth at the tenderness he felt in his arm, and he sat up to check his body over. The spot where he had been shot was wrapped up in a bandage, and his other hand moved to feel the ones on the little tears on his face.
Alert, he jumped to his feet, ignoring the protest of his weak body.
Where was he? How did he get here? Who brought him here? He was sure he passed out on Adonis’s estate, but this place wasn’t familiar.
His questions didn’t remain unanswered for long as footsteps echoed, and the familiar figure he saw before he lost consciousness received a face.
“Natasha.” It wasn’t a statement of surprise but expectation.
He was expecting her. She was his getaway ticket and was late even.
Natasha eyed him with distaste.
“You’re finally awake.” She spat. “I thought I’d have to dunk you into a well or something.”
Antonio’s lips stretched into a lazy grin.
“Impatient are we?”
“Of course I am!” Her lips smacked together in annoyance. “This was not the plan Antonio. You would’ve been dead if I hadn’t come to your rescue, almost blowing my cover by the way.”
The small light in his eyes disappeared as he was reminded of his failure once again.
“You said you had it all under control. I only accepted to work with you since you promised to kill that bitch by his side. You can do or have whatever you want, but give me Adonis! How many times do I have to say it?” She gave him a once over. ” And what the hell did you do to get fried like this?”
“Enough, Natasha!”
He walked over to the broken window, a faraway look in his eyes.
“Do not quiet me. You should make up for your incapability. What are you going to do? Dimitri’s dead.”
Antonio pondered on her words as he watched the sunrise in the early morning. The cool air caressed the patches of his skin that were visible, leaving a trail of goosebumps.
The news of Dimitri’s death didn’t give him joy like it should. Adonis took more from him but now, he had nothing to lose.
He was going to take everything from him. What next?
He scoffed.
It was simple. He’d finish what he had started. And with that conclusion, he spoke up.
“It’s time to finish it all.”
Natasha threw a sceptical look at him.
“In your feeble state? You can’t even raise your injured arm; how do you expect to shoot a gun?”
“You don’t need to worry. I just need to be strong enough to fire one bullet.” His voice dripped with malicious intent. “I have everything I need, but I’ll need access to my home.” The side of his lips tilted up. “If I know Adonis well, he’ll be searching for me soon, so I need your help.”
She tutted. “Fine, but this would be the last time. If you mess up again, I can’t help. I refuse to go down with you.”
Normally, it’d have caused his lips to curl up but there was nothing funny about it to him at the moment. Even he was tired of the recurring streak.
“This would be the last time.”
He said plainly, then he spun around to meet her dead in the eyes.
“I think it’s time you visit your ex-fiance again.”
****
“You don’t need to know where I’ve been.” Antonio gave a reply after a long pause earning a dissatisfied huff from Cara.
“Fine.” He’d been so open about other things, she’d let this one go. “What do you need me to do and when?”
“I need a gun and a knife.”
“A gun and a knife? Shouldn’t you be able to get them yourself? How do you expect me to get a gun without being noticed?”
He kissed his teeth.
“I have limited options. Amore (love) but not to worry. All you need to get is the knife; someone else is on the gun; place it at the door I told you about.”
Cara sighed. Locating the door without being noticed would not be easy but with little directions from him, she was willing to try.
Just one final question.
“When are you coming?”
Antonio took another pause before he answered.
“In 24 hours.”