Page 61 of Pocketful of Us

"No!" Romi screamed. "No, Sketch, no…!"

Moments later, a gun shot rang through my ears.

Hot droplets of blood sprayed my face, but I didn’t feel an ounce of pain.

Blinking rapidly, I watched as Cal Dillon crumbled in a heap at my feet.

"We are still playing the revenge game, no? Shoot or suicide?" Seth drawled, eyeing the horrified expressions etched on Cal's frozen soldiers. "As you can tell, it was my turn." His expression turned dark. "And I choseshoot."

It took a few moments for reality to dawn on Cal's men, but once it did, all hell broke loose. Some of the men turned on Seth, seeking revenge for a man who deserved a far worse death, while others put their body on the line to protect their new boss.

Diving on top of Romi, I covered her body with mine as a shower of bullets rained down around us.

Laughing like a deranged maniac, Seth moved like the wind around the room, ducking and dodging bullets intended for him, while he opened fire on anyone who stood against him.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted my mother of all people coming towards me with a gun raised. "This is all your fault," she screamed, cocking the trigger. "You should have died with that whore Carmella–"

Bang!

My mother dropped to the floor, as lifeless as the corpses around us.

On his knees, Presley scrambled towards us, the gun I gave him in the treehouse still hot in his hands from releasing a round.

Into mymother.

"Dude, you can thank me later," he choked out before dropping like a sack of potatoes and burying his head under my arm. "But right now, you have to help me protect my brain."

"Enough," Seth commanded, as the violence slowly dwindled to a stop. "No one else needs to die here tonight."

Like hell…

Grabbing the gun out of Presley's hand, I swung my attention to the catalyst of all this suffering. She was backed up in the corner, attempting to go unnoticed.

Inoticed her.

I suffered the repercussions of her lies every day of my life.

Without a flicker of doubt or remorse, I raised my gun and aimed it at the redheaded whore. "This is for my mother," I told her. "And this is for the father you stole from me."

And then I sent a bullet straight through Victoria's skull.

"Well done!" Seth cackled, applauding my heinous. "About time someone put that woman down. I've only known her for a short time, but she is – or should I saywas– dreadfully unpleasant."

On edge, I continued to shield both Romi and Pres, while keeping my eyes locked on Seth, who was watching me with a look of deranged admiration.

"Well, are you going to thank me, Giacobbe?" he asked, tucking his gun back into his holster. "I did save your life, after all."

"Yeah," I sneered, not trusting this piece of shit one damn bit, as I carefully lifted my girl to her feet and checked her over. "Let me guess; you saved my life just to kill me yourself?"

He grinned wolfishly. "Now you're thinking like the man you were born to be."

He was out of his damn mind.

Shaking my head. I turned back to Romi, and physically sagged in relief when she squeezed my hand in reassurance.

Uncaring of who the hell was watching me, I pulled her into my arms, tucking her body under my arm.

"I have a proposition for you, Giacobbe," Seth continued. "And no, before you ask, it is not the same kind of proposition our fathers gave one another. We are their heirs, not their mirror images."

---